Swiss player Marco Chiudinelli pictured above after his win against Marat Safin in the Thailand Open.

Marco as of this date is ranked No 116 in the World, and earlier this year won the Tenerife ITF Event in the Abama Hotel, when he had a ranking of 304.

In the Tenerife event he won €4,300 and then in the US Open he won through 3 qualifying rounds and eventually lost to Davydenko, and so won a mere $48,000.

This next paragraph was taken from his web site -

In the years that followed, I was able to continuously improve my ranking and, at the beginning of 2005, I came close to breaking into the top 100. But then, only a couple of months later, I faced a major setback - I was forced to have an operation due to great pain in my shoulder. As a result, I was unable to play in any tournaments for 10 months and dropped back to the 795th ranking. Since my comeback last spring, however, I have already gained a ranking in the top 150 through my strong performances.

This is what effort and dedication can do for you.

Well done Marco - have to look out for him in 2010.