Vanessa Menga

Vanessa Menga
Country (sports) Brazil
ResidenceSão Paulo
Born (1976-10-10) 10 October 1976 (age 47)
São Paulo
Height1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)
Turned pro1995
Retired2003
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money$139,973
Singles
Career record185–186
Career titles3 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 163 (22 February 1999)
Doubles
Career record267–148
Career titles33 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 93 (7 June 1999)
Grand Slam doubles results
French Open3R (1999)
Wimbledon1R (1999)
US Open1R (1999)
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Wimbledon2R (1999)
Vanessa Menga
Medal record
Women's Tennis
Representing  Brazil
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place 1999 Winnipeg Women's Doubles

Vanessa Menga (born 10 October 1976) is a former professional tennis player from Brazil.

Born in São Paulo, 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, where she won her first doubles championship.

She's the only Brazilian female tennis player to play in two Summer Olympic Games, Atlanta 1996 (doubles with Miriam D’Agostini, falling in round 1), and Sydney 2000 (with Joana Cortez, falling in round 2). Menga was also in two Pan American Games, Mar Del Plata 1995 and Winnipeg 1999, where she won the doubles gold medal with Joana Cortez.

In 2001, Menga posed for Playboy Brazil. 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.