|
- published: 08 May 2013
- author: nikolakostic40
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2012) |
Berdych at the 2011 US Open |
|
Country | Czech Republic |
---|---|
Residence | Monte Carlo, Monaco[1] |
Born | (1985-09-17) September 17, 1985 (age 26)[1] Valašské Meziříčí, Czech Republic[1] |
Height | 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)[1] |
Weight | 91 kg (200 lb)[1] |
Turned pro | 2002[1] |
Plays | Right-handed[1] (two-handed backhand) |
Career prize money | $11,202,961[1] |
Singles | |
Career record | 334-196[1] (61.59%) |
Career titles | 7 [1] |
Highest ranking | No. 6 (October 18, 2010)[1] |
Current ranking | No. 7 (May 14, 2012)[1] |
Grand Slam Singles results | |
Australian Open | QF (2011, 2012) |
French Open | SF (2010) |
Wimbledon | F (2010) |
US Open | 4R (2004, 2006, 2007) |
Other tournaments | |
Tour Finals | SF (2011) |
Olympic Games | QF (2004) |
Doubles | |
Career record | 75-91[1] |
Career titles | 1 |
Highest ranking | No. 54 (April 10, 2006)[1] |
Current ranking | No. 112 (April 16, 2012)[1] |
Last updated on: April 19, 2012. |
Tomáš Berdych (Czech pronunciation: [ˈtomaːʃ ˈbɛrdɪx]; born September 17, 1985, in Valašské Meziříčí) is a professional tennis player from the Czech Republic. His most notable achievements are reaching the final of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, and the semi-finals of the 2010 French Open.[2] He defeated the Croatian player Ivan Ljubičić in five sets to win the Paris Masters (which is a part of the ATP Masters 1000) in 2005. He has since reached the finals of the Miami Masters in 2010 and the Madrid Open in 2012, losing to Andy Roddick and Roger Federer, respectively. He reached a career high of World No. 6 on October 18, 2010.
Contents |
Berdych turned pro in 2002, winning two Futures events, both in his country of the Czech Republic, in Czech F8 defeating Pavel Šnobel in the finals 6–2, 6–3, and in Czech F5 defeating Ladislav Chramosta 6–4, 6–3.
In 2003, Berdych won three Futures events in Great Britain F5 over Peter Clarke 6–1, 6–4, in the Challenger in Budaors, Hungary over Ivaylo Traykov 6–2, 6–3, and Challenger of Graz, Austria Julian Knowle 6–4, 5–7, 6–2. He also reached the final of Great Britain F1, losing to Wesley Moodie 6–7, 6–7. He also reached six other semifinals. He won his first ATP Tour match in the 2003 US Open over Tomas Behrend 5–7, 6–3, 6–2, 6–3, but lost in the next round to Juan Ignacio Chela 6–2, 1–6, 4–6, 3–6.
In 2004, Berdych focused on Challengers and the ATP Tour. In Challengers, he won in Besançon, France over Julien Benneteau 6–3, 6–1, and in Braunschweig, Germany over Daniel Elsner 4–6, 6–1, 6–4. On the ATP Tour, he began with the 2004 Australian Open, defeating Nicolas Mahut 6–4, 6–2, 5–7, 6–3, before losing to fourth seed Andre Agassi 0–6, 2–6, 4–6. He also earned victories over Galo Blanco, Björn Phau, and Potito Starace on the ATP Tour. He made his debut in the 2003 French Open and at Wimbledon, but lost in the first rounds.
He then played at the 2004 Summer Olympics. He won in the first round against Florian Mayer 6–3, 7–5. He caused a major upset in the second round, defeating world no. 1 Roger Federer 4–6, 7–5, 7–5, despite having only five ATP Tour victories under his belt. He went on to defeat 15th seed Tommy Robredo 7–6, 4–6, 8–6, in the round of 16. He was finally defeated in the quarterfinals by Taylor Dent 4–6, 1–6.
After his run at the Olympics, he reached the fourth round of the 2004 US Open with victories over Jonas Björkman 6–3, 2–6, 6–2, 1–6, 6–3, Tuomas Ketola 6–3, 7–6, 6–3, and Mikhail Youzhny 2–6, 6–1, 6–3, 4–6, 6–1, before losing to Tommy Haas 6–7, 1–6, 5–7. He won his first title in Palermo, defeating David Ferrer 7–5, 6–4, in the semifinals and Filippo Volandri 6–3, 6–3, in the finals
The start of Berdych's 2005 season brought losses in the first rounds in Adelaide, Sydney, and the Australian Open. He then lost in second rounds of Marseille, Rotterdam, and Dubai. He then recorded his first back-to-back win in Indian Wells, including a win over Mario Ančić, but lost to Ivan Ljubičić. He then lost in the first rounds of Miami, Estoril, Rome, and London. He also reached the second rounds of Monte Carlo, Hamburg, the French Open, and Nottingham.
He then made it to the third round at Wimbledon, losing to Taylor Dent. He then had a good run and a runner-up finish in the 2005 Swedish Open to Rafael Nadal, losing 2–6, 6–2, 6–4, the quarterfinals of the 2005 MercedesCup, losing to Nikolay Davydenko 4–6, 2–6, and the semifinals of the 2005 Legg Mason Tennis Classic, losing to James Blake 4–6, 3–6. He then made it to the second round of the 2005 Rogers Cup and Cincinnati, after upsetting Rafael Nadal in the first round, and the third round of the 2005 US Open. He then lost early in Vienna, Madrid, Palermo, and Basel. At the 2005 Paris Masters, he won his first career ATP Masters Series title. En route to the final, he beat Jiří Novák, second seed Guillermo Coria, 13th seed Juan Carlos Ferrero, seventh seed Gastón Gaudio, eighth seed Radek Štěpánek, and sixth seed Ivan Ljubičić in the final 6–3, 6–4, 3–6, 4–6, 6–4.
In 2006, Berdych started the year at the 2006 Next Generation Adelaide International, where he reached the semifinals, losing to Xavier Malisse 4–6, 0–6. However, he lost early in Sydney, the Australian Open, Marseille, Rotterdam, and Dubai. He then made it to the fourth round of the 2006 Pacific Life Open, where he defeated Lleyton Hewitt, before losing to Marcos Baghdatis, and the third round of the 2006 NASDAQ–100 Open, losing to David Nalbandian. He then lost in the second rounds at Barcelona and Monte Carlo, and the third round at Rome. He then reached his first French Open fourth round, losing to Roger Federer 3–6, 2–6, 3–6.
He then reached his first grass-court final at the 2006 Gerry Weber Open, falling to world no. 1 Roger Federer 0–6, 7–6, 2–6, and the fourth round at Wimbledon, once again losing to Federer 3–6, 3–6, 4–6. He then made it to the semifinals at the 2006 Mercedes Cup, losing to eventual champion David Ferrer. He then played in the 2006 Rogers Cup, where he upset Rafael Nadal 6–1, 3–6, 6–2, before losing to Richard Gasquet in the quarterfinals. He then made it to his third straight fourth round in a Major at the 2006 US Open, losing to James Blake.
He then reached the finals of the 2006 Kingfisher Airlines Tennis Open, where he lost to Dmitry Tursunov 3–6, 6–4, 6–7. In the 2006 Madrid Masters, Berdych delivered back-to-back upsets over former world no. 1 Andy Roddick 7–6, 6–3, and Rafael Nadal 6–3, 7–6, but lost to Fernando González in the semifinals. In the 2006 BNP Paribas Masters as the defending champion, he lost in the quarterfinals to Dominik Hrbatý 4–6, 6–1, 2–6. In earlier rounds, he defeated Olivier Rochus 6–7, 6–4, 6–2, and Robby Ginepri 6–3, 6–3.
Berdych defeated Rafael Nadal in Madrid 6–3, 7–6. Berdych never found his rhythm in his semifinal match against Fernando González as he slumped to a 3–6, 1–6 defeat.
Berdych began the year with a quarterfinal in the 2007 Medibank International and the fourth round of the 2007 Australian Open, losing to world no. 3 Nikolay Davydenko. He then had early losses in Rotterdam, Dubai, Indian Wells, and Miami. He then reached the semifinals on clay in the Monte Carlo Masters event, his best result at the event, defeating Nicolás Almagro, Benjamin Becker, fifth seed Tommy Robredo, and Robin Söderling, before losing to second seed Rafael Nadal. He also made it to the semifinals of the 2007 BMW Open, losing to Mikhail Youzhny, 6–4, 6–3, despite not a dropping a set before the loss. He also made it to the quarterfinals of the 2007 Rome Masters. However, despite his good run on clay, he lost in the first round of the 2007 French Open to Guillermo García López, 5–7, 4–6, 4–6.
He then won his third ATP singles title in Halle, defeating Marcos Baghdatis 7–5, 6–4, and not dropping a set en route to the title. At Wimbledon, he made it to the quarterfinals in his best performance at a Grand Slam, defeating Nicolás Massú, Michaël Llodra, Hyung-Taik Lee, and 19th seed (35th-ranked) Jonas Björkman, before losing to Nadal again 6–7, 4–6, 2–6. In the Canadian Masters event, his first tournament since Wimbledon, as 10th seed and defending quarterfinalist, he lost in the first round to Robin Haase, who was making his Canadian debut. The following week in Cincinnati, as 10th seed, he made it to the third round, before losing to Nikolay Davydenko, after which he rose to a new career high of no. 9. He then made it through the fourth round at the 2007 US Open, retiring against Andy Roddick. He then reached the semifinals of the 2007 Thailand Open, losing to Benjamin Becker and the 2007 AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships, losing to Richard Gasquet. His last tournament of the year was the 2007 Paris Masters, losing to David Ferrer.
Berdych began 2008 by competing in the Hopman Cup, but his event was effected by a stomach virus. He then entered the 2008 Medibank International, being upset by Chris Guccione in the quarterfinals. Entering the Australian Open as 13th seed, he reached the fourth round, where he fell to Roger Federer 4–6, 6–7, 3–6. He had a bad run in Rotterdam, Dubai, and Indian Wells. However, in the 2008 Miami Masters, he made it through the semifinals, including a win over Juan Carlos Ferrero and not dropping a set en route, but he lost to Rafael Nadal 6–7, 2–6. He had a bad run on clay and grass, as he dropped out of the top 20 due to a sprained right ankle which caused him to miss the 2008 Monte Carlo Masters and the 2008 Rome Masters. He then reached the finals of the 2008 Swedish Open, losing to Tommy Robredo 4–6, 1–6. Representing his country at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Berdych advanced to the third round before being defeated by Roger Federer in their second meeting at an Olympics tennis tournament. He also had a bad run in North America, as he suffered early losses and a first-round loss in the 2008 US Open to Sam Querrey. He then made it to the semifinals of the 2008 Thailand Open, losing to Novak Djokovic. He then won his only title of the year in the 2008 AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships, with wins over four top-20 players: Tommy Robredo, Fernando González, Andy Roddick, and Juan Martín del Potro in the finals.
Berdych's season did not have a good start, as he had a 2–6 record, excluding the 2009 Australian Open, where he advanced to the fourth round to face Roger Federer. Berdych took a two sets to love lead over Federer, but ended by being defeated in a tough five-setter 6–4, 7–6, 4–6, 4–6, 2–6. He then competed in the Challenger in 2010 BMW Tennis Championship, where he lost to Robin Söderling in the finals. He then reached the fourth round of the 2009 Sony Ericsson Open, losing to Novak Djokovic after upsetting James Blake.
In the clay season, Berdych did not do well except for the 2009 French Open and the Masters as he lost in the first two rounds in all four events. He then reached the round of 16 at the 2009 Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell, losing to Fernando Verdasco 5–7, 7–5, 4–6, and he won his only title of the year and the only time he reached a result better than the quarterfinals in the 2009 BMW Open, defeating Mikhail Youzhny 6–4, 4–6, 7–6. In the 2009 Gerry Weber Open, he lost to Mischa Zverev 6–3, 2–6, 6–7, and at Wimbledon, he lost to eventual finalist Andy Roddick 6–7, 4–6, 3–6. He then lost in the first rounds of Stuttgart and the Rogers Masters, but reached the quarterfinals of 2009 Legg Mason Tennis Classic, losing to John Isner 3–6, 7–6, 2–6, and 2009 Western & Southern Financial Group Masters, losing to Rafael Nadal 4–6, 5–7.
In the US Open, he reached the round of 32, losing to Fernando González. He then reached the quarterfinals of the 2009 Proton Malaysian Open and the 2009 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships. He then suffered back-to-back losses to Gilles Simon at the 2009 Shanghai ATP Masters 1000 and the 2009 Valencia Open 500. He then reached the second round in Paris, losing to Tommy Robredo.
In the Davis Cup first-round tie against France, he won the opening match, defeating top-ranked Frenchman Gilles Simon and joined Radek Štěpánek to beat French duo Richard Gasquet and Michaël Llodra. He later helped his country to reach the Davis Cup final against Spain, after winning the semifinal tie 3–2 against Croatia. The tie ended 5–0 in favor of the defending champions, with Berdych losing to Nadal in the first rubber 5–7, 0–6, 2–6.
Berdych began the year at the 2010 Brisbane International, where he reached the semifinals, before losing to eventual champion Andy Roddick 6–1, 3–6, 4–6. He then suffered second-round upsets at the 2010 Medibank International Sydney to Peter Luczak and the 2010 Australian Open to Evgeny Korolev. He then recorded three straight quarterfinals in the 2010 SAP Open, once again losing to Andy Roddick 6–7, 6–7, at the 2010 Regions Morgan Keegan Championships upset by Ernests Gulbis 6–3, 3–6, 6–7, and the first Masters of the year at the 2010 BNP Paribas Open to Rafael Nadal 4–6, 6–7, after upsetting Fernando Verdasco 6–0, 6–3, en route.
In the 2010 Sony Ericsson Open, he stunned an error-filled top seed Roger Federer 6–4, 6–7, 7–6, in the round of 16, after saving a match point on Federer's serve in the tiebreak at 6–5, which he won 8–6. This was his second victory over Roger and ended an eight straight losing streak to the Swiss. He then went on to defeat Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 4–6, 7–6, 6–4, for a spot in the semifinals. Berdych overpowered fifth seed Robin Söderling in two sets in the semifinals 6–2, 6–2, but lost in the final to Roddick 5–7, 4–6.
He began his clay season at the 2010 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, losing to eventual finalist Fernando Verdasco 7–5, 3–6, 2–6, in the third round, after cruising through the first two rounds. At the 2010 Internazionali BNL d'Italia, he lost to Stanislas Wawrinka 6–2, 3–6, 6–7. At the 2010 BMW Open, he was upset by Philipp Petzschner 6–1, 3–6, 4–6, in the quarterfinals. He then withdrew from the 2010 Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open due to a right hip injury. He then represented Czech Republic at the 2010 ARAG World Team Cup and won all his three singles matches, but failed to reach the final after losing the tie against USA. In the 2010 French Open, Berdych enjoyed his best performance to date in a Grand Slam tournament. He reached the semifinals, where he was defeated by fifth seed Robin Söderling 3–6, 6–3, 7–5, 3–6, 3–6. En route to the semifinals, he defeated three seeded opponents in straight sets: John Isner in the third round, world no. 4 Andy Murray in the fourth round, and Mikhail Youzhny in the quarterfinals.
He reached his first career slam final at Wimbledon after beating Andrey Golubev and Benjamin Becker in straight sets, Denis Istomin in five, and Daniel Brands in four sets. He also defeated defending champion Roger Federer in four sets 6–4, 3–6, 6–1, 6–4, to record his second straight victory over the Swiss.[3] The win also made him only the fourth Czech-born man to reach the semifinals at Wimbledon, after Jaroslav Drobný, Jan Kodeš, and Ivan Lendl. In the semifinal match against Novak Djokovic, Berdych won in straight sets 6–3, 7–6, 6–3, to reach his first Grand Slam final, against world no. 1 Rafael Nadal. There, he lost to the Spaniard 3–6, 5–7, 4–6, to finish as runner-up.[4]
Afterwards, he played at the 2010 Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington as the top seed. He made the quarterfinals, after beating both Dmitry Tursunov and Andrey Golubev in three sets en route. However, he lost to Xavier Malisse 4–6, 6–3, 2–6, in the quarterfinal round.
At the 2010 Rogers Cup held in Toronto, he was seventh seed. He beat two Ukrainian players, Sergiy Stakhovsky 6–2, 6–4, (in the opening round) and Alexandr Dolgopolov 6–3, 6–7, 6–4, (in the third round) to reach the quarterfinals. There, he lost to Roger Federer 3–6, 7–5, 6–7, despite serving for the match at 5–3 in the third set while being two points away from victory numerous times.
At the 2010 US Open as seventh seed, Berdych was upset in the first round by Michaël Llodra, 6–7, 4–6, 4–6.
Appearing at the 2010 Proton Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur, he made the quarterfinals, where he lost to David Ferrer, 6–4, 5–7, 4–6. Berdych then made a first-round exit at the 2010 China Open, where he lost to Michael Berrer, 6–4, 5–7, 4–6.
At the 2010 Shanghai Rolex Masters as seventh seed, Berdych lost to Guillermo García López in the third round, 6–7, 3–6.
He then suffered two successive opening-round losses, first at the 2010 If Stockholm Open in Stockholm (Sweden) falling to Jarkko Nieminen for the first time, 1–6, 4–6, and at the 2010 Davidoff Swiss Indoors in Basel (Switzerland), losing to Tobias Kamke, 4–6, 1–6.
At the 2010 BNP Paribas Masters as fifth seed, Berdych lost to Nikolay Davydenko in the third round, 6–4, 6–7, 0–6. With Andy Roddick defeating Ernests Gulbis, while including Fernando Verdasco failing to make the final, Berdych automatically qualified for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, taking the sixth spot, which allowed him to make his first appearance at the year-end championships.
He was sixth seed at the 2010 ATP World Tour Finals. His lack of confidence showed in his opening round-robin loss to Novak Djokovic, 3–6, 3–6. However, as a surprise to many, Berdych somehow defeated Andy Roddick in the second round-robin match, 7–5, 6–3. In his last round-robin match, Berdych was defeated by Rafael Nadal in two sets, which meant that he could not advance to the semifinals.
Berdych began the year at the 2011 Aircel Chennai Open, where he reached the semifinals, before losing to eventual champion Stanislas Wawrinka 4–6, 1–6. At the 2011 Australian Open, Berdych advanced to the quarterfinals, where he was defeated by eventual champion Novak Djokovic 1–6, 6–7, 1–6.[5] He then recorded two straight quarterfinals and a semifinal in the 2011 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament, pulling out against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga citing injury, at the 2011 Open 13 falling to Marin Cilic 3–6, 4–6, and at the 2011 Dubai Tennis Championships, retiring with a thigh injury against the eventual champion, Novak Djokovic, whilst trailing 7–6, 2–6, 2–4.
At the 2011 Davis Cup World Group, the Czech Republic were defeated by Kazakhstan 2–3 meaning that the Czechs would have to go through the Play-offs. Berdych won his first singles rubber against Mikhail Kukushkin and in the doubles, Berdych and his partner, Lukáš Dlouhý, defeated Evgeny Korolev and Yuri Schukin, both in straight sets. In his second rubber, Berdych was beaten by Andrey Golubev 5–7, 7–5, 4–6, 2–6.
In the 2011 Sony Ericsson Open, Berdych reached the round of 16, after defeating Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo, Carlos Berlocq, and Florian Mayer, before falling to eventual finalist Rafael Nadal 2–6, 6–3, 3–6.
He began his clay season at the 2011 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, losing in the round of 16 to Ivan Ljubicic 4–6, 2–6. At the 2011 Mutua Madrid Open, Berdych reached the quarterfinals, before losing to Thomaz Bellucci 6–7, 3–6. At the 2011 Internazionali BNL d'Italia, he reached the quarterfinals, before falling to Richard Gasquet 6–4, 2–6, 4–6. At the 2011 Open de Nice Côte d'Azur, Berdych reached his first semifinal of the clay season, before losing to eventual champion Nicolás Almagro 4–6, 4–6.[6] At the 2011 French Open, Berdych was seeded sixth. In the first round, Berdych suffered a shocking loss to Stephane Robert 6–3, 6–3, 2–6, 2–6, 7–9.
In preparation for Wimbledon, Berdych played in the 2011 Gerry Weber Open held in Halle, Germany. In the first round, Berdych defeated Ruben Bemelmans 5–7, 7–6, 6–4, after saving three match points.[7] He then defeated Jan Hernych and Viktor Troicki in the second round and quarterfinals respectively, both in straight sets.[8] In the semifinals, he lost to Philipp Petzschner 6–7, 6–2, 3–6. At the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, Berdych won his first, second, and third-round matches in straight sets against Filippo Volandri,[9] Julien Benneteau, and Alex Bogomolov Jr.[10] respectively. In the fourth round, Berdych suffered a straight-set loss to Mardy Fish 6–7, 4–6, 4–6.
His next tournament was the 2011 Swedish Open, where he reached the semifinals, before losing to eventual champion Robin Soderling 1–6, 0–6.[11]
Berdych kicked off his US Open Series at the 2011 Rogers Cup. As he was seeded seventh, he received a bye into the second round. In the second round, he beat Alexandr Dolgopolov 4–6, 6–2, 6–3. From that match onward, Berdych changed his racket to the Head YouTek™ IG Instinct MP.[12] In the Round of 16, Berdych defeated Ivo Karlovic with the scoreline of 6–3, 7–6.[13] In the quarterfinals, Berdych fell to Janko Tipsarević 4–6, 4–6.
