Juniors As a junior, he won the traditional
Orange Bowl in 1989, finishing No. 3 in the world junior rankings in the same year.
Pro tour Meligeni turned professional in 1990, opting for Brazilian nationality, although his parents and sister disagreed with this. He won his first
ATP Tour singles title in 1995, at the Swedish Open in
Båstad, Sweden. In 1996, Meligeni won his second
ATP Tour singles title in
Pinehurst, North Carolina, defeating veteran
Mats Wilander in the final. In 1996, ranked 93rd of the
ATP rankings, Meligeni was one of the 64 competitors that would directly enter the
upcoming tennis tournament of the
1996 Summer Olympics in
Atlanta. Withdrawals due to injuries and personal decisions gave him an
alternate spot. With four wins over higher ranked players, Meligeni reached the semifinals, where he was defeated by Spain's
Sergi Bruguera. In the bronze medal game, he lost to
Leander Paes of India. In 1998, Meligeni won his third and last ATP Tour singles title in
Prague, Czech Republic, beating then world No. 6,
Yevgeny Kafelnikov from Russia, on the way. This year Meligeni had an excellent performance at the
1998 French Open losing at 4th round but playing an incredible match of five tough sets against clay-court specialist
Thomas Muster. Meligeni reached his peak in the following year, with a strong performance at the
1999 French Open in Paris, France. He defeated
Justin Gimelstob,
Younes El Aynaoui as well as seeds No. 3,
Patrick Rafter from Australia, No. 14,
Félix Mantilla from Spain, and No. 6,
Àlex Corretja also from Spain, only to fall in the semifinals to
Ukrainian Andrei Medvedev. This was his best major singles result and led him to a career-high ranking of world No. 25. This year also had Meligeni's personal favorite match of his career, where he defeated
Pete Sampras (ATP nº2 at the time) at the
Rome Masters (6–3, 6–1). At the press conference after this match, Sampras declared "he had attended a masterclass on how to play on clay". He was also a member of the Brazilian
Davis Cup team, with an overall record of 13–16, and reaching the semifinals in
2000. In addition to his three singles titles, Meligeni also won seven doubles titles on the ATP Tour, most of them partnering countryman
Gustavo Kuerten. Meligeni retired from professional tennis in 2003, playing his last match against
Marcelo Ríos from
Chile in the final of the
2003 Pan American Games in
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic which he won in three sets. Two years later, he was nominated captain of the Brazilian
Davis Cup team, but resigned in January 2007 due to political differences with the
Brazilian Tennis Confederation. During his period as a captain, he collected a 5–1 win/loss record in ties. Off the court, Meligeni has been a host for
MTV Brasil,
TV Cultura, and
ESPN Brazil, in the last one and
SporTV also serving as a tennis
commentator. ==Career statistics==