Player data updated: 2026-10-17 16:37 UTC

Franco Merlone

ITA Age 68 Plays: Right-Handed ATP Tour years active: 1978–1980

Franco Merlone represented Italy on the ATP Tour and reached a career high of No. 224. TennisDB's records show a singles record of 4–4 and no singles titles.

Peak singles rank

224 (Dec 22, 1980)

Elo peak

1578 (27th percentile)

Singles record

4–4 (50.0%)

Singles titles

Records cover recorded main-draw singles results in TennisDB's ATP event archive, including credited walkovers; qualifying is shown separately below.

Jump to section

ATP Matches full match log →

Franco Merlone's recent, live, and scheduled ATP matches
Opponent	Score	Result	H2H	Match Data	Date	Round	Tournament	Category	Surface
Guillermo Vilas #4	2-6 1-6	L	H2H	Match data	Sep 13, 1980*	SF	Palermo	ATP 250	Clay
Phil Dent #34	5-7 6-4 7-5	W	H2H	Match data	Sep 13, 1980*	QF	Palermo	ATP 250	Clay
Rod Frawley #55	6-3 6-4	W	H2H	Match data	Sep 12, 1980*	R16	Palermo	ATP 250	Clay
Bruno Capineri	3-6 6-2 7-5	W	H2H	Match data	Sep 11, 1980*	R32	Palermo	ATP 250	Clay
Guillermo Vilas #4	2-6 3-6	L	H2H	Match data	May 21, 1980*	R64	Italian Open	ATP 500	Clay

Rivals all rivalries →

Franco Merlone's most-played ATP rivals
Opponent	W	L	M	Last Played	H2H
Guillermo Vilas	0	2	2	Sep 13, 1980	H2H
Phil Dent	1	0	1	Sep 13, 1980	H2H
Rod Frawley	1	0	1	Sep 12, 1980	H2H
Bruno Capineri	1	0	1	Sep 11, 1980	H2H
Gene Mayer	0	1	1	Mar 30, 1979	H2H

Career Results

Franco Merlone career results by season
Season	Age	W	L	M	Win %	Start Rank	End Rank
1978	20	0	1	1	0.0%	429	357
1979	21	1	1	2	50.0%	257	257
1980	22	3	2	5	60.0%	224	224
Career		4	4	8	50.0%	—	—

Career Results by Surface

Franco Merlone career results by season and surface
Season	Age	Hard				Clay				Grass				Carpet				Total
Season	Age	W	L	M	Win %	W	L	M	Win %	W	L	M	Win %	W	L	M	Win %	W	L	M	Win %
1978	20	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	1	1	0.0%	0	1	1	0.0%
1979	21	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	1	1	2	50.0%	1	1	2	50.0%
1980	22	—	—	—	—	3	2	5	60.0%	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	3	2	5	60.0%
Career	—	—	—	—	—	3	2	5	60.0%	—	—	—	—	1	2	3	33.3%	4	4	8	50.0%

Career Results by Opponent Rank

Franco Merlone career results by season and opponent rank
Season	Age	1-10				11-30				31-100				100+				Total
Season	Age	W	L	M	Win %	W	L	M	Win %	W	L	M	Win %	W	L	M	Win %	W	L	M	Win %
1978	20	0	0	—	—	0	1	1	0.0%	0	0	—	—	0	0	—	—	0	1	1	0.0%
1980	22	0	2	2	0.0%	0	0	—	—	2	0	2	100.0%	0	0	—	—	2	2	4	50.0%
Career		0	2	2	0.0%	0	1	1	0.0%	2	0	2	100.0%	0	0	—	—	2	3	5	40.0%

Opponent ranking data available for 5/8 (62.5%) of Franco Merlone's ATP main draw matches.