Berdych competed in the 2011 Western & Southern Open held in Cincinnati, United States. As the eighth seed, he received a bye into the second round. In the second round, Berdych beat Juan Mónaco 7–6, 6–0. In the third round, Berdych dispatched ninth seed Nicolás Almagro 6–2, 6–2. In the quarterfinals, Berdych stunned the two-time defending champion, Roger Federer 6–2, 7–6.[14] In the semifinals, Berdych faced world no. 1 Novak Djokovic. Berdych retired after losing the first set 5–7, citing injury to the right shoulder.[15]
The next tournament Berdych played in was the 2011 US Open, the final Grand Slam of 2011. In the first round, Berdych defeated French qualifier Romain Jouan 6–2, 7–6, 6–1.[16] In the second round, Berdych dominated against Fabio Fognini 7–5, 6–0, 6–0.[17] In the third round, Berdych retired against 20th seed, Janko Tipsarević, after re-aggravating the shoulder injury he suffered at the 2011 Western & Southern Open. He was trailing 4–6, 0–5 when he retired.[18]
Berdych played with the Czech Republic Davis Cup team against Romania in the 2011 Davis Cup World Group Play-offs. In his singles rubber, Berdych defeated Victor Crivoi 6–3, 6–3, 7–6.[19] Berdych then teamed up with Radek Štěpánek in the doubles rubber, and they defeated Marius Copil and Horia Tecău 3–6, 6–3, 6–0, 6–2. Štěpánek also won his singles rubber to guarantee the Czech Republic a spot in the 2012 Davis Cup World Group.[20][21]
After pulling out of the 2011 Proton Malaysian Open due to a recurring shoulder injury, Berdych competed at the 2011 China Open as the third seed. Berdych defeated Jürgen Melzer and Philipp Kohlschreiber in the first and second rounds, respectively, both in straight sets.[22] In the quarterfinals, Berdych dominated against Fernando Verdasco, thrashing him 6–1, 6–0.[23] Berdych reached his first final since the 2010 Wimbledon Championships after a hard-fought 6–4, 4–6, 6–1 victory over top seed, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.[24] Berdych won his sixth title of his career and his first title since the 2009 BMW Open, after defeating Marin Čilić in the final 3–6, 6–4, 6–1.[25]
Berdych's next tournament was the 2011 Shanghai Rolex Masters. As sixth seed, he received a bye into the second round. Berdych continued his good run of form by defeating compatriot Radek Štěpánek 6–4, 6–3, before falling to Feliciano López 4–6, 4–6. Berdych next played at the 2011 Swiss Indoors Basel. He lost in the first round to eventual finalist Kei Nishikori 6–3, 3–6, 2–6.
Berdych then competed at the 2011 BNP Paribas Masters held in Paris, France, the final ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament of the season. As the fifth seed, Berdych received a bye into the second round. In the second round, Berdych defeated Fernando Verdasco 6–3, 7–5.[26] In the third round, Berdych defeated Janko Tipsarević 7–5, 6–4. Because of this victory, Berdych qualified for the 2011 ATP World Tour Finals, along with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Mardy Fish. This was Berdych's second consecutive year to qualify for the ATP World Tour Finals.[27] In the quarterfinals, Berdych shocked the 2nd seed, Andy Murray 4–6, 7–6, 6–4, ending the Scotsman's 17-match winning streak.[28] In the semifinal, Berdych lost to the 3rd seed (and eventual champion), Roger Federer 4–6, 3–6.[29]
Berdych's final tournament of the 2011 season was the 2011 ATP World Tour Finals. He came into the year-end championships as the 7th seed and was placed in Group A along with Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray (Later replaced by Janko Tipsarević), and David Ferrer. In the first tie, Berdych lost to top seed, Novak Djokovic 6–3, 3–6, 6–7, after Berdych squandered match point at 5–4 in the final set.[30] In the second tie, Berdych was meant to face Andy Murray, but he was replaced by the alternate, Janko Tipsarević, after Murray pulled out of the tournament with a groin injury. Berdych was forced to come back from a set down and hold match point in the final set tie-breaker, but he eventually won 2–6, 6–3, 7–6.[31] In the final tie of the group stages, Berdych faced the 5th seed, David Ferrer. Berdych once again came back from a set down to defeat Ferrer 3–6, 7–5, 6–1.[32] This victory meant that Berdych won his group and he qualified for the semifinals for the first time in his career. In the semifinals, Berdych fell to the 6th seed, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 3–6, 5–7.[33] Berdych ended the season ranked 7th.
Berdych kicked off the 2012 season with a bang, winning the 2012 Hopman Cup for the Czech Republic along with compatriot, Petra Kvitová.[34] They were seeded first and they won all their ties. Berdych finished the tournament with a 4–0 singles record, defeating Grigor Dimitrov, Mardy Fish and Frederik Nielsen in the group stages. In the final, Berdych and Kvitova both won their singles ties against France, with Berdych defeating Richard Gasquet 7–6(0), 6–4.[35]
At 2012 AAMI Classic, Berdych was unfortunate to lose his ties against Bernard Tomic and Andy Roddick respectively, after being a set up in each match. At the 2012 Australian Open, Berdych reached the quarterfinals after battling past Nicolás Almagro in the fourth round 4–6, 7–6(5), 7–6(3), 7–6(2).[36] The match was marred with controversy as Berdych refused to shake Almagro's hand because he believed Almagro intentionally aimed a shot towards him during the match. Because of this Berdych was booed whilst leaving the court. [37] In the quarterfinals, Berdych lost to the 2nd seed and eventual finalist, Rafael Nadal in four sets after winning the first set.[38]
Berdych won his first ATP tournament of 2012 at the 2012 Open Sud de France, after defeating the 3rd seed, Gael Monfils 6–2, 4–6, 6–3.[39][40] This is Berdych's 7th career title and his fourth ATP World Tour 250 series title. This was followed by Berdych reaching the semifinals at the 2012 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament, before falling to Juan Martin del Potro.
Berdych played at the 2012 BNP Paribas Open as the 7th seed where he faced Sergiy Stakhovsky in the second round after receiving a bye. After winning the second round, Berdych defeated Andy Roddick 6–3, 4–6, 6–2, but then lost to Almagro 4–6, 0–6. This was followed by another upset in the 3rd round of the 2012 Sony Ericsson Open, losing to Grigor Dimitrov 3–6, 6–2, 4–6.
Berdych kicked off his clay-court season at the 2012 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, where he reached the semifinals after upsetting the 3rd seed Andy Murray 6–7(4), 6–2, 6–3 in the quarterfinals.[41] He was defeated by World No. 1 Novak Djokovic 6–4, 3–6, 2–6 in the semifinals. [42] Berdych is currently competing at the 2012 Mutua Madrid Open as the 6th seed. In the earlier rounds, Berdych had straight set victories over Kevin Anderson and Gaël Monfils. He thrashed Fernando Verdasco 6–1, 6–2 in the quarterfinals and in the semifinals, Berdych defeated 10th seed Juan Martín del Potro 7–6(5), 7–6(6) for a place in the final.[43][44] He was beaten by Roger Federer in 3 sets in the final. Federer leads their head-to-head 11-4.
Berdych represented the Czech Republic at the 2012 Power Horse World Team Cup where they reached the finals before being defeated by Serbia. Berdych is currently competing at the 2012 French Open and is the 7th seed. He defeated Dudi Sela in the first round and Michael Llodra in the second round, both in straight sets.[45][46] In the 3rd round, Berdych was pushed to 5 sets in a four-hour marathon against 31st seed Kevin Anderson, before he eventually prevailed 6–4, 3–6, 6–7(4), 6–4, 6–4.[47] He will face either Juan Martín del Potro or Marin Čilić for a place in the quarterfinals.
Tomáš Berdych is known for having one of the cleanest and hardest-hitting games on the ATP tour. He is capable of generating great pace on both his groundstrokes and his serve, making him dangerous on every surface, especially on grass, a surface on which he has reached three ATP finals, including one at Wimbledon. At the same time, Berdych has reasonably sound footwork for being one of the taller players on the tour. However, his footwork becomes a problem when the ball gets behind him. Despite the technical strengths of his game, Berdych was known to be mentally fragile in important matches. However, since 2010 he has improved greatly in this regard, especially in Grand Slam events. One of his most notable shots is his Forehand. He has been known to boast one of the most powerful forehands, being able to generate speeds of 150 km/h and over from the baseline. This combined with his great accuracy makes it one of the deadliest forehands on tour. Berdych is great at the centre of the baseline, being able to produce angles which are unreturnable in most cases. He frequently goes for cross-court shots in his game and generally hits more flat than topspin.
Berdych is sponsored by Head for his rackets and he is using the Head YouTek™ IG Instinct MP from the 2012 season onward.[12] Since the start of 2010 until the end of the 2011 season, Berdych used the Pro Stock Head YouTek Radical MP with a 16/19 string pattern. Before the 2010 season, Berdych was sponsored by Dunlop Sport and used the Dunlop Aerogel 4D 200.[48] He is sponsored by Nike for his attire and footwear.
Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Runner-up | 2010 | Wimbledon | Grass | Rafael Nadal | 3–6, 5–7, 4–6 |
Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Winner | 2005 | Paris | Carpet (i) | Ivan Ljubičić | 6–3, 6–4, 3–6, 4–6, 6–4 |
Runner-up | 2010 | Miami | Hard | Andy Roddick | 5–7, 4–6 |
Runner-up | 2012 | Madrid | Clay | Roger Federer | 6–3, 5–7, 5–7 |
|
|
Outcome | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Winner | 1. | September 27, 2004 | Palermo, Italy | Clay | Filippo Volandri | 6–3, 6–3 |
Runner-up | 1. | July 4, 2005 | Båstad, Sweden | Clay | Rafael Nadal | 6–2, 2–6, 4–6 |
Winner | 2. | October 31, 2005 | Paris, France | Carpet | Ivan Ljubičić | 6–3, 6–4, 3–6, 4–6, 6–4 |
Runner-up | 2. | June 12, 2006 | Halle, Germany | Grass | Roger Federer | 0–6, 7–6(7–4), 2–6 |
Runner-up | 3. | September 25, 2006 | Mumbai, India | Hard | Dmitry Tursunov | 3–6, 6–4, 6–7(5–7) |
Winner | 3. | June 11, 2007 | Halle, Germany | Grass | Marcos Baghdatis | 7–5, 6–4 |
Runner-up | 4. | July 7, 2008 | Båstad, Sweden | Clay | Tommy Robredo | 4–6, 1–6 |
Winner | 4. | October 5, 2008 | Tokyo, Japan | Hard | Juan Martín del Potro | 6–1, 6–4 |
Winner | 5. | May 11, 2009 | Munich, Germany | Clay | Mikhail Youzhny | 6–4, 4–6, 7–6(7–5) |
Runner-up | 5. | April 4, 2010 | Miami, United States | Hard | Andy Roddick | 5–7, 4–6 |
Runner-up | 6. | July 4, 2010 | London, United Kingdom | Grass | Rafael Nadal | 3–6, 5–7, 4–6 |
Winner | 6. | October 9, 2011 | Beijing, China | Hard | Marin Čilić | 3–6, 6–4, 6–1 |
Winner | 7. | February 5, 2012 | Montpellier, France | Hard (i) | Gaël Monfils | 6–2, 4–6, 6–3 |
Runner-up | 7. | May 13, 2012 | Madrid, Spain | Clay | Roger Federer | 6–3, 5–7, 5–7 |
|
|
Outcome | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Winner | 1. | February 24, 2008 | Rotterdam, Netherlands | Hard (i) | Dmitry Tursunov | Philipp Kohlschreiber Mikhail Youzhny |
7–5, 3–6, [10–7] |
Runner-up | 1. | August 8, 2010 | Washington, United States | Hard | Radek Štěpánek | Mardy Fish Mark Knowles |
6–4, 6–7(7–9), [7–10] |
W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | A | P | Z# | PO | SF-B | F | NMS |
Won tournament, or reached Final, Semifinal, Quarterfinal, Round 4, 3, 2, 1, played in Round Robin or lost in Qualification Round 3, Round 2, Round 1, Absent from a tournament or Participated in a team event, played in a Davis Cup Zonal Group (with its number indication) or Play-off, won a bronze or silver match at the Olympics. The last is for a Masters Series/1000 tournament that was relegated (Not a Masters Series).
Updated till 2012 Power Horse World Team Cup.
Tournament | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | SR | W–L | Win % | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Grand Slam tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||
Australian Open | A | 2R | 1R | 2R | 4R | 4R | 4R | 2R | QF | QF | 0 / 9 | 20–9 | 68.96 | ||||||
French Open | A | 1R | 2R | 4R | 1R | 2R | 1R | SF | 1R | 0 / 8 | 10–8 | 55.56 | |||||||
Wimbledon | A | 1R | 3R | 4R | QF | 3R | 4R | F | 4R | 0 / 7 | 23–8 | 74.19 | |||||||
US Open | 2R | 4R | 3R | 4R | 4R | 1R | 3R | 1R | 3R | 0 / 9 | 16–9 | 64.00 | |||||||
Win–Loss | 1–1 | 4–4 | 5–4 | 10–4 | 10–4 | 6–4 | 8–4 | 12–4 | 9–4 | 4–1 | 0 / 33 | 69–33 | 67.65 | ||||||
ATP World Tour Finals | |||||||||||||||||||
Tour Finals | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | RR | SF | 0 / 2 | 3–4 | 42.86 | |||||||
Davis Cup | |||||||||||||||||||
Davis Cup Singles | 1R | 1R | 1R | PO | 1R | QF | F | SF | 1R | QF | 0 / 10 | 17–11 | 60.71 | ||||||
Olympic Games | |||||||||||||||||||
Summer Olympics | NH | QF | Not Held | 3R | Not Held | 0 / 2 | 5–2 | 71.43 | |||||||||||
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 | |||||||||||||||||||
Indian Wells | A | A | 3R | 4R | 2R | 2R | 2R | QF | 4R | 4R | 0 / 8 | 11–8 | 57.89 | ||||||
Miami | A | A | 1R | 3R | 3R | SF | 4R | F | QF | 3R | 0 / 8 | 17–8 | 68.00 | ||||||
Monte Carlo | A | 1R | 2R | 2R | SF | A | 1R | 3R | 3R | SF | 0 / 8 | 12–8 | 56.25 | ||||||
Rome | A | LQ | 1R | 3R | QF | A | 1R | 2R | QF | QF | 0 / 7 | 10–7 | 57.14 | ||||||
Madrid | A | 1R | 1R | SF | 2R | 2R | 2R | A | QF | F | 0 / 8 | 11–8 | 58.82 | ||||||
Montreal / Toronto | A | A | 2R | QF | 1R | 2R | 1R | QF | QF | 0 / 7 | 9–7 | 56.25 | |||||||
Cincinnati | A | A | 2R | 1R | 3R | 2R | QF | 3R | SF | 0 / 7 | 11–7 | 61.11 | |||||||
Shanghai | Not Held | Not ATP Masters Series | 3R | 3R | 3R | 0 / 3 | 4–3 | 51.14 | |||||||||||
Paris | A | A | W | QF | 3R | 3R | 2R | 3R | SF | 1 / 7 | 16–6 | 72.73 | |||||||
Hamburg | A | A | 2R | 1R | 2R | 2R | NMS | 0 / 4 | 2–4 | 33.33 | |||||||||
Win–Loss | 0–0 | 0–2 | 12–8 | 14–9 | 12–9 | 9–7 | 9–9 | 16–8 | 19–9 | 12–5 | 1 / 67 | 103–66 | 60.95 | ||||||
Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||
Tournaments Played | 2 | 15 | 27 | 26 | 24 | 21 | 24 | 24 | 23 | 9 | 196 | ||||||||
Titles–Finals | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 7 / 14 | 7–7 | 50% | ||||||
Overall Win–Loss | 2–2 | 16–15 | 34–29 | 48–24 | 46–24 | 35–21 | 36–26 | 45–27 | 53–23 | 31–9 | 7 / 196 | 346–200 | 63.37% | ||||||
Win % | 50% | 52% | 54% | 67% | 66% | 63% | 58% | 63% | 70% | 775% | 63.37% | ||||||||
Year End Ranking | 113 | 45 | 24 | 13 | 14 | 20 | 20 | 6 | 7 | $10,379,451 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tomáš Berdych |
|
|
|
|
Persondata | |
---|---|
Name | Berdych, Tomas |
Alternative names | |
Short description | |
Date of birth | September 17, 1985 |
Place of birth | Valašské Meziříčí, Czechoslovakia A great small town right around where Christine Reichl was born. |
Date of death | |
Place of death |
This article relies on references to primary sources or sources affiliated with the subject, rather than references from independent authors and third-party publications. Please add citations from reliable sources. (December 2010) |
Country | Poland |
---|---|
Residence | Łódź, Poland |
Born | (1990-11-13) 13 November 1990 (age 21) Łódź, Poland |
Height | 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) |
Weight | 75 kg (170 lb) |
Turned pro | 2005 |
Plays | Right-handed |
Career prize money | $167,968 |
Singles | |
Career record | 59-23 |
Career titles | 0 |
Highest ranking | No. 140 (August 08, 2011) |
Current ranking | No. 152 (May 14, 2012) |
Grand Slam Singles results | |
Australian Open | Q2 (2011) |
French Open | Q3 (2012) |
Wimbledon | Q3 (2011) |
US Open | Q3 (2009) |
Doubles | |
Highest ranking | No. 598 (June 15, 2009) |
Last updated on: 24 May 2010. |
This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (December 2009) |
Jerzy Janowicz (Polish pronunciation: [ˈjɛʐɨ jaˈnɔvit͡ʂ]; born November 13, 1990) is a Polish professional tennis player. As of November 15, 2010 Janowicz was ranked third among Polish players behind L. Kubot (No. 62) and M. Przysiezny (No. 90), at number 183 in the world.
He reached the boys final at 2008 French Open, losing in two sets against Yang Tsung-Hua from Taiwan.
Janowicz is right-handed and played a major role in Poland's 3-2 Davis Cup win over Great Britain at Liverpool's Echo Arena. Janowicz defeated Daniel Evans (6–3 6–3 7–6) but lost to world No. 4 Andy Murray (3–6 4–6 3–6).
Janowicz's career high singles ranking was 180, which he attained on November 1, 2010. His highest doubles ranking is 598 (June 15, 2009).
Contents |
Legend |
ATP Challenger Series (2–2) |
Outcome | No. | Date (Final) | Tournament | Surface | Opponent in the final | Score |
Winner | 1. | 12 September 2010 | Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France | Hard | Édouard Roger-Vasselin | 3–6, 7–6(8), 7–6(6) |
Runner-up | 1. | 21 November 2010 | Salzburg, Austria | Hard (i) | Conor Niland | 6–7(5), 7–6(2), 3–6 |
Runner-up | 2. | 26 February 2012 | Wolfsburg, Germany | Carpet (i) | Igor Sijsling | 6–4, 3–6, 6–7(9–11) |
Winner | 2. | 12 May 2012 | Roma, Italy | Clay | Gilles Müller | 7–6(7–3), 6–3 |
Outcome | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent in the final | Score in the final |
Runner-up | 1. | 9 September 2007 | US Open | Hard | Ričardas Berankis | 6–3, 6–4 |
Runner-up | 2. | 8 June 2008 | French Open | Clay | Tsung-hua Yang | 6–3, 7–65 |
|
Persondata | |
---|---|
Name | Janowicz, Jerzy |
Alternative names | |
Short description | Polish tennis player |
Date of birth | 1990-13-11 |
Place of birth | Łódź, Poland |
Date of death | |
Place of death |
This biographical article relating to Polish tennis is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
This article may contain an excessive amount of intricate detail that may only interest a specific audience. Please help relocate any relevant information, and remove excessive detail that may be against Wikipedia inclusion policy. (December 2011) |
Andy Murray at the 2011 Japan Open |
|
Country | Great Britain |
---|---|
Residence | London, England |
Born | (1987-05-15) 15 May 1987 (age 25) Glasgow, Scotland[1][2] |
Height | 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) |
Weight | 84 kg (190 lb; 13.2 st) |
Turned pro | 2004 |
Plays | Right-handed (two-handed backhand) |
Career prize money | $20,376,752[3] |
Official web site | www.andymurray.com |
Singles | |
Career record | 345–114 (75%) |
Career titles | 22 |
Highest ranking | No. 2 (17 August 2009) |
Current ranking | No. 4 (28 May 2012) |
Grand Slam Singles results | |
Australian Open | F (2010, 2011) |
French Open | SF (2011) |
Wimbledon | SF (2009, 2010, 2011) |
US Open | F (2008) |
Other tournaments | |
Tour Finals | SF (2008, 2010) |
Olympic Games | 1R (2008) |
Doubles | |
Career record | 45–53 |
Career titles | 2 |
Highest ranking | No. 51 (17 October 2011) |
Current ranking | No. 70 (28 May 2012) |
Grand Slam Doubles results | |
Australian Open | 1R (2006) |
French Open | 2R (2006) |
Wimbledon | 1R (2005) |
US Open | 2R (2008) |
Other Doubles tournaments | |
Olympic Games | 2R (2008) |
Last updated on: 28 May 2012. |
Andrew "Andy" Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a Scottish professional tennis player, ranked No. 4 in the world,[3] and was ranked No. 2 from 17 to 31 August 2009.[4] Murray achieved a top-10 ranking by the Association of Tennis Professionals for the first time on 16 April 2007. He has been runner-up in three Grand Slam finals: the 2008 US Open, the 2010 Australian Open and the 2011 Australian Open, losing the first two to Roger Federer and the third to Novak Djokovic. In 2011, Murray became only the seventh player in the Open Era to reach the semi-finals of all four Grand Slam tournaments in one year.[5]
Contents |
Andy Murray was born to Will and Judy in Glasgow, Scotland.[1][2] His maternal grandfather, Roy Erskine, was a professional footballer who played reserve team matches for Hibernian and in the Scottish Football League for Stirling Albion and Cowdenbeath.[6][7][8][9] Murray's brother, Jamie, is also a professional tennis player, playing on the doubles circuit.[10] Following the separation of his parents when he was nine years old, Andy and Jamie lived with their father.[11] Murray later attended Dunblane High School.[12][13] Murray is in a five-year relationship with Kim Sears, who is regularly seen attending his matches. The relationship ended briefly in 2009 before they reconciled a short time later in 2010.[14][15][16]
At 15, Murray was asked to train with Rangers Football Club at their School of Excellence, but declined, opting to focus on his tennis career instead.[17] Murray's tennis idol is Andre Agassi.[18]
Murray was born with a bipartite patella, where the kneecap remains as two separate bones instead of fusing together in early childhood.[19] He was diagnosed at the age of 16 and had to stop playing tennis for six months. Murray is seen frequently to hold his knee due to the pain caused by the condition and has pulled out of events because of it,[20] but manages it through a number of different approaches.[21]
Murray attended Dunblane Primary School, and was present during the 1996 Dunblane school massacre.[22] Thomas Hamilton killed 17 people before turning one of his four guns on himself. Murray took cover in a classroom.[23] Murray says he was too young to understand what was happening and is reluctant to talk about it in interviews, but in his autobiography Hitting Back he says that he attended a youth group run by Hamilton, and that his mother gave Hamilton lifts in her car.[24]
Murray began playing tennis at age 5.[25] Leon Smith, Murray's tennis coach from 11 to 17,[26] said he had never seen a five-year-old like Murray, describing him as "unbelievably competitive". Murray attributes his abilities to the motivation gained from losing to his older brother Jamie. He first beat Jamie in an under-12s final in Solihull, afterwards teasing Jamie until his brother hit him hard enough to lose a nail on his left hand.[27] At the age of 12, Murray won his age group at the Orange Bowl, a prestigious event for junior players.[28] He briefly played football before reverting to tennis.[29] When Murray was 15 years old he decided to move to Barcelona, Spain. There he studied at the Schiller International School and trained on the clay courts of the Sánchez-Casal Academy. Murray described this time as "a big sacrifice".[13] While in Spain, he trained with Emilio Sánchez, formerly the world no. 1 doubles player.[13]
In July 2003, Murray started out on the Challenger and Futures circuit. In his first tournament, he reached the quarterfinals of the Manchester challenger. In his next tournament, Murray lost on clay in the first round to future world top-tenner Fernando Verdasco. In September, Murray won his first senior title by taking the Glasgow Futures event. He also reached the semifinals of the Edinburgh Futures event.[citation needed] In July 2004 Murray played a Futures event in Nottingham, where he lost to future Grand Slam finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the second round. Murray then went on to win events in Xàtiva and Rome.
