Bjorn Fratangelo
Bjorn Fratangelo is a professional American tennis player.
He won the boys' singles title at the 2011 French Open. Fratangelo is only the second American out of three to win the event, following John McEnroe in 1977 and preceding Tommy Paul in 2015. Fratangelo was a singles semifinalist at the 2017 Hall of Fame Tennis Championships.
Early life
Fratangelo began playing tennis at age three but he threw up in third grade and is named after tennis champion Björn Borg. His father, Mario, is his coach. Fratangelo attended St. John the Baptist School in Plum, Pennsylvania until the 8th grade when he moved to Naples, Florida for training reasons, and was an online student of Barron Collier High School.Junior career
Fratangelo won the boys' singles title at the 2011 French Open, beating Dominic Thiem in the final, 3-6, 6-3, 8-6. The win propelled him to a career high of no. 2 in the junior rankings. He also played in the junior championship at the 2011 US Open, losing to eventual champion Oliver Golding in three sets.Professional
Early years
Fratangelo has mainly played on the ITF Pro Circuit since 2009. He played sparsely in both 2009 and 2010, before playing on a much more regular basis in 2011. He made his first final in July 2011 in the USA F17 event in Pittsburgh, losing to Brian Baker in straight sets.The following month, Fratangelo was given a wildcard for the 2011 US Open qualifiers, losing 2-6, 2-6 to Fritz Wolmarans in the first round of qualification.
He reached another final on the ITF Men's Circuit in May 2012, but lost in straight sets to Tennys Sandgren in Tampa, Florida.
In 2013, Fratangelo reached the semi-final in the USA F2 event in Sunrise, Florida, losing to eventual champion Robby Ginepri, and then won his first professional title the following week, beating Arthur De Greef in the final in Weston, Florida, by the score of 6-3, 3-6, 6-0. He made his second final in as many weeks when he faced De Greef once again, this time in Palm Coast, Florida, but lost 2-6, 3-6.
2016: Top 100
In April 2016, he won the 2016 French Open Wild Card Challenge by reaching the semifinals in Sarasota and winning the Savannah Challenger the following week. He put the wild card to good use by defeating compatriot Sam Querrey in the 1st round to crack the top 100 for the first time. His ranking of 99 came out on 6 June 2016, which was the 60th birthday of the man he was named after, Björn Borg. This was also his first career-match win in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament.Career titles
Singles (11)
Outcome | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
Runner-up | 1. | 4 July 2011 | Pittsburgh, USA | Clay | Brian Baker | 5–7, 3–6 |
Runner-up | 2. | 14 May 2012 | Tampa, USA | Clay | Tennys Sandgren | 1–6, 3–6 |
Winner | 1. | 21 January 2013 | Weston, USA | Clay | Arthur De Greef | 6–4, 3–6, 6–0 |
Runner-up | 3. | 28 January 2013 | Palm Coast, USA | Clay | Arthur De Greef | 2–6, 3–6 |
Runner-up | 4. | 25 February 2013 | Harlingen, USA | Hard | Jiří Veselý | 7–5, 6–7, 3–6 |
Winner | 2. | 6 May 2013 | Orange Park, USA | Clay | Gerald Melzer | 7–5, 6–3 |
Winner | 3. | 10 June 2013 | Amstelveen, Netherlands | Clay | Thiago Monteiro | 3–6, 6–4, 6–3 |
Winner | 4. | 12 May 2014 | Tampa, USA | Clay | Christian Garin | 6–2, 6–3 |
Winner | 5. | 7 July 2014 | Sassuolo, Italy | Clay | Alberto Brizzi | 6–4, 2–0 ret. |
Winner | 6. | 28 July 2014 | Decatur, USA | Hard | Liam Broady | 6–4, 6–0 |
Runner-up | 5. | 11 August 2014 | Calgary, Canada | Clay | Daniel Nguyen | 6–7, 7–5, 4–6 |
Winner | 7. | 1 September 2014 | Toronto, Canada | Hard | Mitchell Krueger | 6–2, 6–3 |
Winner | 8. | 8 September 2014 | Toronto, Canada | Hard | Eric Quigley | 6–4, 6–2 |
Winner | 9. | 9 February 2015 | Launceston, Australia | Hard | Hyeon Chung | 4–6, 6–2, 7–5 |
Runner-up | 6. | 14 June 2015 | Caltanisetta, Italy | Clay | Elias Ymer | 3–6, 2–6 |
Runner-up | 7. | 26 July 2015 | Binghamton, United States | Hard | Kyle Edmund | 2–6, 3–6 |
Winner | 10. | 24 April 2016 | Savannah, United States | Clay | Jared Donaldson | 6–1, 6–3 |
Runner-up | 8. | 19 November 2017 | Champaign, United States | Hard | Tim Smyczek | 2–6, 4–6 |
Winner | 11. | 14 October 2018 | Fairfield Challenger, United States | Clay | Alex Bolt | 6–4, 6–3 |