Advanced Stats

Franco Merlone advanced statistics by season
Season	Age	Elo	P+	Serve+	Return+	PD	TPW%	Hard Elo	Clay Elo	Grass Elo	Set Win %	Set Margin	Dec. Set	Tiebreak	Pressure+	Schedule
1978	20	1497	101.7	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0.0%	-3.50	—	—	—	-0.11
1979	21	1512	100.5	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	40.0%	-1.60	1–0	1–0	—	+0.20
1980	22	1576	127.4	—	—	—	—	—	+20	—	50.0%	-0.50	2–0	—	—	-0.14
Career		1578	115.8	—	—	—	—	—	+20	—	42.1%	-1.11	3–0 (100%)	1–0	—	-0.63

Tournament Results by Category

ATP 500

Franco Merlone ATP 500 results by season
Season	Age	ITA	W-L Win %
1980	22	R64	0–1 (0%)
W-L		0–1 (0%)	0–1 (0%)

ATP 250

Franco Merlone ATP 250 results by season
Season	Age	BOL	MIL	PAL	W-L Win %
1978	20	R32	—	—	0–1 (0%)
1979	21	—	R16	—	1–1 (50%)
1980	22	—	—	SF	3–1 (75%)
W-L		0–1 (0%)	1–1 (50%)	3–1 (75%)	4–3 (57%)

Results show the best round reached per tournament and season.

ATP Ranking History full ranking history →

Career high

224

Career-high date

Dec 22, 1980

First Top 100

—

First Top 50

—

First Top 20

—

First Top 10

—

Ranking History Matrix

Franco Merlone ranking history by month and season
Season	Age	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
1978	20	—	—	—	—	—	—	429	—	—	—	—	357
1979	21	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	257
1980	22	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	224
1983	25	273	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1984	26	527	—	—	—	—	744	—	—	—	—	—	—

Similar Players

Other ATP players with comparable peak level, era, career record, and career scale.

Franco Merlone's most statistically similar ATP players
Player	Country	Peak ranking	Peak Elo	M	W	L	Win %	Prize money	Years	Rivalries	Match log
Vadim Borisov	RUS	#239	1,525	9	4	5	44.4%	—	1976–1980	Rivalries	Match log
Jim Osborne	USA	#211	1,811	239	118	121	49.4%	—	1968–1982	Rivalries	Match log
Konstantin Pugayev	RUS	#281	1,528	6	3	3	50.0%	$750	1973–1982	Rivalries	Match log
Reinhart Probst	GER	#276	1,577	16	8	8	50.0%	—	1975–1980	Rivalries	Match log
Mike Harrington	USA	#287	1,541	6	3	3	50.0%	—	1978–1979	Rivalries	Match log
John Muller	RSA	#229	1,517	6	2	4	33.3%	—	1975–1980	Rivalries	Match log
Gerard Wimmer	AUT	#206	1,567	11	4	7	36.4%	—	1974–1981	Rivalries	Match log
Christoph Meyer	SUI	#301	1,544	6	3	3	50.0%	$1,665	1970–1985	Rivalries	Match log
Rory Chappell	RSA	#195	1,559	21	8	13	38.1%	—	1976–1983	Rivalries	Match log
Larry Loeb	USA	#312	1,516	2	1	1	50.0%	—	1979–1979	Rivalries	Match log
Fernando Vasquez	ESP	#310	1,516	2	1	1	50.0%	—	1978–1978	Rivalries	Match log
Tim Clements	AUS	#275	1,519	5	2	3	40.0%	—	1977–1980	Rivalries	Match log

Frequently Asked Questions

How old is Franco Merlone?: Franco Merlone is 68 years old, born on December 16, 1957.
Which country does Franco Merlone represent?: Franco Merlone represents Italy in TennisDB's ATP records.
Is Franco Merlone left-handed or right-handed?: Franco Merlone plays right-handed.
How many Grand Slam singles titles has Franco Merlone won?: Franco Merlone has not won a Grand Slam singles title.
How many Masters 1000 titles has Franco Merlone won?: TennisDB does not group any of Franco Merlone's titles under the modern Masters 1000 category.
What is Franco Merlone's highest ATP ranking?: Franco Merlone's career-high ATP singles ranking is world No. 224, first achieved on December 22, 1980.
What is Franco Merlone's career win-loss record?: Franco Merlone has a career ATP singles record of 4 wins and 4 losses (50.0%).
Which seasons of Franco Merlone's career appear in TennisDB?: Franco Merlone appears in TennisDB's ATP main-tour match records from 1978 through 1980.
Who has Franco Merlone faced most often?: Franco Merlone's most frequent opponent is Guillermo Vilas, with a head-to-head record of 0–2 across 2 meetings.