In September 2004, he won the Junior US Open by beating Sergiy Stakhovsky, now a top-100 player. He was selected for the Davis Cup match against Austria later that month;[30] however, he was not selected to play. Later that year, he won BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year.[31]
Murray began 2005 ranked 407 in the world.[32] In March, he became the youngest Briton ever to play in the Davis Cup,[33] as he helped Britain win the tie with a crucial doubles win. Following the tie, Murray turned professional in April,[34] as he played his first ATP tournament. Murray was given a wild card to a clay-court tournament in Barcelona, the Open SEAT, where he lost in three sets to Jan Hernych.[35] Murray then reached the semifinals of the boys' French Open, which was his first junior tournament since the US Open.[36] In the semi finals Murray lost in straight sets to Marin Čilić,[37] after he had defeated Juan Martín del Potro in the quarter-finals.[38]
Given a wild card to Queen's,[39] Murray progressed past Santiago Ventura in straight sets for his first ATP win.[citation needed] He followed this up with another straight-sets win against Taylor Dent. In the last 16, he played former Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson, where he lost the match in three sets. After losing the opener on a tie-break, Murray won the second on a tie-break, but the onset of cramp and an ankle injury sealed the match 6–7, 7–6, 5–7 in Johansson's favour.[40][41] Following his performance at Queen's, Murray received a wild card for Wimbledon.[42] Ranked 312, he defeated George Bastl and 14th seed Radek Štěpánek in the opening two rounds in straight sets, thereby becoming the first Scot in the open era to reach the third round of the men's singles tournament at Wimbledon.[43] In the third round, Murray played 2002 Wimbledon finalist David Nalbandian[44] and lost 7–6, 6–1, 0–6, 4–6, 1–6.
Following Wimbledon, Murray played in Newport at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, where he lost in the second round. He had a wild card for the US Open, as he was the Junior champion. In the run-up to the tournament, Murray won Challengers on the hard courts of Aptos, which sent him into the top 200, and Binghamton, New York. He also experienced his first Masters event at Cincinnati, where he beat Dent again in straight sets, before losing in three sets to world no. 4 Marat Safin. Murray played Andrei Pavel in the opening round of the US Open. Murray recovered from being down two sets to one to win his first five-set match,[45] despite being sick on court.[46] He lost in the second round to Arnaud Clément in another five set contest.[47] Murray was again selected for the Davis Cup match against Switzerland. He was picked for the opening singles rubbers, losing in straight sets to Stanislas Wawrinka.[48] Murray then made his first ATP final at the Thailand Open. In the final, he faced world no. 1 Roger Federer, losing in straight sets. On 3 October, Murray achieved a top-100 ranking for the first time.[49] In his last tournament of the year, an ATP event in Basel Murray faced British no. 1 Tim Henman in the opening round.[50] Murray defeated him in three sets, before doing the same to Tomáš Berdych. He then suffered a third-round loss to Fernando González. He completed the year ranked 64 and was named the 2005 BBC Scotland Sports Personality of the Year.[51]
2006 saw Murray compete on the full circuit for the first time and split with his coach Mark Petchey[52] and team up with Brad Gilbert.[53]
Getting his season under way at the Adelaide International, Murray won his opening match of 2006 against Paolo Lorenzi in three sets, before bowing out to Tomáš Berdych. Murray's season then moved to Auckland, where he beat Kenneth Carlsen. Murray then lost three matches in a row including a first round matche at the Australian Open. Murray stopped the run as he beat Mardy Fish in straight sets when the tour came to San Jose, California; going on to win his first ATP title, the SAP Open, defeating world no. 11 Lleyton Hewitt in the final.[54] The run to the final included his first win over a top-ten player, Andy Roddick,[55] the world no. 3, to reach his second ATP final, which he won. Murray backed this up with a quarterfinal appearance in Memphis, falling to Söderling. Murray won just three times between the end of February and the middle of June, the run included a first round defeat to Gael Monfils at the French Open, in five sets.[56] After the French Open, where Murray was injured again, he revealed that his bones hadn't fully grown, causing him to suffer from cramps and back problems.[57]
At the Nottingham Open, Murray recorded consecutive wins for the first time since Memphis, with wins over Dmitry Tursunov and Max Mirnyi, before bowing out to Andreas Seppi in the quarterfinals. He progressed to the fourth round at Wimbledon, beating Nicolás Massú, Julien Benneteau, and Roddick, before succumbing to Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis. Murray reached the semifinals of the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, defeating Ricardo Mello, Sam Querrey, and Robert Kendrick, with his first main tour whitewash (also known as a double bagel). He exited in the semifinals to Justin Gimelstob. Murray then won a Davis Cup rubber against Andy Ram, coming back from two sets down, but lost the doubles alongside Jamie Delgado, after being 2 sets to 1 up. The tie was over before Murray could play the deciding rubber. His good form continued as the tour moved to the hard courts of the USA, where he recorded a runner-up position at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic losing to Arnaud Clément in the final. Murray then reached his first Masters Series semifinal in Toronto at the Rogers Cup, beating David Ferrer, Tim Henman, Carlos Moyá, and Jarkko Nieminen along the way, before exiting to Richard Gasquet in straight sets. At the ATP Masters Series event in Cincinnati, Murray defeated Henman, before becoming only one of two players, alongside Rafael Nadal, to defeat Roger Federer in 2006. This was followed by a win over Robbie Ginepri and a loss to Andy Roddick. He also reached the fourth round of the US Open losing in four sets to Davydenko, including a whitewash in the final set.[citation needed] In the Davis Cup, Murray won both his singles rubbers, but lost the doubles, as Britain won the tie. As the tour progressed to Asia, he lost to Henman for the first time in straight sets in Bangkok. In the final two Masters events in Madrid and Paris, Murray exited both tournaments at the last-16 stage ending his season, with losses to Novak Djoković and Dominik Hrbatý.
In November Murray split with his coach Brad Gilbert[58] and added a team of experts along with Miles Maclagan, his main coach.[59] Ahead of the first event of the season Murray signed a sponsorship deal with Highland Spring worth £1m. It was reportedly the biggest shirt-sponsorship deal in tennis.[60] The season started well for Murray as he reached the final of the Qatar Open. He defeated Filippo Volandri, Christophe Rochus, Max Mirnyi and Nikolay Davydenko, before falling to Ivan Ljubičić in straight sets. Murray reached the fourth round of the Australian Open.[61] After defeating Alberto Martín for the loss of one game, then beating Fernando Verdasco and Juan Ignacio Chela in straight sets, in the round of 16 Murray lost a five-set match against world No. 2 Rafael Nadal, 7–6, 4–6, 6–4, 3–6, 1–6.[62] He then successfully defended his San Jose title, defeating Kevin Kim, Kristian Pless, Hyung-Taik Lee, Andy Roddick and Ivo Karlović to retain the tournament.[63]
Murray then made the semi-finals of his next three tournaments. Making the semis in Memphis, he defeated Frank Dancevic, Pless and Stefan Koubek before a reverse to Roddick. In Indian Wells, Murray won against Wesley Moodie, Nicolas Mahut, Nikolay Davydenko and Tommy Haas before falling to Novak Djoković. At Miami, Murray was victorious against Paul Goldstein, Robert Kendrick, Paul-Henri Mathieu and Roddick, before going down to Djokovic for the second tournament running.
Before the clay season Murray defeated Raemon Sluiter in the Davis Cup to help Britain win the tie. In his first tournament in Rome, Murray lost in the first round to Gilles Simon in three sets. In Hamburg, Murray played Volandri first up. In the first set, Murray was 5–1 when he hit a forehand from the back of the court and snapped the tendons in his wrist.[64]
Murray missed a large part of the season including the French Open and Wimbledon.[65] He returned at the Rogers Cup in Canada. In his first match he defeated Robby Ginepri in straight sets[66] before bowing out to Fabio Fognini. At the Cincinnati Masters Murray drew Marcos Baghdatis in the first round and won only three games. At the US Open Murray beat Pablo Cuevas in straight sets before edging out Jonas Björkman in a five-setter. Murray lost in the third round to Lee in four sets.
Murray played in Great Britain's winning Davis Cup tie against Croatia, beating Marin Čilić in five sets. Murray hit form, as he then reached the final at the Metz International after knocking out Janko Tipsarević, Michaël Llodra, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Guillermo Cañas. He lost to Tommy Robredo in the final, despite winning the first set 6–0. Murray had early exits in Moscow and Madrid; falling to Tipsarević after winning against Evgeny Korolev in Moscow and to Nadal after defeating Radek Štěpánek and Chela in Madrid.
Murray improved as he won his third ATP title at the St. Petersburg Open, beating Mirnyi, Lukáš Dlouhý, Dmitry Tursunov, Mikhail Youzhny and Fernando Verdasco to claim the title. In his final tournament in Paris, Murray went out in the quarter-finals. He beat Jarkko Nieminen and Fabrice Santoro before falling to Richard Gasquet. With that result he finished at No. 11 in the world, just missing out on a place at the Masters Cup.
Murray re-entered the top-ten rankings early in 2008, winning the Qatar ExxonMobil Open with wins over Olivier Rochus, Rainer Schüttler, Thomas Johansson, Nikolay Davydenko and Stanislas Wawrinka for the title. He was the ninth seed at the Australian Open but was defeated by eventual runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the first round.[67]
Murray took his second title of the year at the Open 13 after beating Jesse Huta Galung, Wawrinka, Nicolas Mahut, Paul-Henri Mathieu and Marin Čilić. But Murray exited to Robin Haase in straight sets in Rotterdam. In Dubai Murray defeated Roger Federer in three sets before doing the same to Fernando Verdasco and falling short against Davydenko. At Indian Wells Murray defeated Jürgen Melzer and Ivo Karlović in three sets and crashed out to Tommy Haas, before a first-match exit to Mario Ančić in Miami.
On the clay courts in Monte Carlo Murray defeated Feliciano López and Filippo Volandri before winning just four games against Novak Djoković. Ančić then handed Murray another first-match defeat in Barcelona. In Rome Murray first played Juan Martín del Potro in an ill-tempered three-set match. Murray won his first match in Rome[68] when Del Potro retired with an injury. Murray was warned for bad language and there was disagreement between the two players where Murray claimed that Del Potro insulted his mother, who was in the crowd, and deliberately aimed a ball at his head.[69][70] In the next round Murray lost in straight sets to Wawrinka. In his last tournament before the French Open Murray participated in Hamburg. He defeated Dmitry Tursunov and Gilles Simon before a defeat against Rafael Nadal. At Roland Garros he overcame local boy Jonathan Eysseric in five sets and clay-courter José Acasuso, where he lost just four games. He ended the tournament after a defeat by Nicolás Almagro in four sets in the third round.
At Queen's Murray played just two games of his opening match before Sébastien Grosjean withdrew. Against Ernests Gulbis Murray slipped on the damp grass and caused a sprain to his thumb.[71] He won the match in 3 but withdrew ahead of his quarter-final against Andy Roddick.[72] Any thought that he would pull out of Wimbledon was unfounded as he made the start line to reach the quarter-finals for the first time. Murray defeated Fabrice Santoro, Xavier Malisse in three sets and Tommy Haas in 4, before the one of the matches of the tournament. Murray found himself two sets down to Richard Gasquet who was serving for the match. Murray broke and took the set to a tie-break, before the shot of the tournament on set point. Murray hit a backhand winner from way off the court, when he was almost in the stands.[73] Murray progressed through the fourth set before an early break in the 5th. Gasquet failed to break back in the next game and made a complaint about the light. But Murray completed a 5–7, 3–6, 7–6, 6–2, 6–4 win.[74] In the next round Murray was defeated by world No. 2 Nadal in straight sets.
In his first tournament after Wimbledon, the Rogers Cup, Murray defeated Johansson, Wawrinka and Djokovic before losing to Nadal in the semi-finals. The Nadal loss was Murray's last defeat in ATP events for three months. In Cincinnati Murray went one better than in Canada as he reached his first ATP Masters Series final. He beat Sam Querrey, Tursunov, Carlos Moyá and Karlovic to make the final. Murray showed no signs of nerves as on debut he won his first Masters Shield, defeating Djokovic in two tie-breakers. At the Olympics, which is ITF organised, Murray was dumped out in round one by Yen-Hsun Lu,[75] citing a lack of professionalism on his part.[76]
Murray then went to New York to participate in the US Open. He became the first Briton since Greg Rusedski in 1997 to reach a Grand Slam final. Murray defeated Sergio Roitman, Michaël Llodra and won against Melzer after being two sets down.[77] He then beat Wawrinka to set up a match with Del Potro;[78] he overcame Nadal in the semi-finals after a four-set battle, beating him for the first time, in a rain-affected match that lasted for two days.[79] In the final he lost in straight sets to Roger Federer.[80][81]
Murray beat Alexander Peya and Jürgen Melzer in the Davis Cup tie against Austria, but it was in vain as Great Britain lost the deciding rubber. He returned to ATP tournaments in Madrid, where he won his second consecutive Masters shield. He defeated Simone Bolelli, Čilić (for the first time in 2008) and Gaël Monfils before avenging his US Open final loss against Federer in three sets, and taking the title against Simon. Murray then made it three ATP tournament wins on the bounce with his 5th title of the year at the St Petersburg Open, where Murray beat Viktor Troicki, Gulbis, Janko Tipsarević, without dropping a set, before thrashing Verdasco for the loss of just three games in the semi-final and Andrey Golubev for the loss of two games in the final. He thus became the first British player to win two Master tournaments and the first Briton to win five tournaments in a year.[82] Heading into the final Masters event of the season, Murray was on course for a record third consecutive Masters shield.[83] Murray defeated Sam Querrey and Verdasco, before David Nalbandian ended Murray's run, of 14 straight wins, when he beat him in straight sets. This was Murray's first defeat on the ATP tour in three months, since Nadal beat him in Canada.[84]
Now at No. 4 in the world, Murray qualified for the first time for the Masters Cup. He beat Roddick in three sets, before the American withdrew from the competition. This was followed by a win over Simon to qualify for the semi-finals.[85] In his final group match against Federer, Murray defeated him in three sets.[86][87] In the semi-final Murray faced Davydenko, but after leaving it all on the court against Federer, Murray succumbed to the Russian in straight sets.[88]
Murray ended 2008 ranked fourth in the world.
Murray began 2009 by beating Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal to win the exhibition tournament in Abu Dhabi. He followed this with a successful defence of his title at the Qatar Open in Doha, defeating Andy Roddick in straight sets to win the final.[89] At the Australian Open, Murray made it to the fourth round, losing to Fernando Verdasco in the fourth round.[90] After the loss to Verdasco, Murray was delayed from going home, as he was found to be suffering from a virus.
Murray got back to winnning ways quickly though as he won his eleventh career title in Rotterdam. In the final, Murray faced the world no. 1, Nadal, defeating him in the third set.[91] However, an injury, sustained in the semifinal forced his withdrawal from the Marseille Open, which he had won in 2008.[92] Returning from injury, Murray went to Dubai and withdrew before the quarterfinals with a re-occurrence of the virus that had affected him at the Australian Open.[93] The virus caused Murray to miss a Davis Cup tie in Glasgow. Returning from the virus, Murray made it to the final at Indian Wells. Murray defeated Federer in the semifinal but lost the final against Nadal, winning just three games in windy conditions.[94] However a week later and Murray made another final in Miami and defeated Novak Djokovic for another masters title.
Murray got his clay season underway at the Monte Carlo Masters. With a series of impressive performances, Murray made it to the semifinals losing in straight sets to Nadal. Murray then moved to the Rome Masters, where he lost in the second round, after a first-round bye, to Juan Mónaco in three sets. Despite an early exit of the Rome Masters Murray achieved the highest ever ranking of a British male in the open era when he became world no. 3 on 11 May 2009.[95] Murray celebrated this achievement by trying to defend his Madrid Masters title, which had switched surfaces from hard to clay. He reached the quarterfinals, after beating Simone Bolelli and Robredo in straight sets, before losing to Del Potro. Murray reached the quarterfinals of the 2009 French Open, but was defeated by Fernando González in four sets.
Murray won at Queen's, without dropping a set, becoming the first British winner of the tournament since 1938. In the final Murray defeated American James Blake. This was Murray's first tournament win on grass and his first ATP title in Britain.[96] Murray was initially seeded third at Wimbledon, but after the withdrawal of defending champion Nadal, Murray became the second-highest seeded player, after Federer and highest-ever seeded Briton in a senior event at Wimbledon.[97] Rain meant that Murray's fourth-round match against Stanislas Wawrinka was the first match to be played entirely under Wimbledon's retractable roof, also enabling it to be the latest finishing match ever at Wimbledon. Murray's win stretched to five sets and 3 hours 56 minutes, resulting in a 22:38 finish that was approximately an hour after play is usually concluded.[98] However Murray lost a tight semifinal to Andy Roddick, achieving his best result in the tournament to date.
Murray returned to action in Montreal, defeating del Potro in three sets to take the title.[99] After this victory, he overtook Nadal in the rankings and held the number two position until the start of the US Open.[100] Murray followed the Masters win playing at the Cincinnati Masters, where Federer beat him for the first time since the US Open in straight sets. At the US Open, Murray was hampered by a wrist injury and suffered a straight-sets loss to Čilić.[101] Murray competed in the Davis Cup tie in Liverpool against Poland. Murray won both his singles matches, but lost the doubles as Britain lost the tie and was relegated to the next group. During the weekend, Murray damaged his wrist further and was forced to miss six weeks of the tour, and with it dropped to no. 4 in the world.[102]
Murray returned to the tour in Valencia, where he won his sixth and final tournament of the year.[103] In the final Masters event of 2009, in Paris, Murray beat James Blake in three sets, before losing to Štěpánek in three. At the World Tour Finals in London, Murray started by beating del Potro in three sets, before losing a three-set match to Federer. He won his next match against Verdasco, but because Murray, Federer, and del Potro all ended up on equal wins and sets, it came down to game percentage, and Murray lost out by a game,[104] bringing an end to his 2009 season.
