Vanessa Menga is a former professional tennis

Tennis

Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

 player from Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

.

Born in São Paulo

São Paulo

São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...

, she started playing tennis at the age of 4, when she went to an academy along with her father. At the age of 14, Menga went to train tennis in Barcelona

Barcelona

Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...

, where she won her first doubles championship.

She's the only Brazilian female tennis player to play in two Summer Olympic Games

Summer Olympic Games

The Summer Olympic Games or the Games of the Olympiad are an international multi-sport event, occurring every four years, organized by the International Olympic Committee. Medals are awarded in each event, with gold medals for first place, silver for second and bronze for third, a tradition that...

, Atlanta 1996

1996 Summer Olympics

The 1996 Summer Olympics of Atlanta, officially known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad and unofficially known as the Centennial Olympics, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States....

 (doubles with Miriam D’Agostini, falling in Round 1), and Sydney 2000

2000 Summer Olympics

The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...

 (with Joana Cortez, falling in Round 2). Menga was also in two Pan American Games

Pan American Games

The Pan-American or Pan American Games are a major event in the Americas featuring summer and formerly winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Pan American Games are the second largest multi-sport event after the Summer Olympics...

, Mar Del Plata 1995

1995 Pan American Games

The 12th Pan American Games were held in Mar del Plata, Argentina, from March 12 to March 26, 1995. After 44 years, this was the Pan American Games first return to the country that hosted the first Games, in 1951.-Overview:...

 and Winnipeg 1999

1999 Pan American Games

The 1999 Pan American Games, officially the XIII Pan American Games or the 13th Pan American Games, was a major international multi-sport event that was held from July 23-August 8, 1999 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Approximately 5,000 athletes from 42 nations participated at the games. The 1999...

, where she won the doubles Gold medal with Joana Cortez.

In 2001, Menga posed for Playboy Brazil

Playboy magazine (Brazilian issue)

The Brazilian issue of Playboy is a local franchise of Playboy magazine published in Brazil. The original edition of the magazine was created by Hugh Hefner in the 1950s in the United States.-History:...

. In 2003, she retired from tennis after a motorcycle accident which left her for eight months without playing. Menga now has an institute in São Paulo where she teaches tennis to over 200 children, and participates in other charity projects.

External links

• Official Website
• Vanessa Menga at the Women's Tennis Association
  Women's Tennis Association
  The Women's Tennis Association , founded in 1973 by Billie Jean King, is the principal organizing body of Women's Professional Tennis. It governs the WTA Tour which is the worldwide professional tennis tour for women. Its counterpart organization in the men's professional game is the Association of...
  
  
• Vanessa Menga at the International Tennis Federation
  International Tennis Federation
  The International Tennis Federation is the governing body of world tennis, made up of 205 national tennis associations.It was established as the International Lawn Tennis Federation by 12 national associations meeting at a conference in Paris, France on 1 March 1913...