Mariana Soncini
Mariana Soncini is the wife of retired tennis player Gustavo Kuerten, the Brazilian tennis champion, Global Ambassador For International Tennis Hall Of Fame and whose trademark was drawing a heart in the clay with his racquet.
Mariana Soncini’s former World No. 1 husband Gustavo Kuerten aka Guga a three-time French Open champion was born September 20, 1976 in Florianopolis, Brazil one of three sons born to Alice Kuerten and amateur tennis player Aldo Kuerten whose sudden death (heart attack in 1985 while arbitrated a tennis match) profoundly impacted the life of a then eight-year-old Guga. Gustavo was gifted by the skills and health his younger brother Guilherme lacked, his younger brother was born with irreparable brain damage, and suffered from severe physical disability and mental retardation the result of prolonged oxygen deprivation during birth. Guilherme Kuertens passed away in 2007, victim of respiratory failure. He was 28 years old.
Kuerten conquered his first Grand Slam title at the 1997 French Open, he was eliminated during the quarterfinals at Wimbledon and US Open in 1999 but defended his French Open title in 2000 and 2001. He was cut short from winning the US Open in 2001 and a series of injuries in the years that followed took away his status as a top world player. He made an attempt to win more titles in 2006, but he was eliminated in the first round of the Brazil Open and another injury forced him to withdraw from the Miami and Indian Wells.
He set his mind that 2007 would he the year of his great comeback, but tragedy struck him when his little bro Guilherme passed away in November. Guga retired in 2008, after playing his last match at Roland Garros wearing his lucky shirt, the same shirt he wore when he won his first Roland Garros’ title in 1997.
Mariana Soncini started dating her husband Guga Kuerten in 2008, they got married two years later on November 3, 2010 on the same day Guilherme Kuerten would have celebrated his 29th birthday, after their low-key wedding where only their families were invited the newlyweds spent their honeymoon in Recife.
Gustavo and wife Mariana have two beautiful children together. Mariana gave birth to the couple’s first child, Maria Augusta Kuerten on February 7, 2012 and to their son Luis Felipe on June 9, 2013.