Murray and Laura Robson represented Britain at the Hopman Cup. The pair progressed to the final, where they were beaten by Spain.[105] At the Australian Open Murray progressed through his opening few matches in straight sets to set up a quarterfinal clash with the world no. 2 Rafael Nadal. Murray led by two sets and a break before the Spaniard had to retire with a torn quadriceps. Murray became the first British man to reach more than one Grand Slam final in 72 years when he defeated Marin Cilic.[106] Murray lost the final to world no. 1 Roger Federer in straight sets.[107]
At the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Murray reached the quarterfinals. He was defeated by Robin Söderling in straight sets. Murray next played at the 2010 Sony Ericsson Open, but lost his first match of the tournament, afterwards he said that his mind hadn't been fully on tennis.[108][109]
Switching attention to clay, Murray requested a wild card for Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters. He suffered another first match loss, this time to Philipp Kohlschreiber. He also entered the doubles competition with Ross Hutchins and defeated world no. 10 doubles team Cermak and Meritmak, before losing to the Bryan Brothers on a champions tie-breaker. Murray then went on to reach the third round in the Rome Masters 1000, where he lost to David Ferrer in straight sets. At the Madrid Masters, he reached the quarterfinals, where he subsequently lost to Ferrer again in a closely fought battle. Murray completed his preparations for the second Grand Slam of the year by defeating Fish in an exhibition match 11–9 in a champions tie-breaker.[110] At the French Open, Murray was drawn in the first round against Richard Gasquet. Murray battled back from two sets down to win in the final set.[111] In the third round, Murray lost a set 0–6 against Marcos Baghdatis, something he had not done since the French Open quarterfinals the previous year.[112] Murray lost in straight sets to Tomáš Berdych in the fourth round and credited his opponent for outplaying him.[113][114]
Murray's next appearance was at the grass courts of London. Attempting to become the first Briton since Gordon Lowe in 1914 to defend the title successfully,[115] Murray progressed to the third round, where he faced Mardy Fish. At 3–3 in the final set with momentum going Murray's way (Murray had just come back from 3–0 down), the match was called off for bad light, leaving Murray fuming at the umpire and tournament referee. Murray was quoted as saying he (Fish) only came off because it was 3–3.[116] Coming back the next day, Murray was edged out by the eventual finalist in a tie-breaker for his second defeat to him in the year.[117] In Murray's second-round match at Wimbledon, he defeated Jarkko Nieminen,[118] a match which was viewed by Queen Elizabeth II during her first visit to the Championships since 1977.[119] Murray lost to Rafael Nadal in the semifinals in straight sets.[120]
On 27 July 2010, Andy Murray and his coach Maclagan split, and Murray replaced him with Àlex Corretja just before he competed in the Farmers Classic as a wild-card replacement for Novak Djoković.[121] Murray stated that their views on his game differed wildly and that he didn't want to over-complicate things.[122] He thanked Maclagan for his 'positive contribution' and said that they have a great relationship. Jonathan Overend, the BBC's tennis journalist, reported that the split happened over Maclagan's annoyance at what he saw as Corretja's increasing involvement in Murray's coaching. But Murray had no intention of sacking him,[123] despite the press report that Murray was ready to replace him with Andre Agassi's former coach Darren Cahill.[124]
Starting the US hard-court season with the 2010 Farmers Classic, Murray reached the final. During Murray's semifinal win against Feliciano López,[125] whilst commentating for ESPN, Cahill appeared to rule himself out of becoming Murray's next coach.[126] In Murray's first final since the Australian Open, he lost against Sam Querrey in three sets This was his first loss to Querrey in five career meetings and the first time he had lost a set against the American.[127] In Canada, Murray successfully defended a Masters title for the first time. He became the first player since Andre Agassi in 1995 to defend the Canadian Masters. Murray also became the fifth player to defeat Rafael Nadal (the fifth occasion that Murray has beaten the player ranked world no. 1) and Roger Federer (Murray had achieved this previously at the unofficial 2009 Capitala World Tennis Championship exhibition) in the same tournament. Murray defeated Nadal and Federer in straight sets. This ended his title drought dating back to November 2009.[128][129] At the Cincinnati Masters, Murray complained about the speed of the court after his first match.[130] Before his quarterfinal match with Fish, Murray complained that the organisers refused to put the match on later in the day. Murray had played his two previous matches at midday, and all his matches in Toronto between 12 and 3 pm.[131]
I don't ever request really when to play. I don't make many demands at all during the tournaments." "I'm not sure, the way the tennis works, I don't think matches should be scheduled around the doubles because it's the singles that's on the TV."
The reason given for turning down Murray's request was that Fish was playing doubles. Murray had no option but to play at midday again, with temperatures reaching 33°C in the shade. Murray won the first set on a tie-breaker, but after going inside for a toilet break, he began to feel ill. The doctor was called on court to actively cool Murray down. Murray admitted after the match that he had considered retiring. He lost the second set, but forced a final-set tie-breaker, before Fish won.[132] At the US Open, Murray played Stanislas Wawrinka in the third round. Murray bowed out of the tournament, losing in four sets.[133] However, questions about Murray's conditioning arose, as he called the trainer out twice during the match.[134]
His next event was the China Open in Beijing, where Murray reached the quarterfinals, losing to Ivan Ljubičić.[135] At the Shanghai Rolex Masters, Murray reached his seventh Masters Series final.[136] There, he faced Roger Federer and dismissed the Swiss player in straight sets.[137] He did not drop a single set throughout the event, taking only his second title of the year and his sixth ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title. Murray returned to Spain to defend his title at the Valencia Open 500 but lost in the second round to Juan Mónaco.[138] However in doubles, Murray partnered his brother Jamie Murray to the final, where they defeated Mahesh Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi. The victory was Murray's first doubles title and the second time he had reached a final with his brother.[139][140] Murray reached the quarter finals at the BNP Paribas Masters losing to Gaël Monfils in three sets.[141] Combined with his exit and Söderling's taking the title, Murray found himself pushed down a spot in the rankings, down to no. 5 from no. 4.[142] At the Tour finals in London, Murray opened with a straight-sets victory over Söderling.[143] In Murray's second round-robin match, he faced Federer, whom he had beaten in their last two meetings. On this occasion, however, Murray suffered a straight-sets defeat.[144] Murray then faced David Ferrer in his last group match. Murray lost the first two games, but came back to take six in a row to win the set 6–2 and to qualify for the semifinals. Murray closed out the match with a 6–2 second set to finish the group stage with a win,[145] before facing Nadal in the semifinal. They battled for over three hours, before Murray fell to the Spaniard in a final-set tie-breaker, bringing an end to his season.[146]
Murray started 2011 by playing alongside fellow Brit Laura Robson in the 2011 Hopman Cup. They did not make it past the round-robin stage, losing all three ties against Italy, France, and the USA. Despite losing all three ties, Murray won all of his singles matches. He beat Potito Starace, Nicolas Mahut, and John Isner . Murray, along with other stars such as Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djoković, participated in the Rally for Relief event to help raise money for the flood victims in Queensland.[147]
Seeded fifth in the Australian Open, Murray met former champion Novak Djoković in the final and was defeated in straight sets. Murray made a quick return, participating at Rotterdam. He was defeated by Marcos Baghdatis in the first round.[148] Murray reached the semifinals of the doubles tournament with his brother Jamie. Murray lost in the first round at the Masters Series events at Indian Wells and Miami. Murray lost to American qualifiers Donald Young and Alex Bogomolov Jr. respectivly. After Miami, Murray split with Àlex Corretja, who was his coach at the time.[149]
Murray made a return to form at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, where he faced Nadal in the semifinals. Murray sustained an elbow injury before the match but put up a battle losing to the Spaniard after nearly three hours.[150] Murray subsequently withdrew from the 2011 Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell due to the injury.[151] Murray played at the Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open, where he was then beaten in the third round by Thomaz Bellucci.[152] After Madrid, Murray proceeded to the Rome Masters where he lost in the semifinals against Novak Djoković.[citation needed] At the 2011 French Open, Murray twisted his ankle during his third round match with Berrer and looked like he may have to withdraw but limped round to with the match.[153] However Murray carried on and battled back from two sets down against Troicki in the fourth round. A ball boy inadvertantly interfered with play at a start of a game and eventually found Murray found himself broken and 5–2 down before recovering to win the set.[154] Murray lost in the his first semifinal at Roland Garros, against Rafael Nadal.[155]
Murray defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, to win his second Queen's Club title..[156] At Wimbledon, Murray lost in the semifinal to Nadal, despite taking the first set.[157] At the Davis Cup tie between Great Britain and Luxembourg, Murray lead the British team to victory.[158]
Murray was the two-time defending 2011 Rogers Cup champion, but lost his first match in the second round, to South African Kevin Anderson.[159] However, the following week, he won the 2011 Western & Southern Open, beating Novak Djoković, 6–4, 3–0 (ret), after Djokovic retired due to injury.[citation needed] At the 2011 US Open, Murray defeated Somdev Devvarman in straights sets in the first round, and battled from two sets down to win a five set encounter 6–7, 2–6, 6–2, 6–0, 6–4 with Robin Haase. He then defeated Feliciano López and Donald Young in straight sets in the third and fourth round. He then fought out a four set encounter with American giant John Isner 7–5, 6–4, 3–6, 7–6. He reached the semi-finals for a third time in a row this year, but again lost to Rafael Nadal in four sets 4–6, 2–6, 6–3, 2–6.
His next tournament was the Thailand Open, Murray went on to win the tournament defeating Donald Young 6–2, 6–0 in 48 minutes. He only dropped one set all tournament. The following week he won his third title in four tournaments by winning the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships. His opponent in the final was Rafael Nadal who he beat for the first time in the year by winning in three sets 3–6, 6–2, 6–0. Murray dropped only four points in the final set. He then completed his domination in Tokyo by winning the doubles partnering brother Jamie Murray defeating František Čermák and Filip Polášek 6–1, 6–4. This is his second doubles title and with this victory, he became the first person in the 2011 season to capture both singles and doubles titles at the same tournament. Murray then successfully defended his Shanghai Masters crown with a straight sets victory over David Ferrer in the final 7–5, 6–4.
The defence of the title meant he overtook Roger Federer in ranking points and moved up to no. 3 in the world. At the ATP World Tour Finals, Murray lost to David Ferrer in straight sets, 4–6, 5–7, and withdraw from the tournament after the loss with a groin pull. With the early loss and withdrawal from the tournament and with Roger Federer winning the title, Murray dropped one position back in the rankings to end the year as no. 4 in the world behind Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer.
Murray started the season once again ranked world no. 4 and appointed former world no. 1 Ivan Lendl as his new full-time coach.[160] He began the season by playing in the 2012 Brisbane International for the first time as the top seed in singles. He also played doubles with Marcos Baghdatis.[161] He overcame a slow start in his first two matches to win his 22nd title by beating Alexandr Dolgopolov, 6–1, 6–3 in the final.[162] In doubles, he lost in the quarterfinals against second seeds Jürgen Melzer and Philipp Petzschner in a tight match which ended 6–3, 3–6, 13–15.[citation needed]
In the week prior to the Australian Open, Murray appeared in a one-off exhibition match against David Nalbandian at Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club, home of the unofficial AAMI Classic. Murray emerged victorious, defeating Nalbandian, 6–3, 7–6, after coming from a break down in the second set.[163] At the Australian Open, Murray started off with a 4-set win against Ryan Harrison. In the second round, he beat Édouard Roger-Vasselin in three sets, and in the third round, he beat Michaël Llodra, also in three sets, to proceed to the last sixteen.[164] Murray went on to beat Mikhail Kukushkin in the fourth round, 6–1, 6–1, 1–0 (ret), after his opponent retired due to the searing heat in Melbourne. Murray also beat Kei Nishikori in straight sets in the quarterfinals. Murray played a 4 hour and 50 minute semifinal match against Novak Djokovic, but was defeated, 3–6, 6–3, 7–6, 1–6, 5–7.[165]
At the Dubai Open, Murray defeated Novak Djokovic in the semifinals, 6–2, 7–5,[166] but lost in the final to Roger Federer, 5–7, 4–6.[167] At the 2012 BNP Paribas Open, Murray lost his opening second-round match to Spanish qualifier Guillermo García López, in straight sets, 4–6, 2–6. This was the second successive time that Murray had lost his opening match at the event.[168] Following Indian Wells, Murray made the finals of the Miami Masters, losing to Novak Djokovic, 1–6, 6–7.[169]
In Rome, he was eliminated in the third round by Richard Gasquet, 7–6(1), 3–6, 2–6.
Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent in the final | Score in the final |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Runner-up | 2008 | US Open | Hard | Roger Federer | 2–6, 5–7, 2–6 |
Runner-up | 2010 | Australian Open | Hard | Roger Federer | 3–6, 4–6, 6–7(11–13) |
Runner-up | 2011 | Australian Open (2) | Hard | Novak Djokovic | 4–6, 2–6, 3–6 |
W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | A | P | Z# | PO | SF-B | F | NMS |
Won tournament, or reached Final, Semifinal, Quarterfinal, Round 4, 3, 2, 1, played in Round Robin or lost in Qualification Round 3, Round 2, Round 1, Absent from a tournament or Participated in a team event, played in a Davis Cup Zonal Group (with its number indication) or Play-off, won a bronze or silver match at the Olympics. The last is for a Masters Series/1000 tournament that was relegated (Not a Masters Series). This table is current through to the 2012 Australian Open.
Tournament | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | SR | W–L | Win % | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Grand Slam tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||
Australian Open | A | 1R | 4R | 1R | 4R | F | F | SF | 0 / 7 | 23–7 | 76.67 | ||||||||
French Open | A | 1R | A | 3R | QF | 4R | SF | 0 / 5 | 14–5 | 73.68 | |||||||||
Wimbledon | 3R | 4R | A | QF | SF | SF | SF | 0 / 6 | 24–6 | 80.00 | |||||||||
US Open | 2R | 4R | 3R | F | 4R | 3R | SF | 0 / 7 | 22–7 | 75.86 | |||||||||
Win–Loss | 3–2 | 6–4 | 5–2 | 12–4 | 15–4 | 16–4 | 21–4 | 5–1 | 0 / 25 | 83–25 | 76.85 |
Murray is best described as a defensive counter-puncher;[170] professional tennis coach Paul Annacone stated that Murray "may be the best counterpuncher on tour today."[171] His strengths include groundstrokes with low error rate, the ability to anticipate and react, and his transition from defence to offence with speed, which enables him to hit winners from defensive positions. His playing style has been likened to that of Miloslav Mečíř.[172] Murray's tactics usually involve passive exchanges from the baseline, usually waiting for an unforced error. However, Murray has been criticised for his generally passive style of play and lack of offensive weapons, prompting some to call him a pusher.[173] He is capable of injecting sudden pace to his groundstrokes to surprise his opponents who are used to the slow rally. Murray is also one of the top returners in the game, often able to block back fast serves with his excellent reach and uncanny ability to anticipate. For this reason, Murray is rarely aced.[174] Murray is also known for being one of the most intelligent tacticians on the court, often constructing points.[175][176] Murray is most proficient on a fast surface (such as hard courts),[177] although he has worked hard since 2008 on improving his clay court game.[178]
Early in his career, most of his main tour wins came on hard courts. However, he claimed to prefer clay courts,[179][180] because of his training in Barcelona as a junior player.[181]
Murray is sponsored by Head and plays the YOUTEK Radical Pro with a Prestige grommet. He wore Fred Perry apparel until early 2010, when he signed a five-year £10m contract with adidas. This includes wearing their range of tennis shoe.[182]
Murray identifies himself as Scottish and British.[183][184] Prior to Wimbledon 2006, Murray caused some public debate when he was quoted as saying he would "support anyone but England" at the 2006 World Cup.[185] He received large amounts of hate mail on his website as a result.[186] It was also reported that Murray had worn a Paraguay shirt on the day of England's World Cup match with the South American team.[185]
Murray explained that his comments were said in jest during a light-hearted interview with sports columnist Maurice Russo,[187] who asked him if he would be supporting Scotland in the World Cup, in the knowledge that Scotland had failed to qualify for the tournament.[188] Sports journalist Des Kelly wrote that another tabloid had later "lifted a couple of [the comments] into a 'story' that took on a life of its own and from there the truth was lost" and that he despaired over the "nonsensical criticism".[189]
Murray protested that he is "not anti-English and never was"[183] and he expressed disappointment over England's subsequent elimination by Portugal.[190] In an interview with Nicky Campbell on BBC Radio 5 Live, Tim Henman confirmed that the remarks had been made in jest and were only in response to Murray being teased by Kelly[187] and Henman.[191] He also stated that the rumour that Murray had worn a Paraguay shirt was untrue.[191]
In an interview with Gabby Logan for the BBC's Inside Sport programme, Murray said that he was both Scottish and British and was comfortable and happy with his British identity.[192] He said he saw no conflict between the two and was equally proud of them. He has also pointed out that he is quarter English with some of his family originating from Newcastle, and that his girlfriend, Kim Sears, is English.[193]
In 2006 Murray caused an uproar during a match between him and Kenneth Carlsen. Murray was first given a warning for racket abuse then he stated that he and Carlsen had "played like women" during the first set.[194] Murray was heavily booed for the remainder of the interview, but explained later that the comment was in jest to what Svetlana Kuznetsova had said at the Hopman Cup.[195] A few months later Murray was fined $2,500 for swearing at the umpire during a Davis Cup doubles rubber with Serbia and Montenegro. Murray refused to shake hands with the umpire at the end of the match.[196]
In 2007 Murray suggested that tennis had a match fixing problem, stating that everyone knows it goes on,[197] in the wake of the investigation surrounding Nikolay Davydenko.[198] Both Davydenko and Rafael Nadal questioned his comments, but Murray responded that his words had been taken out of context.[199]
In 2008, Murray withdrew from a Davis Cup tie, leading his brother to question his heart for the competition.[200][dead link]
See more Wikipedia articles related to this topic. |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Andy Murray |
Sporting positions | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded by Sam Querrey |
US Open Series Champion 2010 |
Succeeded by Mardy Fish |
Awards
|
||
Preceded by Kate Haywood |
BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year 2004 |
Succeeded by Harry Aikines-Aryeetey |
|
Persondata | |
---|---|
Name | Murray, Andy |
Alternative names | Murray, Andrew |
Short description | Tennis player |
Date of birth | 15 May 1987 |
Place of birth | Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom |
Date of death | |
Place of death |
Rafael Nadal in 2012 |
|
Full name | Rafael Nadal Parera |
---|---|
Country | Spain |
Residence | Manacor, Majorca, Balearic Islands, Spain |
Born | (1986-06-03) 3 June 1986 (age 26) Manacor, Majorca, Balearic Islands, Spain |
Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) |
Weight | 85 kg (190 lb; 13.4 st) |
Turned pro | 2001 |
Plays | Left-handed (two-handed backhand) |
Career prize money | $48,433,332 |
Singles | |
Career record | 574–120 (82.71%) |
Career titles | 49 |
Highest ranking | No. 1 (18 August 2008) |
Current ranking | No. 2 (28 May 2012)[1] |
Grand Slam Singles results | |
Australian Open | W (2009) |
French Open | W (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011) |
Wimbledon | W (2008, 2010) |
US Open | W (2010) |
Other tournaments | |
Tour Finals | F (2010) |
Olympic Games | Gold medal (2008) |
Doubles | |
Career record | 97–59 |
Career titles | 8 |
Highest ranking | No. 26 (8 August 2005) |
Current ranking | No. 62 (28 May 2012)[2] |
Grand Slam Doubles results | |
Australian Open | 3R (2004, 2005) |
Wimbledon | 2R (2005) |
US Open | SF (2004) |
Last updated on: 28 May 2012. |
Olympic medal record | ||
---|---|---|
Competitor for Spain | ||
Men's Tennis | ||
Gold | 2008 Beijing | Singles |
Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera (Catalan: [rəˈfɛɫ nəˈðaɫ pəˈɾeɾə]; Spanish: [rafaˈel naˈðal paˈɾeɾa]) (born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. As of 28 May 2012 (2012 -05-28)[update], he is ranked No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time;[5][6][7] his success on clay has earned him the nickname "The King of Clay", and has prompted many experts to regard him as the greatest clay court player of all time.[8][9][10]
Nadal has won ten Grand Slam singles titles, including a record six French Open titles (tied with Bjorn Borg), the 2008 Olympic gold medal in singles, a record 21 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments, and also was part of the Spain Davis Cup team that won the finals in 2004, 2008, 2009 and 2011. He completed the Career Grand Slam by winning the 2010 US Open, being the seventh player in history, and the youngest in the open era, to achieve it. He is the second male player to complete the Career Golden Slam (winner of the four grand slams and the Olympic Gold medal) after only Andre Agassi.
Nadal had a 32-match winning streak in 2008, starting at the 2008 Masters Series Hamburg to the 2008 Western & Southern Financial Group Masters and Women's Open, which included titles at Hamburg, the French Open (where he did not drop a set), Queen's Club, his first title at Wimbledon, and the Rogers Cup. In 2012, by winning the Monte-Carlo Masters, he became the only player to have won eight consecutive editions in any tournament during history of tennis, and only the 2nd player to win a single tournament for a total of eight times during Open Era. Nadal was ranked world No. 2, behind Roger Federer, for a record 160 consecutive weeks before earning the top spot, which he held from 18 August 2008 to 5 July 2009.[11] He regained the world No.1 ranking on 7 June 2010, after winning his fifth French Open title.[12] He held it until 3 July 2011, when Novak Djokovic replaced him as world No. 1. Nadal has held the No. 2 ranking for an ATP record 235 weeks (as of 21 May 2012).
