Players retiring in 2012: Juan Ignacio Chela – Tennis Special (Part – V)
Juan Ignacio Chela was known for his ultra fast serves at the hard courts. He wore a baseball cup turned backwards throughout his 14-year career at the professional circuit. He was extremely skinny but had such a magnificent ability
to develop pace especially on the forehand returns. He usually played from the baseline and didn’t come to net at will.
Chela won six Association of Tennis Professionals trophies; all on the clay courts. He reached the career-high ranking world number 14 on 9 August 2004. The 33-year-old Argentine played three quarter-finals of the Grand Slam events
in his career. He reached the last-eight stage of the Roland Garros French Open 2004 and again matched the same record at the 2011 edition of the tournament. He also reached the quarters at the US Open 2007 in New York.
In the first quarter-final appearance at the Grand Slam event, he was trounced by Tim Henman. In 2011, the London Olympics Gold Medallist, Andy Murray, stood in his way; whilst the US Open quarter-final defeat came at the hands
of the fifth ranked Spaniard, David Ferrer.
Moreover, the Argentine failed to win any Association of Tennis Professionals World Tour Masters 1000 event in his entire career. He recorded the best run at Hamburg in 2007 where he ended up as the semi-finalist in the event.
However, the consistency of performing well throughout the season kept him in Top-200 category of players.
Chela registered his best record in 2001; won 62 matches and lost just 15 in the entire season. He couldn’t surpass the figure of 50 for the rest of his career. In the latest season, the 33-year-old Argentine dropped to 176th
rank in the world after a dismal run that witnessed 12 defeats and just six victories. He lost in the opening round of the Heineken Open; won a couple of matches at the Australian Open before exiting the VTR Open at the semi-final stage. Chela won the Davis
Cup singles Rubbers for his country in February but couldn’t deliver at the professional stage at all.
The 176th ranked Argentine lost in the first round of the Copa Claro before registering a rare victory at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel. He was unable to register a single victory in the following seven tournaments including
BNP Paribas Open (Indian Wells), Sony Ericsson Open (Miami), Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, Mutua Madrid Open, Italian Open, French Open and the Wimbledon Championships.
After losing an incredibly tiring match at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, Chela decided to call it a day. He played five sets against the Slovak tennis ace, Martin Klizan; lost the opening phase but bounced back to tie the set
scores at one apiece. He lost the third set tie-breaker but clasped the fourth set with a comprehensive score line to enforce the decider into play. The final set elongated to 20 games which was finally won by Klizan (11-9) who happened to be the final pro
contestant for Chela.
The Argentine didn’t take part in any event after Wimbledon loss until he finally decided to announce his retirement on 3rd December, 2012.
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