2005 IN REVIEW

The Argentine finished in Top 50 in doubles for fourth straight year at No. 34, highlighted by his fourth career ATP title in New Haven (w/Rodriguez) in August…Teamed most of season with countryman Martin Rodriguez, compiling a 24-24 match record…They reached final at Vina del Mar in February and SF in Vienna in October…They also advanced to QF in eight other tournaments.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

1997-Reached second career QF in debut at Zagreb before losing to Sanchez...Qualified in Miami and went on to defeat Blanco, Reneberg and Alonso en route to RD 16 (l. to Bruguera)...Qualified at Roland Garros where he defeated Schranz for first career Grand Slam victory...1998-Best results came by reaching final in Weiden and Toluca Challengers, while reaching SF in Puebla and Guadalajara...1999-Finished year on positive note by reaching finals in Caracas and Mexico City Challengers...Also reached two Challenger SF and four QF...Lost in 1st RD at Rotterdam, Chennai and Bournemouth... 2000-Won Zagreb Challenger title in May...Began playing more doubles events and reached two finals...Reached Mexico City final (w/ M. Rodriguez) and San Marino final (w/J. Waite)...Reached 3rd RD at Roland Garros (w/ M. Rodriguez)…Finished in Top 100 for first time at No. 64...2001- Won only singles match of year in Bogota where he defeated M. Charpentier in 1st RD before losing in next match...Won Brasilia Challenger title and reached final in Florianopolis...Compiled 18-14 record in doubles and 20-7 Challenger record...Reached final in Salvador (w/Haygarth)...Won Challenger titles at Brasilia (w/ Olguin) and Florianopolis and Guadalajara (w/Rodriguez)...2002-Won a career-best 36 doubles matches and two doubles titles to finish at No. 26 in doubles...In singles, reached QF in Costa do Sauipe (l. to Kuerten)...Won first career doubles title in Vina del Mar and captured title following week in Buenos Aires (both w/M. Rodriguez)...Also finalist in Barcelona (w/Arnold) and Stuttgart (w/Adams)…Also (w/Arnold) in ATP World Team Cup action, won three of five matches to help Argentina to victory...Earned a career-best $288,578…2003- The Argentine won 30 doubles matches for a second consecutive season, teaming most of year with countryman Martin Rodriguez...They earned their first Tennis Masters Cup appearance with consistent results throughout season and capped it off by reaching SF in Houston...They defeated No. 2 Bhupathi-Mirnyi in opening round robin play and went 1-2 in Blue Group before falling to eventual champions Bryan-Bryan... Although they failed to reach an ATP final, they advanced to SF at Australian Open, QF at Roland Garros and 3rd RD at Wimbledon ...All three opponents were finalists in each respective Grand Slam event...They were also SF in Acapulco, Estoril, Barcelona, Kitzbuehel and Stockholm...Of their 29 losses during year, 14 came against opponents competing in Tennis Masters Cup...Finished No. 21 individually in doubles...In limited singles play, posted a 5-6 record, highlighted by first career ATP SF in Costa do Sauipe (ret. vs. Schalken)…2004-Teamed with countryman Martin Rodriguez to win at least 30 matches for a third straight season...The pair also finished in Top 10 of ATP Doubles Race for third straight year at No. 8…Qualified for Tennis Masters Cup but went winless (0-3) in round robin play…During year they reached five finals (1-4)…Opened season with SF at Australian Open for second year in a row, losing to eventual champions Llodra-Santoro…Won lone title of season in Valencia (d. Lopez-Lopez)…Reached final at AMS Monte Carlo (l. to Henman-Zimonjic) and QF at Roland Garros, losing to eventual champions Malisse-O. Rochus…Reached 2nd RD at Athens Olympics before losing to eventual champion Gonzalez-Massu…Reached finals in Delray Beach (l. Paes-Stepanek) and in Palermo (l. to Arnold-Hood)...Finished a year-end best No. 19.

PERSONAL

Full name is Gaston Ariel Etlis...Began playing tennis at age nine...The No. 1 16s junior in South America in 1990...Reached Orange Bowl 18s final in 1992, losing to Vince Spadea...That year, finished No. 9 in singles and No. 17 in doubles in world junior rankings...Enjoys playing soccer and favorite team is River Plate in Buenos Aires...Played Olympics in 1996 (l. in 1st RD)...Has a 1-1 career Davis Cup singles record.