Contents |
Rafael Nadal was born in Manacor, Majorca, Spain to Sebastián Nadal, a businessman who owns an insurance company, a glass and window company, Vidres Mallorca, and manages his own restaurant, Sa Punta. His mother is Ana María Parera, a housewife. He has a younger sister named María Isabel. His uncle, Miguel Ángel Nadal, is a retired professional footballer, who played for RCD Mallorca, FC Barcelona, and the Spanish national team.[13] Nadal supports football clubs Real Madrid and RCD Mallorca.[14] Recognizing that Nadal had a natural talent for tennis, another uncle, Toni Nadal, a former professional tennis player, introduced him to tennis when he was three years old.[15]
At age eight, Nadal won an under-12 regional tennis championship at a time when he was also a promising football player.[16] This made Toni Nadal intensify training, and at that time he encouraged Nadal to play left-handed for a natural advantage on the tennis court, as he noticed Nadal played forehand shots with two hands.[16] When Nadal was 12, he won the Spanish and European tennis titles in his age group and was playing tennis and football all the time.[16] Nadal's father made him choose between football and tennis so that his school work would not deteriorate entirely. Nadal said: "I chose tennis. Football had to stop straight away."[16]
When he was 14, the Spanish tennis federation requested that he leave Majorca and move to Barcelona to continue his tennis training. Nadal's family turned down this request, partly because they feared it would hurt his education,[16] but also because Toni said that "I don't want to believe that you have to go to America, or other places to be a good athlete. You can do it from your home."[15] The decision to stay home meant that Nadal received less financial support from the federation; instead, Nadal's father covered the costs. In May 2001, he defeated former Grand Slam champion Pat Cash in a clay-court exhibition match.[13]
At 15, he turned pro.[17] Nadal participated in two events on the ITF junior circuit. In 2002, at the age of 16, Nadal reached the semifinals of the Boy's Singles tournament at Wimbledon, in his first ITF junior event.[18]
By the age of 17, he beat Roger Federer the first time they played and became the youngest man to reach the third round at Wimbledon since Boris Becker. At 18, he helped pace Spain over the US in the junior Davis Cup in his second, and final, appearance on the ITF junior circuit. At 19, Nadal won the French Open the first time he played it, a feat not accomplished in Paris for more than 20 years. He eventually won it the first four times he played at Roland Garros.[17] In 2003, he had won the ATP Newcomer of the Year Award. Early in his career, Nadal picked up the trademark habit of biting the trophies he won.[19]
In April 2002, at 15 years and 10 months, the world No. 762 Nadal won his first ATP match, defeating Ramón Delgado, and became the ninth player in the open era to do so before the age of 16.[20] The following year, Nadal won two Challenger titles and finished the year in the top 50. At his Wimbledon debut in 2003, Nadal became the youngest man to reach the third round since Boris Becker in 1984.[21] During 2004, Nadal played his first match against world No. 1 Roger Federer at the 2004 Miami Masters, and won in straight sets. He is one of the six players that defeated Federer that year (along with Tim Henman, Albert Costa, Gustavo Kuerten, Dominik Hrbatý, and Tomáš Berdych). He missed most of the clay court season, including the French Open, because of a stress fracture in his left ankle.[13] Nadal, at 18 years and six months, became the youngest player to register a singles victory in a Davis Cup final for a winning nation.[22] By beating world No. 2 Andy Roddick, he helped Spain clinch the 2004 title over the United States in a 3–2 win. He finished the year ranked world No. 51.
At the 2005 Australian Open, Nadal lost in the 4th round to eventual runner-up Lleyton Hewitt. Two months later, Nadal reached the final of the 2005 Miami Masters, and despite being two points from a straight-sets victory, he was defeated in five sets by world No. 1 Roger Federer. Both performances were considered to be breakthroughs for Nadal.[23][24]
He then dominated the spring clay court season. He won 24 consecutive singles matches, which broke Andre Agassi's open era record of consecutive match wins for a male teenager.[25] Nadal won the Torneo Conde de Godó in Barcelona and beat 2004 French Open runner-up Guillermo Coria in the finals of the 2005 Monte Carlo Masters and the 2005 Rome Masters. These victories raised his ranking to world No. 5[26] and made him one of the favorites at his career-first French Open. On his 19th birthday, Nadal defeated Federer in the 2005 French Open semifinals, being one of only four players who defeated the top-seeded player that year (along with Marat Safin, Richard Gasquet, and David Nalbandian). Two days later, he defeated Mariano Puerta in the final, becoming the second male player to win the French Open on his first attempt since Mats Wilander in 1982: He also became the first teenager to win a Grand Slam singles title since Pete Sampras won the 1990 US Open at age 19.[13] Winning the French Open improved Nadal's ranking to World No. 3.[26]
Three days after his victory in Paris, Nadal's 24-match winning streak was snapped in the first round of the grass court Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany, where he lost to the German Alexander Waske.[27] He then lost in the second round of 2005 Wimbledon to Gilles Müller of Luxembourg.
Immediately after Wimbledon, Nadal won 16 consecutive matches and three consecutive tournaments, bringing his ranking to world No. 2 on 25 July 2005.
Nadal started his North American summer hard-court season by defeating Agassi in the final of the 2005 Canada Masters, but lost in the first round of the 2005 Cincinnati Masters. Nadal was seeded second at the 2005 US Open, where he was upset in the third round by World No. 49 James Blake in four sets.
In September, he defeated Coria in the final of the China Open in Beijing and won both of his Davis Cup matches against Italy. In October, he won his fourth ATP Masters Series title of the year, defeating Ivan Ljubičić in the final of the 2005 Madrid Masters. He then suffered a foot injury that prevented him from competing in the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup.[28]
Both Nadal and Federer won eleven singles titles and four ATP Masters Series titles in 2005. Nadal broke Mats Wilander's previous teenage record of nine in 1983.[29] Eight of Nadal's titles were on clay, and the remainder were on hard courts. Nadal won 79 matches, second only to Federer's 81. Nadal won the Golden Bagel Award for 2005, with eleven 6–0 sets during the year.[30] Also, he earned the highest year-end ranking ever by a Spaniard and the ATP Most Improved Player of the Year award.
Nadal missed the Australian Open due to a foot injury.[31] In February, he lost in the semifinals of the first tournament he played, the Open 13 tournament in Marseille, France. Two weeks later, he handed Roger Federer his first loss of the year in the final of the Dubai Duty Free Men's Open (in 2006, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray were the only two men who defeated Federer). To complete the spring hard-court season, Nadal was upset in the semifinals of the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California, by James Blake, and was upset in the second round of the 2006 Miami Masters.
On European clay, Nadal won all four tournaments he entered and 24 consecutive matches. He defeated Federer in the final of the Masters Series Monte Carlo in four sets. The following week, he defeated Tommy Robredo in the final of the Open Sabadell Atlántico tournament in Barcelona. After a one-week break, Nadal won the Masters Series Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, defeating Federer in a fifth-set tiebreaker in the final, after saving two match points and equaling Björn Borg's tally of 16 ATP titles won as a teenager. Nadal broke Argentinian Guillermo Vilas's 29-year male record of 53 consecutive clay-court match victories by winning his first round match at the French Open. Vilas presented Nadal with a trophy, but commented later that Nadal's feat was less impressive than his own because Nadal's winning streak covered two years and was accomplished by adding easy tournaments to his schedule.[32] Nadal went on to play Federer in the final of the French Open. The first two sets of the match were hardly competitive, as the rivals traded 6–1 sets. Nadal won the third set easily and served for the match in the fourth set before Federer broke him and forced a tiebreaker. Nadal won the tiebreaker and became the first player to defeat Federer in a Grand Slam final.[33]
Nadal injured his shoulder while playing a quarterfinal match against Lleyton Hewitt at the Artois Championships, played on grass at the Queen's Club in London.[34] Nadal was unable to complete the match, which ended his 26-match winning streak. Nadal was seeded second at Wimbledon, but was two points from defeat against American qualifier Robert Kendrick in the second round before coming back to win in five sets. In the third round, Nadal defeated world No. 20 Andre Agassi in straight sets at Agassi's last career match at Wimbledon. Nadal also won his next three matches in straight sets, which set up his first Wimbledon final, which was against Federer, who had won this tournament the three previous years. Nadal was the first Spanish man since Manuel Santana in 1966, to reach the Wimbledon final, but Federer won the match in four sets 6–0, 7–6, 6–7, 6–3 to win his fourth consecutive Wimbledon title.
During the lead up to the US Open, Nadal played the two Masters Series tournaments in North America. He was upset in the third round of the Rogers Cup in Toronto and the quarterfinals of the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati, Ohio. Nadal was seeded second at the US Open, but lost in the quarterfinals to world No. 54 Mikhail Youzhny of Russia in four sets.
Nadal played only three tournaments the remainder of the year. Joachim Johansson, ranked world No. 690, upset Nadal in the second round of the Stockholm Open 6–4, 7–6. The following week, Nadal lost to Tomáš Berdych in the quarterfinals of the year's last Masters Series tournament, the Mutua Madrileña Masters in Madrid. During the round-robin stage of the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup, Nadal lost to James Blake but defeated Nikolay Davydenko and Robredo. Because of those two victories, Nadal qualified for the semifinals, where he lost to Federer 6–4, 7–5. This was Nadal's third loss in nine career matches with Federer.
Nadal went on to become the first player since Andre Agassi in 1994–95 to finish the year as the world No. 2 in consecutive years.
Nadal started the year by playing in six hard-court tournaments. He lost in the semifinals and first round of his first two tournaments and then lost in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open to eventual runner-up Fernando González. After another quarterfinal loss at the Dubai Tennis Championships, he won the 2007 Indian Wells Masters, before Novak Djoković defeated him in the quarterfinals of the 2007 Miami Masters.
He had comparatively more success after returning to Europe to play five clay-court tournaments. He won the titles at the Masters Series Monte Carlo, the Open Sabadell Atlántico in Barcelona, and the Masters Series Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, before losing to Roger Federer in the final of the Masters Series Hamburg. This defeat ended his 81-match winning streak on clay, which is the male open era record for consecutive wins on a single surface. He then rebounded to win the French Open for the third straight year, defeating Federer once again in the final.
Between the tournaments in Barcelona and Rome, Nadal defeated Federer in the "Battle of Surfaces" exhibition match in Majorca, Spain, with the tennis court being half grass and half clay.[35]
Nadal played the Artois Championships at the Queen's Club in London for the second consecutive year. As in 2006, Nadal was upset in the quarterfinals. Nadal then won consecutive five-set matches during the third and fourth rounds of Wimbledon before being beaten by Federer in the five-set final. This was Federer's first five-set match at Wimbledon since 2001.[36]
In July, Nadal won the clay court Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart, which proved to be his last title of the year. He played three important tournaments during the North American summer hard court season. He was a semifinalist at the Masters Series Rogers Cup in Montreal before losing his first match at the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was the second-seeded player at the US Open, but was defeated in the fourth round by David Ferrer.
After a month-long break from tournament tennis, Nadal played the Mutua Madrileña Masters in Madrid and the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris. David Nalbandian upset him in the quarterfinals and final of those tournaments. To end the year, Nadal won two of his three round robin matches to advance to the semifinals of the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, where Federer defeated him 6–4, 6–1.
During the second half of the year, Nadal battled a knee injury suffered during the Wimbledon final. In addition, there were rumors at the end of the year that the foot injury he suffered during 2005, caused long-term damage, which were given credence by coach Toni Nadal's claim that the problem was "serious". Nadal and his spokesman strongly denied this, however, with Nadal himself calling the story "totally false".[37]
Nadal began the year in India, where he was comprehensively beaten by Mikhail Youzhny in the final of the Chennai Open. Nadal then reached the semifinals of the Australian Open for the first time. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga defeated Nadal 6–2, 6–3, 6–2 in the semifinal of 2008 Australian Open. Tsonga's semifinal performance was characterized by his powerful and precise serve, finesse volleys, and aggressive baseline play; it was a performance that drew the Melbourne crowd to their feet. Tsonga did not face a break point until the third set, while breaking the Spaniard five times in the match. Nadal also reached the final of the Miami Masters for the second time.
During the spring clay-court season, Nadal won four singles titles and defeated Roger Federer in three finals. He beat Federer at the Masters Series Monte Carlo for the third straight year, capturing his open era record fourth consecutive title there. He won in straight sets, despite Federer's holding a 4–0 lead in the second set.[38] Nadal then won his fourth consecutive title at the Open Sabadell Atlántico tournament in Barcelona. A few weeks later, Nadal won his first title at the Masters Series Hamburg, defeating Federer in the three-set final. He then won the French Open, becoming the fifth man in the open era to win a Grand Slam singles title without losing a set.[39] He defeated Federer in the final for the third straight year, but this was the most lopsided of all their matches, as Nadal only lost four games and gave Federer his first bagel since 1999.[38] This was Nadal's fourth consecutive French title, tying Björn Borg's all-time record. Nadal became the fourth male player during Open era to win the same Grand Slam singles tournament four consecutive years (the others being Borg, Pete Sampras, and Federer).
Nadal then played Federer in the final of Wimbledon for the third consecutive year, in the most anticipated match of their rivalry.[40][41] Nadal entered the final on a 23-match winning streak, including his first career grass-court title at the Artois Championships staged at the Queen's Club in London prior to Wimbledon. Federer had won his record fifth grass-court title at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, and then reached the Wimbledon final without losing a set. Unlike their previous two Wimbledon finals, though, Federer was not the prohibitive favorite, and many analysts picked Nadal to win.[41][42] They played the longest (in terms of time on court, not in terms of numbers of games) final in Wimbledon history, and because of rain delays, Nadal won the fifth set 9–7 in near-darkness. The match was widely lauded as the greatest Wimbledon final ever, with some tennis critics even calling it the greatest match in tennis history.[43][44][45][46][47] By winning his first Wimbledon title, Nadal became the third man in the open era to win both the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year, after Rod Laver in 1969, and Borg in 1978–80, (Federer later accomplished this the following year) as well as the second Spaniard to win Wimbledon. He also ended Federer's record streak of five consecutive Wimbledon titles and 65 straight wins on grass courts. This is also the first time that Nadal won two Grand Slams back-to-back.
After Wimbledon, Nadal extended his winning streak to a career-best 32 matches. He won his second Rogers Cup title in Toronto, and then made it into the semifinals of the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati, Ohio. As a result, Nadal clinched the US Open Series and, combined with Federer's early-round losses in both of those tournaments, finally earned the world No. 1 ranking on 18 August, officially ending Federer's record four-and-a-half year reign at the top.
At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Nadal defeated Novak Djoković of Serbia in the semifinals 6–4, 1–6, 6–4 and Fernando González of Chile in the final to win his first Olympic gold medal. Nadal became the first male player ranked in the top five to win the gold medal.[48]
At the US Open, Nadal was the top-seeded player for the first time at a Grand Slam tournament. He did not lose a set during his first three matches, defeating qualifiers in the first and second rounds and Viktor Troicki in the third round. He then needed four sets to defeat both Sam Querrey in the fourth round and Mardy Fish in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, he lost to eventual runner up, Andy Murray 6–2, 7–6, 4–6, 6–4. Later in the year in Madrid, Nadal helped Spain defeat the United States in the Davis Cup semifinals.
At the Mutua Madrileña Masters in Madrid, Nadal lost in the semifinals to Gilles Simon 3–6, 7–5, 7–6. However, his performance at the event guaranteed that he would become the first Spaniard during the open era to finish the year as the world No. 1.[49] On 24 October at the Campoamor theatre in Oviedo, Spain, Nadal was given the Prince of Asturias Award for Sports, in recognition of his achievements in tennis.[50] Two weeks after the Madrid Masters at the BNP Paribas Masters in France, Nadal reached the quarterfinals, where he faced Nikolay Davydenko. Nadal lost the first set 6–1, before retiring in the second with a knee injury.[51] The following week, Nadal announced his withdrawal from the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, citing tendinitis of the knee. On 10 November, Nadal withdrew from Spain's Davis Cup final against Argentina, as his knee injury had not healed completely.[52]
Nadal's first official ATP tour event for the year was the 250 series Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha. After his first-round match with Fabrice Santoro, Nadal was awarded the 2008 ATP World Tour Champion trophy.[53] Nadal eventually lost in the quarterfinals to Gaël Monfils. Nadal also entered and won the tournament's doubles event with partner Marc López, defeating the world No. 1 doubles team of Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjić in the final. As noted by statistician Greg Sharko, this was the first time since 1990, that the world No. 1 singles player had played the world No. 1 doubles player in a final.[54]
At the 2009 Australian Open, Nadal won his first five matches without dropping a set, before defeating compatriot Fernando Verdasco in the semifinals in the second longest match in Australian Open history at 5 hours and 14 minutes.[55] This win set up a championship match with Roger Federer, their first meeting ever in a hard-court Grand Slam tournament and their nineteenth meeting overall. Nadal defeated Federer in five sets to earn his first hard-court Grand Slam singles title,[56] making him the first Spaniard to win the Australian Open and the fourth male tennis player—after Jimmy Connors, Mats Wilander, and Andre Agassi—to win Grand Slam singles titles on three different surfaces. This win also made Nadal the first male tennis player to hold three Grand Slam singles titles on three different surfaces at the same time.[57] Nadal then played the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam. In the final, he lost to second-seeded Murray in three sets. During the final, Nadal called a trainer to attend to a tendon problem with his right knee, which notably affected his play in the final set.[58] Although this knee problem was not associated with Nadal's right knee tendonitis, it was serious enough to cause him to withdraw from the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships a week later.[59]
In March, Nadal helped Spain defeat Serbia in a Davis Cup World Group first-round tie on clay in Benidorm, Spain. Nadal defeated Janko Tipsarević and Novak Djokovic. The win over world No. 3 Djokovic was Nadal's twelfth consecutive Davis Cup singles match win and boosted his career win–loss record against Djokovic to 11–4, including 6–0 on clay.[60][61]
At the 2009 Indian Wells Masters, Nadal won his thirteenth Masters 1000 series tournament. In the fourth round, Nadal saved five match points, before defeating David Nalbandian for the first time.[62] Nadal defeated Juan Martín del Potro in the quarterfinals and Andy Roddick in the semi-finals, before defeating Murray in the final. The next ATP tour event was the 2009 Miami Masters. Nadal advanced to the quarterfinals, where he again faced Argentinian del Potro, this time losing the match. This was the first time del Potro had defeated Nadal in five career matches.[63]
Nadal began his European clay court season at the 2009 Monte Carlo Masters, where he won a record fifth consecutive singles title there.[64] He defeated Novak Djokovic in the final for his fifth consecutive win, a record in the open era. Nadal is the first male player to win the same ATP Master series event for five consecutive years.
Nadal then competed in the ATP 500 event in Barcelona. He advanced to his fifth consecutive Barcelona final, where he faced David Ferrer. Nadal went on to beat Ferrer 6–2, 7–5 to record five consecutive Barcelona victories.[65] At the Rome Masters, Nadal reached the final, where he defeated Novak Djokovic to improve his overall record to 13–4 and clay record to 8–0 against the Serb.[66] He became the first player to win four Rome titles.
After winning two clay-court Masters, he participated in the Madrid Open. He lost to Roger Federer 4–6, 4–6 in the final. This was the first time that Nadal had lost to Federer since the semifinals of the 2007 Tennis Masters Cup.
On 19 May, the ATP World Tour announced that Nadal was the first player out of eight to qualify for the 2009 ATP World Tour Finals, to be played at the O2 Arena in London.[67]
By beating Lleyton Hewitt in the third round of 2009 French Open, Nadal (2005–09 French Open) set a record of 31 consecutive wins at Roland Garros, beating the previous record of 28 by Björn Borg (1978–81 French Open). Nadal had won 32 consecutive sets at Roland Garros (since winning the last 2 sets at the 2007 French Open final against Federer), the second-longest winning streak in the tournament's history behind Björn Borg's record of 41 consecutive sets. This run came to an end on 31 May 2009, when Nadal lost to eventual runner-up, Robin Söderling in the 4th round. The Swede triumphed 6–2, 6–7, 6–4, 7–6. This was Nadal's first loss at the French Open.
After his surprise defeat at Roland Garros, Nadal withdrew from the AEGON Championships. It was confirmed that Nadal was suffering from tendinitis in both of his knees.[68] On 19 June, Nadal withdrew from the 2009 Wimbledon Championship, citing his recurring knee injury.[69] He was the first champion to not defend the title since Goran Ivanišević in 2001.[69] Roger Federer went on to win the title, and Nadal consequently dropped back to world No. 2 on 6 July 2009. Nadal later announced his withdrawal from the Davis Cup.
On 4 August, Nadal's uncle, Toni Nadal, confirmed that Nadal would return to play at the Rogers Cup in Montreal.[70] There, in his first tournament since Roland Garros, Nadal lost in the quarterfinals to Juan Martín del Potro.[71] With this loss, he relinquished the No. 2 spot to Andy Murray on 17 August 2009, ranking outside the top two for the first time since 25 July 2005.
In the quarterfinals of the US Open he defeated Fernando González 7–6, 7–6, 6–0 in a rain-delayed encounter.[72] However, like his previous US Open campaign, he fell in the semifinals, this time losing to eventual champion Juan Martín del Potro 2–6, 2–6, 2–6.[73] Despite the loss, he regained his No. 2 ranking after Andy Murray's early exit.[74]
At the World Tour Finals, Nadal lost all three of his matches against Robin Söderling, Nikolay Davydenko, and Novak Djokovic respectively without winning a set.
In December, Nadal participated in the second Davis Cup final of his career. He defeated Czech No. 2 Tomáš Berdych in his first singles rubber to give the Spanish Davis Cup Team their first point in the tie. After the Spanish Davis Cup team had secured its fourth Davis Cup victory, Nadal defeated Jan Hájek in the first Davis Cup dead rubber of his career. The win gave Nadal his 14th consecutive singles victory at Davis Cup (his 13th on clay).
Nadal finished the year as No. 2 for the fourth time in five years. Nadal won the Golden Bagel Award for 2009, with nine 6–0 sets during the year. Nadal has won the award three times (a tour record).
Nadal began the year by participating in the Capitala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. He defeated compatriot David Ferrer 7–6, 6–3 to reach his second final in the exhibition tournament. In the final, Nadal defeated Robin Söderling 7–6, 7–5.[75]
Nadal participated in an Australian Open warm-up tournament, the Qatar ExxonMobil Open ATP 250 event in Doha, where he lost in the finals to Nikolay Davydenko 6–0, 6–7, 4–6.[76][76]
In the first round of the Australian Open, Nadal defeated Peter Luczak of Australia 7–6, 6–1, 6–4. In the second round, he beat Lukáš Lacko 6–2, 6–2, 6–2. In the third round, he was tested by Philipp Kohlschreiber, finally beating him 6–4, 6–2, 2–6, 7–5. In the fourth round, he beat Ivo Karlović of Croatia, 6–4, 4–6, 6–4, 6–4.[77] In the quarterfinals, Nadal pulled out at 3–0 down in the third set against Andy Murray, having lost the first two sets 6–3, 7–6.[78] After examining Nadal's knees, doctors told him that he should take two weeks of rest, and then two weeks of rehabilitation.
Nadal reached the semifinals in singles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, where he was the defending champion; however, eventual champion Ivan Ljubičić defeated him in three sets.[79] He and countryman López won the doubles title, though, as wildcard entrants against number one seeds Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjić.[80] This boosted his doubles ranking 175 places[81] to world number 66, whereas he was 241st before Indian Wells.[82] After Indian Wells, Nadal reached the semifinals of the Sony Ericsson Open, where he lost to eventual champion Andy Roddick in three sets.[83]
Nadal reached the final of the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters in Monaco, after beating fellow Spaniard David Ferrer 6–3, 6–2 in the semifinals. This was Nadal's first tour final since Doha earlier in the year. He won the final 6–0, 6–1 over his compatriot Fernando Verdasco. He lost 14 games throughout all five matches, the fewest he had ever lost en route to a championship, and the final was the shortest Masters 1000 final in terms of games. With this win, Nadal became the first player in the open era to win a tournament title for six straight years.[84]
Unlike in previous years, Nadal next chose to skip the Barcelona tournament (despite being that event's five-time defending champion), and his next tournament was the 2010 Internazionali BNL d'Italia. He defeated Philipp Kohlschreiber, Victor Hănescu, and Stanlias Wawrinka, all in straight sets, to win his 57th straight match in April. In the semis, he faced a resilient Ernests Gulbis, who defeated Roger Federer earlier in the tournament and took Nadal to three sets for the first time this clay-court season. Nadal eventually prevailed with a 6–4, 3–6, 6–4 in 2 hours and 40minutes. He then defeated compatriot David Ferrer in the final 7–5, 6–2 for his fifth title at Rome to equal Andre Agassi's record of winning 17 ATP Masters titles.
Nadal then entered the 2010 Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open, where he had finished runner-up the previous year. Being one of the top eight seeds, he received a bye in the first round. In the second round, he defeated qualifier Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr in straight sets. He then played the six-foot-nine-inch American John Isner. Nadal comfortably came through in straight sets, 7–5, 6–4. He defeated Gaël Monfils in the quarterfinals 6–1, 6–3 and his countryman Nicolás Almagro in the next round, who was playing in his first Masters 1000 semifinal, 4–6, 6–2, 6–2. The first set of his match against Almagro would be just the second set he lost on clay up to this point in 2010. Nadal then defeated longtime rival Roger Federer 6–4, 7–6, avenging his 2009 finals loss to Federer. The win gave him his 18th Masters title, breaking the all-time record. He became the first player to win all three clay-court Masters titles in a single year and the first player to win three consecutive Masters events. Nadal moved back to No. 2 the following day.
Entering the French Open, many were expecting another Nadal-Federer final. However, this became impossible when rival Robin Söderling defeated Federer 3–6, 6–3, 7–5, 6–4 in the quarterfinals.[85] The failure of Federer to reach the semifinals allowed Nadal to regain the world No. 1 ranking if he were to win the tournament. Nadal advanced to the final and defeated Soderling 6–4, 6–2, 6–4 to win the French Open. The win gave Nadal his seventh Grand Slam, tying him with John McEnroe, John Newcombe, and Mats Wilander on the all-time list, and allowed Nadal to reclaim the position of world No. 1, denying his biggest rival Roger Federer the all-time record for weeks at No. 1.[86][87] By this win, Nadal became the first man to win the three Masters series on clay and the French Open. This was dubbed by the media as the "Clay Slam". This victory at Roland Garros marked the second time (2008) that Nadal had won the French Open without dropping a single set (tying the record held by Björn Borg). With the win in Paris he also booked his place at the World Tour Finals in London and became the first player to win five French Open titles in six years.
In June, Nadal entered the AEGON Championships, which he had won in 2008, at the prestigious Queen's Club. He played singles and doubles at this grass court tournament as a warmup for Wimbledon. Being one of the top eight seeds, he received a bye in the first round. In the second round, where he played his first match on grass since winning Wimbledon 2008, he defeated Marcos Daniel easily, 6–2, 6–2. In the third round, he played Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan, whom he defeated 7–6, 4–6, 6–4, to advance to the quarterfinals. However, he was defeated by compatriot Feliciano López 6–7, 4–6.
At the Wimbledon, Nadal beat Kei Nishikori 6–2, 6–4, 6–4. Nadal was taken to the limit by Robin Haase winning 5–7, 6–2, 3–6, 6–0, 6–3. He defeated Philipp Petzschner in the third round. The match was a 5-set thriller, with Nadal triumphing 6–4, 4–6, 6–7, 6–2, 6–3. During his match with Petzschner, Nadal was warned twice for receiving coaching from his coach and uncle, Toni Nadal, resulting in a $2000 fine by Wimbledon officials. Allegedly, encouraging words for Nadal shouted during the match were some sort of coaching code signal.[88][89] He met Paul-Henri Mathieu of France in the round of 16 and comfortably beat Mathieu 6–4, 6–2, 6–2. In the quarterfinals, he got past Robin Söderling of Sweden in four sets 3–6, 6–3, 7–6, 6–1. He defeated Andy Murray in straight sets 6–4, 7–6, 6–4 to reach his fourth Wimbledon final.
Nadal won the 2010 Wimbledon men's title by defeating Tomáš Berdych in straight sets 6–3, 7–5, 6–4. After the win, Nadal said "it is more than a dream for me" and thanked the crowd for being both kind and supportive to him and his adversary during the match and in the semifinal against Andy Murray.[90] The win gave him a second Wimbledon title and an eighth career major title[91] just past the age of 24.[92] The win also gave Nadal his first "Old World Triple"; the last person to achieve this was Björn Borg in 1978 ("Old World Triple" is a term given to winning the Italian Open, French Open, and Wimbledon in the same year).
In his first hard-court tournament since Wimbledon, Nadal advanced to the semifinals of the Rogers Cup, along with No. 2 Novak Djokovic, No. 3 Roger Federer, and No. 4 Andy Murray, after coming back from a one-set deficit to defeat Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany, 3–6, 6–3, 6–4.[93] In the semifinal, defending champion Murray defeated Nadal 6–3, 6–4, becoming the only player to triumph over the Spaniard twice in 2010.[94] Nadal also competed in the doubles with Djokovic in a one-time, high-profile partnership of the world No. 1 and No. 2, the first such team since the Jimmy Connors and Arthur Ashe team in 1976.[95] However, Nadal and Djokovic lost in the first round to Canadians Milos Raonic and Vasek Pospisil. The next week, Nadal was the top seed at the Cincinnati Masters, losing in the quarterfinals to 2006 Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis.
At the 2010 US Open, Nadal was the top seed for the second time in three years. He defeated Teymuraz Gabashvili, Denis Istomin, Gilles Simon, number 23 seed Feliciano López, number 8 seed Fernando Verdasco, and number 12 seed Mikhail Youzhny all without dropping a set, to reach his first US Open final, becoming only the eighth man in the Open Era to reach the final of all four majors, and at age 24 the second youngest ever to do so, behind only Jim Courier. In the final, he defeated Novak Djokovic 6–4, 5–7, 6–4, 6–2 which completed the Career Grand Slam for Nadal and he became the second male after Andre Agassi to complete a Career Golden Slam.[96] Nadal also became the first man to win grand slams on clay, grass, and hard court in the same year, and the first to win the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open in the same year since Rod Laver in 1969. Nadal and Mats Wilander are the only male players to win at least two Grand Slams each on clay, grass, and hardcourts in their careers. Nadal also became the first left-handed man to win the US Open since John McEnroe in 1984.[97] Nadal's victory also clinched the year-end No. 1 ranking for 2010, making Nadal only the third player (after Ivan Lendl in 1989 and Roger Federer in 2009) to regain the year-end number one ranking after having lost it.[98]
Nadal began his Asian tour at the 2010 PTT Thailand Open in Bangkok where he reached the semifinals, losing to compatriot Guillermo García López. Nadal was able to regroup, and at the 2010 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships in Tokyo (debut), he defeated Santiago Giraldo, Milos Raonic, and Dmitry Tursunov. In the semifinals against Viktor Troicki, Nadal saved two match points in the deciding set tiebreaker to win it 9–7 in the end. In the final, Nadal comfortably defeated Gaël Monfils 6–1, 7–5 for his seventh title of the season.
Nadal next played in the 2010 Shanghai Rolex Masters in Shanghai, where he was the top seed, but lost to world No. 12 Jürgen Melzer in the third round, snapping his record streak of 21 consecutive Masters quarterfinals. On the 5 November, Nadal announced that he was pulling out of the Paris Masters due to tendinitis in his left shoulder.[99] On 21 November 2010, in London, Nadal won the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award for the first time.[100]
At the 2010 ATP World Tour Finals in London, Nadal defeated Roddick 3–6, 7–6, 6–4 in the first match, Djokovic 7–5, 6–2 in the second match, and Berdych 7–6, 6–1 in the third match, to advance to the semifinals for the third time in his career. This is the first time that Nadal achieved three wins in the round-robin stage. In the semifinal, he defeated Murray 7–6, 3–6, 7–6 in a hard-fought match to reach his first final at the tournament. In only their second meeting of the year, Federer beat Nadal in the final by a score of 6–3, 3–6, 6–1. After the match, Nadal stated: "Roger is probably the more complete player of the world. I'm not going to say I lost that match because I was tired." This was a reference to his marathon victory over Murray on Saturday. "I tried my best this afternoon, but Roger was simply better than me."[101]
Nadal ended the 2010 season having won three Slams and three Masters 1000 tournaments, and having regained the No. 1 ranking.
Next up for Nadal was a two-match exhibition against Federer for the Roger Federer Foundation. The first match took place in Zürich on 21 December 2010, and the second in Madrid the next day.
Nadal started 2011, by participating in the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. He defeated Tomáš Berdych, 6–4, 6–4, to reach his third final in the exhibition tournament. In the final, he won over his main rival Roger Federer, 7–6, 7–6.
At the Qatar ExxonMobil Open ATP 250 event in Doha, Qatar, Nadal barely struggled past his first three opponents, Karol Beck, 6–3, 6–0, Lukáš Lacko, 7–6, 0–6, 6–3, and Ernests Gulbis, 7–6, 6–3, citing fever as the primary reason for his poor performance. He fell in straight sets to a resurgent Nikolay Davydenko in the semifinals, 3–6, 2–6.[102] He and countryman López won the doubles title by defeating the Italian duo Daniele Bracciali and Andreas Seppi, 6–3, 7–6.[103]
In the first round of the Australian Open, Nadal defeated Marcos Daniel of Brazil 6–0, 5–0 ret. In the second round, he beat upcoming qualifier Ryan Sweeting of the United States 6–2, 6–1, 6–1. In the third round, he was tested by emerging player Bernard Tomic of Australia, who previously ousted Nadal's countryman Feliciano López, but Nadal was victorious 6–2, 7–5, 6–3. He went on to defeat Marin Čilić of Croatia 6–2, 6–4, 6–3, in the fourth round. He suffered an apparent hamstring injury against fellow Spaniard David Ferrer early in the pair's quarterfinal match and ultimately lost in straight sets 4–6, 2–6, 3–6, thus ending his effort to win four major tournaments in a row.[104]
On 7 February 2011, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Nadal won the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year for the first time, ahead of footballer Lionel Messi, Sebastian Vettel, Spain's Andres Iniesta, Lakers basketball player Kobe Bryant, and Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao.[105]
In March, Nadal helped Spain defeat Belgium in a 2011 Davis Cup World Group first-round tie on hard indoor courts in the Spiroudome in Charleroi, Belgium. Nadal defeated Ruben Bemelmans 6–2, 6–4, 6–2.[106] After Spain's victory in three matches, Nadal played a second dead rubber against Olivier Rochus and won 6–4, 6–2.[107]
At the 2011 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Nadal defeated upcoming qualifier Rik de Voest of South Africa 6–0, 6–2, in his first match. In the third round, he beat qualifier Ryan Sweeting, 6–3, 6–1. He then defeated Indian qualifier Somdev Devvarman, 7–5, 6–4, in the fourth round. In the quarterfinals, Nadal had a hard time against Croatian Ivo Karlovic, but won 5–7, 6–1, 7–6, and in the semifinals he met Argentine Juan Martin del Potro, back from a long injury. The last three confrontations between the players were in favor of del Potro, but despite some difficulties, Nadal won 6–4, 6–4. He reached his third final at Indian Wells, and in the final lost against Novak Djokovic, 6–4, 3–6, 2–6.[108] The next day, Nadal and Djokovic played a friendly match in Bogota, Colombia, which Nadal won.[109]
Nadal started the 2011 Sony Ericsson Open with a win over Japanese player Kei Nishikori, 6–4, 6–4, then met his compatriot Feliciano Lopez in the third round, whom he defeated 6–3, 6–3. In the fourth round, he defeated Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine, 6–1, 6–2. In the quarterfinals, Nadal had the first real test of the tournament when he met the world no. 7 Tomas Berdych. After a good first set, Nadal's level of play fell significantly due to an injured right shoulder, and he lost the second set. He eventually triumphed, 6–2, 3–6, 6–3. In the semifinals, Nadal met his main rival Roger Federer, their first meeting in a semifinal since the 2007 Masters Cup. Nadal was swiftly victorious, 6–3, 6–2; this match was one of the fastest matches played on hard courts. For the second time in two weeks, Nadal faced Novak Djokovic in the final. As in the Indian Wells tournament, Nadal won the first set, and Djokovic the second. The third set ended in a tiebreak, with Djokovic winning the match, 4–6, 6–3, 7–6.[110] This is the first time Nadal reached the finals of Indian Wells and Miami in the same year.
Nadal began his clay-court season in style, winning the 2011 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters with the loss of just one set. Nadal defeated Jarkko Nieminen, 6–2, 6–2, Richard Gasquet, 6–2, 6–4, Ivan Ljubičić, 6–1, 6–3, and Andy Murray, 6–4, 2–6, 6–1, in the semifinals to reach his seventh consecutive final in Monte Carlo. In the final, Nadal avenged his defeat by David Ferrer in the quarterfinals of the 2011 Australian Open and won the match, 6–4, 7–5. He was the first man to win the same tournament seven times in a row at the ATP level in the open era.[111] Nadal chalked up his 37th straight win at the clay-court event, where he has not lost since the 2003 Monte Carlo Masters. It was his 44th career title and 19th at a Masters event.[112] It was his first title since winning the Japan Open. Nadal shares third place with Björn Borg and Manuel Orantes in the list of players with the most titles on clay.[113]
Just a week later, Nadal won his sixth Barcelona Open crown, winning the 2011 Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell final in straight sets. He won the final over Ferrer, 6–2, 6–4. In doing so, Nadal became the first man in the open era to have won two tournaments at least six times each. Nadal was then the leader in terms of matches won in the year, with 29. He did not gain any points for this victory, however, as only four ATP 500 tournaments can be counted towards a players ranking at one time, but they will go into effect 8 August 2011, when the result of the 2010 Legg Mason Tennis Classic expires.[114]
At the Madrid in May, he defeated Marcos Baghdatis, had a walkover against Juan Martin del Potro, and defeated Michael Llodra and Roger Federer, before losing the final to Novak Djokovic, 5–7, 4–6.[115]
Nadal lost in straight sets to Novak Djokovic in the Rome Masters final, 4–6, 4–6.[116] This marked the first time that Nadal has lost twice on clay to the same player in a single season.[117] However, Nadal retained his no. 1 ranking during the clay-court season and won his sixth French Open title by defeating Roger Federer, 7–5, 7–6, 5–7, 6–1.[118]
At Wimbledon, Nadal beat Michael Russell in the first round, 6–4, 6–2, 6–2, Ryan Sweeting, 6–3, 6–2, 6–4, in the second round, and Gilles Muller, 7–6, 7–6, 6–0, in the third round. He then faced former US Open Champion Juan Martin del Potro in the fourth round, prevailing 7–6, 3–6, 7–6, 6–4. He then faced tenth-seeded Mardy Fish in the quarterfinals, prevailing in four sets, 6–3, 6–3, 5–7, 6–4. His semifinal opponent was world no. 4 Andy Murray. Murray took the first set, but Nadal upped his game and won in four sets, 5–7, 6–2, 6–2, 6–4. This set up a final against world no. 2 Novak Djokovic, who had beaten Nadal in all four of their matches in 2011 (all in Masters finals). Djokovic broke in the 10th game of the first set to take it 6–4; he then won the second comfortably 6–1, but Nadal fought back, breaking early in the third to win it 6–1. In a tense fourth set, Djokovic broke in the ninth game and clinched the title, with Nadal losing 4–6, 1–6, 6–1, 3–6. This was the first Grand Slam final that Nadal had lost to someone other than Roger Federer and his first loss at Wimbledon since his five-set loss to Federer in the 2007 final. The loss ended Nadal's winning streak in Grand Slam finals at seven, preventing him from tying the Open-Era record of eight victories in a row set by Pete Sampras. Djokovic's success at the tournament also meant that the Serb ascended to world no. 1 for the first time, breaking the dominance of Federer and Nadal on the position, which one of them had held for every week since 2 February 2004. Nadal fell to world no. 2 in the rankings for the first time since June 2010.
After resting for a month from a foot injury sustained during Wimbledon, he contested the 2011 Rogers Cup, where he was shocked by Croatian Ivan Dodig in a third-set tiebreak. He next played in the 2011 Cincinnati Masters, where he lost to Mardy Fish in the quarterfinals.
At the 2011 US Open, Nadal defeated Andrey Golubev in straight sets and advanced to the third round after Frenchman Nicholas Mahut retired. After defeating David Nalbandian on September 4, Nadal collapsed in his post-match press conference due to severe cramps.[119] Nadal lost to Novak Djokovic in the final in four sets 2–6, 4–6, 7–6, 1–6.
After the US Open, Nadal made the final of the Japan Open Tennis Championships. Nadal, who was the 2010 champion, was defeated by Andy Murray, 6–3, 2–6, 0–6. At the Shanghai Masters, Nadal was top seed with the absence of Novak Djokovic, but was upset in the third round by no. 23 ranked Florian Mayer in straight sets, 6–7, 3–6. At the 2011 ATP World Tour Finals, Nadal was defeated by Roger Federer in the round-robin stage, 3–6, 0–6 in one of the quickest matches between the two, lasting just 60 minutes. In the following match, Nadal was defeated by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 6–7, 6–4, 3–6, and was eliminated from the tournament.
In the Davis Cup final in December, Nadal had a quick straight-set win over Juan Monaco in his first match. In his second match against Juan Martin del Potro Nadal did not win a single service game in the first set but came back to win the match 1–6, 6–4, 6–1, 7–6(0).[120]
Nadal ended his tennis season with the Mubadala World Tennis Championship, an exhibition tournament not affiliated with the ATP. The tournament, normally held in early January, was held from December 29 to December 31, 2011. Nadal had a bye into the semifinals and played against David Ferrer, who defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarterfinals.[121] Ferrer won the match in straight sets 6–3, 6–2.[122] Nadal was then relegated to the third place match against Roger Federer. Nadal dominated the first set, and Federer made an attempt to claim the second set but failed, winning the match with a score of 6–1, 7–5.
Federer and Nadal have been playing each other since 2004, and their rivalry is a significant part of both men's careers.[43][123][124][125][126]
They held the top two rankings on the ATP Tour from July 2005 until 14 September 2009, when Nadal fell to World No. 3 (Andy Murray became the new No. 2).[127] They are the only pair of men to have ever finished four consecutive calendar years at the top.[citation needed] Nadal ascended to No. 2 in July 2005 and held this spot for a record 160 consecutive weeks before surpassing Federer in August 2008.[128]
They have played 28 times, and Nadal leads their head-to-head series 18–10 overall and 8–2 in Grand Slam tournaments. Fourteen of their matches have been on clay, which is statistically Nadal's best surface and statistically Federer's worst surface.[129] Federer has a winning record on grass (2–1) and indoor hard courts (4–0) while Nadal leads the outdoor hard courts by 5–2 and clay by 12–2.[130]
Because tournament seedings are based on rankings, 19 of their matches have been in tournament finals, including an all-time record 8 Grand Slam finals.[131] From 2006 to 2008, they played in every French Open and Wimbledon final, and then they met in the 2009 Australian Open final and the 2011 French Open final.[citation needed] Nadal won six of the eight, losing the first two Wimbledons. Three of these matches were five set-matches (2007 and 2008 Wimbledon, 2009 Australian Open), and the 2008 Wimbledon final has been lauded as the greatest match ever by many long-time tennis analysts.[44][132][133][134] They have also played in a record 9 Masters Series finals.[citation needed]
Djokovic and Nadal have met 32 times (which is the sixth-most head-to-head meetings in the Open Era)[135] with Nadal having a 18–14 advantage.[136] Nadal leads on grass 2–1 and clay 11–2, but Djokovic leads on hard courts 11–5.[136] This rivalry is listed as the third greatest rivalry in the last decade by ATPworldtour.com[137] and is considered by many to be the emerging rivalry.[138][139] Djokovic is one of only two players to have at least ten match wins against Nadal (the other being Federer) and the only person to defeat Nadal seven consecutive times and two times consecutively on clay.[140] The two share the record for the longest match played in a best of three sets (4 hours and 3 minutes), at the 2009 Mutua Madrid Open semi-finals.[citation needed] In the 2011 Wimbledon final, Djokovic won in four sets 6–4, 6–1, 1–6, 6–3, for his first slam final over Nadal.[141] Djokovic also defeated Nadal in the 2011 US Open Final. In 2012, Djokovic defeated Nadal in the Australian Open final for a third consecutive slam final win over Nadal. This was the longest Grand Slam final in Open era history at 5 hrs, 53 mins.[142] Nadal won their last two meetings in the final of Monte Carlo Masters and Rome Masters in April and in May 2012, respectively.[143]
To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only once a tournament or the player's participation in the tournament has concluded. This table is current through the 2012 Australian Open.
Tournament | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | SR | W–L | Win % | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Grand Slam Tournaments | ||||||||||||||
Australian Open | A | 3R | 4R | A | QF | SF | W | QF | QF | F | 1 / 8 | 35–7 | 83.33 | |
French Open | A | A | W | W | W | W | 4R | W | W | 6 / 7 | 45–1 | 97.83 | ||
Wimbledon | 3R | A | 2R | F | F | W | A | W | F | 2 / 7 | 35–5 | 87.50 | ||
US Open | 2R | 2R | 3R | QF | 4R | SF | SF | W | F | 1 / 9 | 34–8 | 80.95 | ||
Win–Loss | 3–2 | 3–2 | 13–3 | 17–2 | 20–3 | 24–2 | 15–2 | 25–1 | 23–3 | 6–1 | 10 / 31 | 149–21 | 87.65 |
Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent in the final | Score in the final |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Winner | 2005 | French Open | Clay | Mariano Puerta | 6–7(6–8), 6–3, 6–1, 7–5 |
Winner | 2006 | French Open (2) | Clay | Roger Federer | 1–6, 6–1, 6–4, 7–6(7–4) |
Runner-up | 2006 | Wimbledon | Grass | Roger Federer | 0–6, 6–7(5–7), 7–6(7–2), 3–6 |
Winner | 2007 | French Open (3) | Clay | Roger Federer | 6–3, 4–6, 6–3, 6–4 |
Runner-up | 2007 | Wimbledon (2) | Grass | Roger Federer | 6–7(7–9), 6–4, 6–7(3–7), 6–2, 2–6 |
Winner | 2008 | French Open (4) | Clay | Roger Federer | 6–1, 6–3, 6–0 |
Winner | 2008 | Wimbledon | Grass | Roger Federer | 6–4, 6–4, 6–7(5–7), 6–7(8–10), 9–7 |
Winner | 2009 | Australian Open | Hard | Roger Federer | 7–5, 3–6, 7–6(7–3), 3–6, 6–2 |
Winner | 2010 | French Open (5) | Clay | Robin Söderling | 6–4, 6–2, 6–4 |
Winner | 2010 | Wimbledon (2) | Grass | Tomáš Berdych | 6–3, 7–5, 6–4 |
Winner | 2010 | US Open | Hard | Novak Djokovic | 6–4, 5–7, 6–4, 6–2 |
Winner | 2011 | French Open (6) | Clay | Roger Federer | 7–5, 7–6(7–3), 5–7, 6–1 |
Runner-up | 2011 | Wimbledon (3) | Grass | Novak Djokovic | 4–6, 1–6, 6–1, 3–6 |
Runner-up | 2011 | US Open | Hard | Novak Djokovic | 2–6, 4–6, 7–6(7–3), 1–6 |
Runner-up | 2012 | Australian Open | Hard | Novak Djokovic | 7–5, 4–6, 2–6, 7–6(7–5), 5–7 |
Tournament | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | SR | W–L | Win % | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year-End Championship Tournaments | |||||||||||||||||
YEC | A | A | A | A | SF | SF | A | RR | F | RR | 0 / 5 | 9–10 | 47.37 |
Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent in the final | Score in the final |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Runner-up | 2010 | 2010 ATP World Tour Finals | Hard | Roger Federer | 3–6, 6–3, 1–6 |
Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent in the final | Score in the final |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Winner | 2008 | Beijing Olympics | Hard | Fernando González | 6–3, 7–6(7–2), 6–3 |
Tournament | Since | Record accomplished | Players matched |
---|---|---|---|
All | 1877 | 8 consecutive titles at any single tournament | Stands alone |
Monte Carlo Masters | 1897 | 8 men's singles titles | Stands alone |
French Open | 1925 | 6 men's singles titles | Björn Borg |
Rome Masters | 1930 | 6 men's singles titles | Stands alone |
Barcelona Open | 1953 | 7 men's singles titles | Stands alone |
Time span | Selected Grand Slam tournament records | Players matched |
---|---|---|
2005 French Open — 2010 US Open |
Career Golden Slam | Andre Agassi |
2005 French Open — 2010 US Open |
Career Grand Slam | Rod Laver Andre Agassi Roger Federer |
2005 French Open — 2010 US Open |
2+ titles on grass, clay and hard courts[144] | Mats Wilander |
2005 French Open — 2010 US Open |
Youngest to achieve a Career Grand Slam (24)[144][145] | Stands alone |
2010 French Open — 2010 US Open |
Winner of Majors on clay, grass and hard court in calendar year | Stands alone |
2010 French Open — 2010 US Open |
Winner of three consecutive Majors in calendar year | Rod Laver |
2007 French Open — 2010 US Open |
4 finals reached without losing a set[a] | Bjorn Borg |
2010 French Open — 2010 US Open |
Simultaneous holder of Majors on clay, grass and hard court | Roger Federer |
2008 Olympics — 2010 US Open |
Simultaneous holder of Olympic singles gold medal and Majors on clay, grass and hard court | Stands alone |
2008 Wimbledon — 2008 Olympics |
Simultaneous holder of Olympic singles gold medal and Wimbledon | Stands alone |
2008 French Open — 2009 Australian Open |
Simultaneous holder of Olympic singles gold medal and three Majors | Andre Agassi |
2008 Olympics — 2010 US Open |
Simultaneous holder of Olympic singles gold medal and clay & hard court Majors | Andre Agassi |
2011 Wimbledon — 2012 Australian Open |
Three consecutive runner-up finishes[146][147] | Stands alone |
Grand Slam tournaments | Time Span | Records at each Grand Slam tournament | Players matched |
---|---|---|---|
French Open | 2005–2011 | 6 titles overall[148] | Björn Borg |
French Open | 2005–2011 | 6 titles in 7 years | Stands alone |
French Open | 2005–2008 | 4 consecutive titles[148] | Björn Borg |
French Open | 2005–2008, 2010–2011 |
6 finals overall | Björn Borg |
French Open | 2005–2008 | 4 consecutive finals | Björn Borg Ivan Lendl Roger Federer |
French Open | 2005–2009 | 31 consecutive match wins[148] | Stands alone |
French Open | 2005–2011 | 97.92% (47–1) match winning percentage | Stands alone |
French Open | 2008, 2010 | 2 wins without losing a set[148] | Björn Borg |
French Open | 2005 | Won title on the first attempt | Mats Wilander |
French Open—Wimbledon | 2008, 2010 | Accomplished a "Channel Slam": Winning both tournaments in the same year | Rod Laver Björn Borg Roger Federer |
Time span | Selected Masters tournament records | Players matched |
---|---|---|
2005–2012 | 21 Masters 1000 titles overall[149] | Stands alone |
2005–2012 | 16 Masters 1000 clay court titles | Stands alone |
2010 | Clay Slam[b] | Stands alone |
2005–2012 | 8 consecutive years winning 1+ title | Stands alone |
2005–2012 | 83.03% (230–47) winning percentage[150] | Stands alone |
Time span | Other selected records | Players matched |
---|---|---|
2005–2007 | 81 consecutive clay court match victories | Stands alone |
2002–2012 | 92.91% (249–19) clay court match winning percentage[151] | Stands alone |
2002–2012 | 85.20% (524–91) outdoor court match winning percentage[152] | Stands alone |
2005–2012 | 7+ titles at 2 different tournaments[153] | Stands alone |
2005–2012 | 8 titles overall at a single tournament (Monte Carlo) | Guillermo Vilas |
2005–2012 | 8 consecutive titles at a single tournament (Monte Carlo)[154] | Stands alone |
Nadal generally plays an aggressive, behind-the-baseline game founded on heavy topspin groundstrokes, consistency, speedy footwork and tenacious court coverage thus making him an aggressive counterpuncher.[155] Known for his athleticism and speed around the court, Nadal is an excellent defender[156] who hits well on the run, constructing winning plays from seemingly defensive positions. He also plays very fine dropshots, which work especially well because his heavy topspin often forces opponents to the back of the court.[157]
Nadal employs a full western grip forehand, often with a "lasso-whip" follow through, where his left arm hits through the ball and finishes above his left shoulder – as opposed to a more traditional finish across the body or around his opposite shoulder.[158][159] Nadal's forehand groundstroke form allows him to hit shots with heavy topspin – more so than many of his contemporaries.[160] San Francisco tennis researcher John Yandell used a high-speed video camera and special software to count the average number of revolutions of a tennis ball hit full force by Nadal. "The first guys we did were Sampras and Agassi. They were hitting forehands that in general were spinning about 1,800 to 1,900 revolutions per minute. Federer is hitting with an amazing amount of spin, too, right? 2,700 revolutions per minute. Well, we measured one forehand Nadal hit at 4,900. His average was 3,200."[161] While Nadal's shots tend to land short of the baseline, the characteristically high bounces his forehands achieve tend to mitigate the advantage an opponent would normally gain from capitalizing on a short ball.[162] Although his forehand is based on heavy topspin, he can hit the ball deep and flat with a more orthodox follow through for clean winners.
Nadal's serve was initially considered a weak point in his game, although his improvements in both first-serve points won and break points saved since 2005 have allowed him to consistently compete for and win major titles on faster surfaces. Nadal relies on the consistency of his serve to gain a strategic advantage in points, rather than going for service winners.[163] However, before the 2010 US Open, he altered his service motion, arriving in the trophy pose earlier and pulling the racket lower during the trophy pose. Before the 2010 U.S. Open, Nadal modified his service grip to a more continental one. These two changes in his serve increased his average speed by around 10 mph during the 2010 US Open, maxing out at 135 mph (217 km), allowing him to win more free points on his serve.[164] However, since the 2010 US Open, Nadal's serve speed has dropped back down to previous levels and has again been cited as a need for improvement.[165][166][167]
Nadal is a clay court specialist in the sense that he has been extremely successful on that surface. Since 2005, he won six times at Roland Garros, eight times at Monte Carlo and five at Rome. However, Nadal has shed that label due to his success on other surfaces, including holding Grand Slams simultaneously on grass, hard courts, and clay on two separate occasions, winning five Masters series titles on hardcourt, and winning the Olympic gold medal on hardcourt.[155][168] Despite praise for Nadal's talent and skill, some have questioned his longevity in the sport, citing his build and playing style as conducive to injury.[169] Nadal himself has admitted to the physical toll hard courts place on ATP Tour players, calling for a reevaluated tour schedule featuring fewer hard court tournaments.[170]
Nadal has appeared in advertising campaigns for Kia Motors as a global ambassador for the company. In May 2008, Kia released a claymation viral ad featuring Nadal in a tennis match with an alien. Nadal also has an endorsement agreement with Universal DVDs.[171]
Nike serves as Nadal's clothing and shoe sponsor. Nadal's signature on-court attire entailed a variety of sleeveless shirts paired with 3/4 length capri pants.[172] For the 2009 season, Nadal adopted more-traditional on-court apparel. Nike encouraged Nadal to update his look in order to reflect his new status as the sport's top player at that time[173] and associate Nadal with a style that, while less distinctive than his "pirate" look, would be more widely emulated by consumers.[174][175] At warmup tournaments in Abu Dhabi and Doha, Nadal played matches in a polo shirt specifically designed for him by Nike,[176] paired with shorts cut above the knee. Nadal's new, more conventional style carried over to the 2009 Australian Open, where he was outfitted with Nike's Bold Crew Men's Tee[177] and Nadal Long Check Shorts.[178][179][180] Nadal wears Nike's Air CourtBallistec 2.3 tennis shoes,[181] bearing various customizations throughout the season, including his nickname "Rafa" on the right shoe and a stylized bull logo on the left.
He became the face of Lanvin's L'Homme Sport cologne in April 2009.[182] Nadal uses an AeroPro Drive racquet with a 41⁄4-inch L2 grip. As of the 2010 season[update], Nadal's racquets are painted to resemble the new Babolat AeroPro Drive with Cortex GT racquet in order to market a current model which Babolat sells.[183][184] Nadal uses no replacement grip, and instead wraps two overgrips around the handle. He used Duralast 15L strings until the 2010 season, when he switched to Babolat's new, black-colored, RPM Blast string. Nadal's rackets are always strung at 55 lb (25 kg), regardless of which surface or conditions he is playing on[citation needed].
As of January 2010[update], Nadal is the international ambassador for Quely, a company from his native Majorca that manufactures biscuits, bakery and chocolate coated products; he has consumed their products ever since he was a young child.[185][186]
In 2010, luxury watchmaker Richard Mille announced that he had developed an ultra-light wristwatch in collaboration with Nadal called the Richard Mille RM027 Tourbillon watch.[187] The watch is made of titanium and lithium and is valued at US$525,000; Nadal was involved in the design and testing of the watch on the tennis court.[187] During the 2010 French Open, Men's Fitness reported that Nadal wore the Richard Mille watch on the court as part of a sponsorship deal with the Swiss watchmaker.[188]
Nadal replaced Cristiano Ronaldo as the new face of Emporio Armani Underwear and Armani Jeans for the spring/summer 2011 collection.[189] This is the first time that the label has chosen a tennis player for the job; association football has ruled lately prior to Ronaldo, David Beckham graced the ads since 2008.[190] Armani said that he selected Nadal as his latest male underwear model because "...he is ideal as he represents a healthy and positive model for youngsters."[189]
In February 2010, Rafael Nadal was featured in the music video of Shakira's "Gypsy".[191][192] and part of her album release She Wolf. In explaining why she chose Nadal for the video, Shakira was quoted as saying in an interview with the Latin American Herald Tribune: "I thought that maybe I needed someone I could in some way identify with. And Rafael Nadal is a person who has been totally committed to his career since he was very young. Since he was 17, I believe." She added about "Gypsy": "I've been on the road since I was very, very young, so that's where the gypsy metaphor comes from."[193][194][195]
128036 Rafaelnadal is a Main belt asteroid discovered in 2003 at the Observatorio Astronómico de Mallorca, Spain and named after Rafael Nadal.[196]
Nadal is an avid fan of association football club Real Madrid. On 8 July 2010, it was reported that he had become a shareholder of RCD Mallorca, his local club by birth, in an attempt to assist the club from debt.[197] Rafa reportedly owns 10 percent and was offered the role of vice president, but he rejected that offer.[198] His uncle Miguel Ángel Nadal, became assistant coach under Michael Laudrup. Nadal remains a passionate Real Madrid supporter; ESPN.com writer Graham Hunter wrote, "He's as Merengue as [Real Madrid icons] Raúl, Iker Casillas and Alfredo Di Stéfano." Shortly after acquiring his interest in Mallorca, he called out UEFA for apparent hypocrisy in ejecting the club from the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League for excessive debts, saying through a club spokesperson, "Well, if those are the criteria upon which UEFA is operating, then European competition will only comprise two or three clubs because all the rest are in debt, too."[199]
He is a fervent supporter of the Spanish national team, one of only six people not affiliated with the team or the national federation allowed into the team's locker room immediately following Spain's victory in the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final.[199]
Rafael Nadal took part in Thailand's 'A Million Trees For The King' project, planting a tree in honour of King Bhumibol Adulyadej on a visit to Hua Hin during his Thailand Open 2010. "For me it's an honour to part of this project," said Nadal. "It's a very good project. I want to congratulate the Thai people and congratulate the King for this unbelievable day. I wish all the best for this idea. It's very, very nice."[200]
The creation of the Fundación Rafa Nadal took place in November 2007, and its official presentation was in February 2008, at the Manacor Tennis Club in Mallorca, Spain. The foundation will focus on social work and development aid particularly on childhood and youth.[201] On deciding why to start a foundation, Nadal said "This can be the beginning of my future, when I retire and have more time, [...] I am doing very well and I owe society, [...] A month-and-a-half ago I was in Chennai, in India. The truth is we live great here....I can contribute something with my image..." Nadal was inspired by the Red Cross benefit match against malaria with Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas, recalling, "We raised an amount of money that we would never have imagined. I have to thank Iker, my project partner, who went all out for it, [...] That is why the time has come to set up my own foundation and determine the destination of the money." Ana Maria Parera, Rafa's mom, chairs the organization and father Sebastian is vice-chairman. Coach and uncle Toni Nadal and his agent, former tennis player Carlos Costa, are also involved. Roger Federer has been giving Nadal advice on getting involved in philanthropy. Despite the fact that poverty in India struck him particularly hard, Nadal wants to start by helping "people close by, in the Balearic Islands, in Spain, and then, if possible, abroad."[202]
On 16 October 2010, Nadal traveled to India for the first time to assist in the transformation of one of the poorest and most needy areas of India, Andhra Pradesh. He has an academy in the south of the country, in the state of Andhra Pradesh. His foundation has also worked in the Anantapur Educational Center project, in collaboration with the Vicente Ferrer Foundation.[203]
Nadal owns an Aston Martin DBS.[204] He lived with his parents and younger sister Maria Isabel in a five-story apartment building in their hometown of Manacor, Mallorca. In June 2009, Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia, and then The New York Times, reported that his parents, Ana Maria and Sebastian, had separated. This news came after weeks of speculation in Internet posts and message boards over Nadal's personal issues as the cause of his setback.[205] He has revealed himself to be Agnostic.[206] When a young boy, he would run home from school to watch Goku in his favorite Japanese anime, Dragon Ball. CNN released an article about Nadal's childhood inspiration, and called him "the Dragon Ball of tennis" due to his unorthodox style "from another planet."[207]
Nadal's autobiography, Rafa, written with assistance from John Carlin,[208] was published in August 2011. Since 2005, Rafael Nadal has been dating Maria Francisca Perello (Xisca).[209] In addition to tennis and association football, Nadal enjoys playing golf.[210]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Rafael Nadal |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Persondata | |
---|---|
Name | Nadal, Rafael |
Alternative names | |
Short description | Spanish tennis player |
Date of birth | 3 June 1986 |
Place of birth | Manacor, Majorca, Spain |
Date of death | |
Place of death |
Robredo at Boodles, 2011. |
|
Country | Spain |
---|---|
Residence | Barcelona, Spain |
Born | (1982-05-01) 1 May 1982 (age 30) Hostalric, Spain |
Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) |
Weight | 75 kg (170 lb; 11.8 st) |
Turned pro | 1998 |
Plays | Right-handed (one-handed backhand) |
Career prize money | $8,936,071 |
Singles | |
Career record | 407–254 |
Career titles | 10 |
Highest ranking | No. 5 (August 28, 2006) |
Current ranking | No. 68 (January 30, 2012) |
Grand Slam Singles results | |
Australian Open | QF (2007) |
French Open | QF (2003, 2005, 2007, 2009) |
Wimbledon | 3R (2003, 2009) |
US Open | 4R (2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010) |
Doubles | |
Career record | 108–129 |
Career titles | 4 |
Highest ranking | No. 16 (20 April 2009) |
Grand Slam Doubles results | |
Australian Open | QF (2003) |
French Open | QF (2009) |
Wimbledon | QF (2010) |
US Open | SF (2004, 2008, 2010) |
Last updated on: 9 November 2009. |
Tommy Robredo Garcés (born 1 May 1982 in Hostalric, Girona) is a Spanish professional tennis player.[1] On 8 May 2006, he broke into the world's top ten for the first time. His highest singles ranking to date is No. 5, which he first reached on 28 August 2006 soon after winning the Hamburg Masters.
He turned professional in 1998 and was coached by José Manuel "Pepo" Clavet and is now coached by Karim Perona. Robredo considers his forehand to be his best shot, and red clay is his favorite surface.
Contents |
Robredo began playing tennis regularly when he was five and his family moved to Olot, where his father Ángel became the director of the local tennis club, Club Natació Olot. (Robredo's mother Dolores is herself a former assistant coach.) He was coached by his father until 1996 when he joined the Spanish Tennis Federation at the Centre d'Alt Rendiment ("High Performance Center"), a famous center for professional sports training in Sant Cugat del Vallès. He turned professional in 1998.
As a junior player, Robredo won the Junior Orange Bowl 16–Under in both singles and doubles (with Marc López) in 1998.[2] As a professional he made the singles and doubles finals of a Futures-level event, winning the doubles title with Pedro Cánovas. In 1999 he made the semifinals of the boys' event at the French Open[3] and won a Futures tournament in singles as well as another in doubles. Earlier that year in Robredo's hometown tournament of Barcelona – his first event at the ATP Tour level – he recorded a win over Marat Safin, who was then ranked in the world's top thirty, before going on to lose to top ten player Todd Martin.
In 2000 Robredo reached the singles and doubles finals of the boys' event at Roland Garros, losing to Paul-Henri Mathieu in singles but winning the doubles with López.[4] He also won the boy's doubles title at the Australian Open[5] (with Nicolas Mahut) and won two Challenger-level tournaments, making the finals of a third and winning the doubles title in a fourth (with Michael Russell).
2001 was a breakthrough season for Robredo: He reached his first final at the ATP Tour level in Casablanca and won his first title on the main tour in Sopot. He also made the fourth round at two Grand Slams, losing to Yevgeny Kafelnikov at the French Open and winning a fantastic five-set match against world number five Juan Carlos Ferrero at the U.S. Open before losing to Andy Roddick. Robredo also made the semifinals of three other tour events, and by the end of 2001 he was the second youngest player to end the season inside the world's top thirty, behind Roddick.
Robredo began 2002 by partnering with Arantxa Sánchez Vicario to win the Hopman Cup for Spain. In the Final against the United States, Sánchez Vicario lost 1–6 6–7 to Monica Seles before Robredo levelled the tie with a 6–3 2–6 7–6 victory over Jan-Michael Gambill.[6] The Spanish pair then won the Mixed Doubles 6–4 6–2.[7]
Unlike the previous year, in 2002 Robredo was not able to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament. However, he reached his first ATP Masters Series quarterfinal at the Rome Masters and quickly bettered that result by reaching his first Masters semifinal at Hamburg. Three additional semifinal results (at 's-Hertogenbosch, Båstad, and Stockholm) and a quarterfinal in Stuttgart helped Robredo end a second season ranked inside the world's top thirty. This season also saw Robredo pass the million-dollar mark in career earnings and make his debut in Spain's Davis Cup team against the United States.
Arguably, the highlight of Robredo's 2003 season was his run to the quarterfinal of the French Open. Robredo's result was notable in that he took out world number one Lleyton Hewitt in five sets and three-time French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten before eventually falling in a second five-set match to defending champion Albert Costa. Robredo remarked before his match against Costa: "I've beaten the ace, I've beaten the king", in reference to his wins over Hewitt and Kuerten. "Now I need to beat the jack, don't I? If I beat Costa, I'll have beaten the entire pack of cards."[8] Despite not reaching a quarterfinal in any Masters Series event this season, strong showings in other tournaments, including three quarterfinals, three semifinals (one of which was a second Båstad semifinal), and a runner-up result in Stuttgart allowed Robredo to break into the world's top twenty for the first time in his career.
In 2004 Robredo won his 2nd ATP tour title. When he defeated Gastón Gaudio in a 5 set 4 hour marathon in Barcelona.[9]
2006 has been Robredo's best season to date. Shortly after reaching a career-high ranking of #10 in the world, he rose to #7 by winning his first ATP Masters Series title on 21 May at the Hamburg Masters, beating Radek Štěpánek in the final in straight sets.[10] He then beat Nikolay Davydenko in straight sets in the Båstad final for his second title of the year. During 2006 Robredo also reached the fourth round of every Grand Slam tournament except Wimbledon; the final at Barcelona; three semifinals, including two at Masters events; and three quarterfinals, including one at a Masters event. After briefly peaking at an all-time high rank of #5, Robredo qualified for the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup (TMC) for the first time in his career. He did not advance past the round-robin stage at the TMC but did record a fantastic three-set victory over the tournament's eventual runner-up, James Blake.
In 2007 Robredo reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open for the first time, losing to world number one Roger Federer. Although no one at the tournament managed to win a set from Federer, Robredo and the eventual finalist Fernando González tied for the most number of games won against the world number one. He went on to lose another quarterfinal to Federer at the French Open; in that match Robredo became the first man since Andy Roddick in the 2006 U.S. Open to win a set from Federer in a Grand Slam tournament, snapping Federer's record winning streak of thirty-six consecutive sets in Grand Slam matches. Robredo later won his first title of the year by beating José Acasuso in straight sets at Sopot, the tournament where he had won his first ATP Tour title six years earlier.
2007 brought increased hardcourt success for Robredo: After years of contesting finals on red clay he reached the final of a tournament played on hardcourts for the first time at Auckland, followed by two more hardcourt finals at Beijing and Metz. He won the Metz title, defeating Andy Murray in three sets for his second title of the season. Despite reaching the semifinal of Estoril and six quarterfinals (including three Masters quarterfinals) in 2007, Robredo also lost his opening match at numerous events: At Dubai; at the Hamburg Masters and the Swedish Open where he was defending champion; and at three other Masters tournaments. He ended the year ranked #10 in the world – too low to compete at the TMC but high enough to attend as an alternate.
To date Robredo's current season has not been as successful as the previous two; he did not put together more than two back-to-back victories until the start of the European clay season in April, and his multiple losses to lower ranked players include his earliest loss at the French Open since 2002. However, he did win his first title of the year at Båstad, beating Tomáš Berdych in the final for his second Swedish Open title. He has also made the finals of the Orange Warsaw Open, the semifinals of the Valencia event, and the quarterfinals at Barcelona and the Rome Masters.
Robredo has had some doubles success this season, teaming up with compatriot Rafael Nadal to win his first doubles titles in four years by beating Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles at the Monte Carlo Masters. He also reached the semifinals of the Hamburg Masters with Leander Paes. Bhupathi, Knowles, and Paes are all former world number one doubles players. He ended as world ranked number 21.
Robredo started the year in Sydney, where he lost to Mario Ančić 6–2, 6–1. In the Australian Open he was the 21st seed were he reached the 4th round, but eventually lost to semifinalist Andy Roddick in straight sets 7–5, 6–1, 6–3. He won his first two titles of the year in 2009 Brasil Open defeating Thomaz Bellucci 6–3, 3–6, 6–4 on clay in both the singles and doubles tournaments for the first time.[11] The following week he won his second title in 2009 Copa Telmex defeating Juan Mónaco 7–5, 2–6, 7–6.[12] He then reached the Quarterfinals of 2009 Abierto Mexicano Telcel losing to José Acasuso.
At the Masters of 2009 BNP Paribas Open he lost to Andy Murray in the fourth round 2–6, 0–3 RET and in the 2009 Sony Ericsson Open he was upset by Taylor Dent 5–7, 3–6. At the European Clay, first in the 2009 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters he was defeated by his Buenos Aires finals opponent Juan Mónaco 2–6, 4–6 in the second round. He then fell to compatriot David Ferrer in the Quarterfinals of the 2009 Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell. At the Masters Series of 2009 Internazionali BNL d'Italia and 2009 Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open he fell in the third round to Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray respectively.
At Roland Garros, he defeated Adrian Mannarino and compatriot Daniel Gimeno-Traver in straight sets and Maximo González 4–6, 7–5, 6–1, 6–0 in the third round. He defeated Philipp Kohlschreiber before losing in straight sets to Juan Martín del Potro in the quarterfinals 6–3, 6–4, 6–2.
Seeded no. 2, he lost to Marcos Baghdatis in the first round at the Ordina Open. Robredo reached the third round of Wimbledon, at which he was seeded 15th, by coming back from two sets down to beat Austrian Stefan Koubek 3–6, 4–6, 6–4, 7–6, 6–1. He next was defeated by Israeli Dudi Sela, however, when they played for a spot in the round of 16, by a score of 7–6, 7–5, 2–6, 7–5.[13] Sela had a 2–0 head-to-head record against Robredo going into the match. At the 2009 Swedish Open he was the defending champion and the no. 1 seed. he reached the Semifinals losing only 9 games, however he lost to Juan Mónaco 6–0, 6–2. He then competed in the 2009 International German Open where he received a bye in the first round before losing to Iván Navarro 7–5, 7–6 in the Second Round. He then lost in the second round of the 2009 Legg Mason Tennis Classic to Juan Carlos Ferrero 6–3, 6–2 after receiving a bye in the first round. He also reached the second round of the 2009 Rogers Masters to Philipp Petzschner and lost in the first round of the 2009 Cincinnati Masters to Jérémy Chardy 6–3, 7–5. He then lost to José Acasuso in the 2009 Pilot Pen Tennis 3–6, 7–5, 7–6 after receiving a bye in the second round. He has now a record of 1–5 in his last 5 tournaments.
Despite bad showings at the tournaments leading up the US Open, Robredo managed to find some form and was rewarded with yet another 4th round appearance of the US Open after wins over Donald Young, Guillermo García López and James Blake. However, he was again denied a quarterfinal, this time by Roger Federer in straight sets. In his first tournmaent after the US Open at the 2009 China Open he reached the second round losing to Robin Söderling 6–3, 6–3. He then competed in the 2009 Shanghai ATP Masters 1000 were he reached the third round before losing to Rafael Nadal 6–1, 6–4. He then played at the 2009 Valencia Open 500 losing to Fernando Verdasco in the quarterfinals 6–3, 6–2. In his final tournamanent of the year at the BNP Paribas Masters were he lost to Rafael Nadal in the third round 6–3, 3–6, 7–5 despite serving for the match at 5–4 in the third set.
Robredo began the year by winning the 2010 Hopman Cup for Spain with partner María José Martínez Sánchez. Here, he won all of his singles matches in the Round Robin; firstly over John Isner 6–7, 6–3, 7–6 Victor Hănescu 6–3 [retired due to injury] and over Lleyton Hewitt 6–2, 6–4. In the final, his teammate María José Martínez Sánchez lost her singles match to Laura Robson but in his singles match, he went on to beat Andy Murray 1–6, 6–4, 6–3 to keep the title hopes alive, leveling the tie at 1–1. This meant that he was undefeated throughout the week in his singles matches. He then played in the mixed doubles to secure a 7–6, 7–5 win to clinch the tie 2–1 over the Great Britain team.[14]
This is the second time he has been part of a winning Hopman Cup team – in 2002, he won the title with Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (who in turn was part of Spain's 1990 Hopman Cup winning team with Emilio Sánchez). This was the third time Spain has won the Hopman Cup since its inauguration in 1989.
His first ATP event of 2010 was at the 2010 Heineken Open, where was the top seed but was upset by John Isner 6–7, 6–3, 4–6 in the quarterfinals. At the 2010 Australian Open as the 16th seed he was upset by a ranked 114 player in Santiago Giraldo in straight sets 4–6, 2–6, 2–6. He then played in 2010 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament were he was upset by Florian Mayer 4–6, 6–3, 3–6 in the second round. He also suffered early exits In the second rounds of 2010 Open 13 and 2010 Dubai Tennis Championships which cause him to slip outside the top 20. He then had a resurgent at the 2010 BNP Paribas Open. After receiving a bye he defeated Sergiy Stakhovsky 2–6, 6–3, 7–5 in the second round, Dudi Sela 6–3, 6–0 in the third round, and Marcos Baghdatis 7–5, 0–6, 6–4 in the fourth round, before finally succumbing to Andy Roddick in the quarterfinals 3–6, 5–7. In the 2010 Sony Ericsson Open he was upset by Benjamin Becker in the third round losing 6–1, 4–6, 6–7 despite recovering from a break down in 5–6.
He then lost in the third round of the 2010 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters to David Nalbandian 6–3, 6–4. He then played in the 2010 Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell where he retired in the first round due to a back injury against Simone Bolelli 7–6, 4–6, 1–3. The injury kept him out of the 2010 Internazionali BNL d'Italia and 2010 Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open. He then suffered 3 back-to-back loses in the 2010 French Open, 2010 UNICEF Open and the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, which caused his ranking to go down to #36 in the world. He played in the 2010 Swedish Open where he beat Michał Przysiężny and Andrey Golubev. He then upset 2nd seed Fernando Verdasco 6–4, 6–3 in the quarterfinals. He lost in the semifinals to Nicolás Almagro 6–1, 6–3. He the lost his next two matches at the 2010 International German Open and 2010 Allianz Suisse Open Gstaad to lower ranked players.
He also fell early in his US Open preparations at 2010 Rogers Cup, 2010 Western & Southern Financial Group Masters and 2010 Pilot Pen Tennis. However, at the 2010 US Open he was able to get pass the first round of a Slam for the first time in the year by reaching the Fourth Round with wins over Lukáš Rosol 6–4, 6–3, 6–1, Julien Benneteau 6–4, 6–6 RET, Michaël Llodra 3–6, 7–6, 6–4, 2–1 RET but fell to 12th seed Mikhail Youzhny 7–5, 6–2, 4–6, 6–4. He then reached the quarterfinals of the 2010 Open de Moselle losing to Richard Gasquet in two tie-break sets. He then lost in the first rounds of the 2010 China Open and 2010 If Stockholm Open, and the second round of the 2010 Shanghai Rolex Masters 1000.
Tommy started his 2011 season at the 2011 Heineken Open where he lost to Thomaz Bellucci 4–6, 6–3, 1–6 after defeating Michael Venus 6–7, 6–3, 6–0. At the 2011 Australian Open, he reached the fourth round with wins against Somdev Devvarman 7–6, 6–3, 6–4, 16th seed Mardy Fish 1–6, 6–3, 6–3, 6–3 and Sergiy Stakhovsky 5–7, 6–2, 6–4, 6–2 before losing to 2nd seed and defending champion Roger Federer in 4 sets 3–6, 6–3, 3–6, 2–6. He then played at the Latin-American Swing at the 2011 Movistar Open as the 6th seed he defeated Frederico Gil 2–6, 6–3, 6–4, Ricardo Mello 6–0, 7–6 Máximo González 6–3, 6–1 and Fabio Fognini 4–6, 6–2, 6–3. In his first final in almost two years where he rallied from 5–2 down in the third set to defeat Santiago Giraldo 6–2, 2–6, 7–6. He then played at the 2011 Brasil Open where he defeated Fabio Fognini 6–3, 6–7, 6–3 but was upset by compatrior Pablo Andújar 6–4, 5–7, 6–2. He the reach the semifinals at the 2011 Copa Claro losing to eventual champion Nicolas Almagro 5–7, 1–6, he earned a win over world no. 20 David Nalbandian 6–4, 6–4. At the 2011 BNP Paribas Open, he was able to reach the quarterfinals but withdrew from the match due to a strained left abductor muscle, which caused him to miss the 2011 Sony Ericsson Open. At the 2011 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, Robredo upset 6th seed Fernando Verdasco 6–4, 6–3 and was on course to upset 11th seed Viktor Troicki leading 6–3, 1–2 on serve but was forced to retire due to a left leg injury.
Robredo is named after the rock opera Tommy by The Who, of which his father is a big fan.
Robredo is currently sponsored by Erke for his sportswear, Asics for his shoes, Dunlop Sport for his tennis racquets, TW Steel watches, and the Ukrainian Food Company.
Robredo's childhood tennis idol was Stefan Edberg, along with John McEnroe, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, and various Spanish tennis players. He cites Arantxa Sánchez (with whom he won the 2002 Hopman Cup for Spain) as his favorite female player among retired players; among recently active players his favorite male and female players are Roger Federer and Justine Henin.
Some fans refer to Robredo as "Disco Tommy" for the long, wavy hairstyle he began cultivating during the 2006 tennis season; after Robredo mentioned that he calls his coach "President Palmer" while his coach calls him "Jack Bauer" (from 24), fans also began referring to him as "Disco Jack."
2007 marked increased media exposure for Robredo. Besides posing nude for the July issue of the UK edition of Cosmopolitan, he was also recognized by the Spanish editions of Men's Health and Marie Claire, as well as People en Español.
Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Winner | 2006 | Hamburg | Clay | Radek Štěpánek | 6–1, 6–3, 6–3 |
Outcome | Year | Championship | Partner | Opponent | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Winner | 2008 | Monte Carlo | Rafael Nadal | Mahesh Bhupathi Mark Knowles |
6–3, 6–3 |
Runner-up | 2009 | Paris | Marcel Granollers | Daniel Nestor Nenad Zimonjić |
3–6, 4–6 |
|
|
Outcome | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Runner-up | 1. | 15 April 2001 | Casablanca, Morocco | Clay | Guillermo Cañas | 5–7, 2–6 |
Winner | 1. | 29 July 2001 | Sopot, Poland | Clay | Albert Portas | 1–6, 7–5, 7–6(7–2) |
Runner-up | 2. | 20 July 2003 | Stuttgart, Germany | Clay | Guillermo Coria | 2–6, 2–6, 1–6 |
Winner | 2. | 2 May 2004 | Barcelona, Spain | Clay | Gastón Gaudio | 6–3, 4–6, 6–2, 3–6, 6–3 |
Runner-up | 3. | 1 May 2005 | Estoril, Portugal | Clay | Gastón Gaudio | 1–6, 6–2, 1–6 |
Runner-up | 4. | 30 April 2006 | Barcelona, Spain | Clay | Rafael Nadal | 4–6, 4–6, 0–6 |
Winner | 3. | 21 May 2006 | Hamburg, Germany | Clay | Radek Štěpánek | 6–1, 6–3, 6–3 |
Winner | 4. | 16 July 2006 | Båstad, Sweden | Clay | Nikolay Davydenko | 6–2, 6–1 |
Runner-up | 5. | 14 January 2007 | Auckland, New Zealand | Hard | David Ferrer | 4–6, 2–6 |
Winner | 5. | 5 August 2007 | Sopot, Poland (2) | Clay | José Acasuso | 7–5, 6–0 |
Runner-up | 6. | 16 September 2007 | Beijing, China | Hard (i) | Fernando González | 1–6, 6–3, 1–6 |
Winner | 6. | 7 October 2007 | Metz, France | Hard (i) | Andy Murray | 0–6, 6–2, 6–3 |
Runner-up | 7. | 15 June 2008 | Warsaw, Poland | Clay | Nikolay Davydenko | 3–6, 3–6 |
Winner | 7. | 13 July 2008 | Båstad, Sweden (2) | Clay | Tomáš Berdych | 6–4, 6–1 |
Winner | 8. | 14 February 2009 | Costa do Sauípe, Brazil | Clay | Thomaz Bellucci | 6–3, 3–6, 6–4 |
Winner | 9. | 22 February 2009 | Buenos Aires, Argentina | Clay | Juan Mónaco | 7–5, 2–6, 7–6(7–5) |
Winner | 10. | 6 February 2011 | Santiago, Chile | Clay | Santiago Giraldo | 6–2, 2–6, 7–6(7–5) |
|
|
Outcome | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponent | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Runner-up | 1. | 29 April 2001 | Barcelona, Spain | Clay | Fernando Vicente | Donald Johnson Jared Palmer |
6–7(2–7), 4–6 |
Winner | 1. | 5 January 2004 | Chennai, India | Hard | Rafael Nadal | Jonathan Erlich Andy Ram |
7–6(7–3), 4–6, 6–3 |
Runner-up | 2. | 1 May 2005 | Estoril, Portugal | Clay | Juan Ignacio Chela | František Čermák Leoš Friedl |
3–6, 4–6 |
Runner-up | 3. | 24 July 2005 | Stuttgart, Germany | Clay | Mariano Hood | José Acasuso Sebastián Prieto |
6–7(4–7), 3–6 |
Winner | 2. | 27 April 2008 | Monte Carlo, Monaco | Clay | Rafael Nadal | Mahesh Bhupathi Mark Knowles |
6–3, 6–3 |
Winner | 3. | 14 February 2009 | Costa do Sauípe, Brazil | Clay | Marcel Granollers | Lucas Arnold Ker Juan Mónaco |
6–4, 7–5 |
Runner-up | 4. | 8 November 2009 | Valencia, Spain | Hard (i) | Marcel Granollers | František Čermák Michal Mertiňák |
4–6, 3–6 |
Runner-up | 5. | 15 November 2009 | Paris, France | Hard (i) | Marcel Granollers | Daniel Nestor Nenad Zimonjić |
3–6, 4–6 |
Winner | 4. | 15 January 2011 | Auckland, New Zealand | Hard | Marcel Granollers | Johan Brunström Stephen Huss |
6–4, 7–6(8–6) |
Current through the 2011 ATP World Tour.
Tournament | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | W–L | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Grand Slam Tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||
Australian Open | A | A | 1R | 2R | 1R | 1R | 3R | 4R | QF | 2R | 4R | 1R | 4R | A | 17–11 | ||||
French Open | A | A | 4R | 3R | QF | 4R | QF | 4R | QF | 3R | QF | 1R | A | A | 29–10 | ||||
Wimbledon | A | A | 2R | 1R | 3R | 2R | 1R | 2R | 2R | 2R | 3R | 1R | 1R | 9–11 | |||||
US Open | A | A | 4R | 3R | 1R | 4R | 4R | 4R | 3R | 4R | 4R | 4R | A | 25–10 | |||||
Win–Loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 7–4 | 5–4 | 6–4 | 7–4 | 9–4 | 10–4 | 11–4 | 7–4 | 12–4 | 3–4 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 80–42 | ||||
Davis Cup | |||||||||||||||||||
Singles | A | A | A | QF | A | W | A | PO | QF | W | W | A | A | 5–7 | |||||
ATP World Tour Finals | |||||||||||||||||||
Tour Finals | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | RR | A | A | A | A | A | 1–3 | |||||
ATP Masters Series | |||||||||||||||||||
Indian Wells Masters | A | A | A | 1R | 3R | 2R | 4R | 3R | 2R | 3R | 4R | QF | QF | A | 14–9 | ||||
Miami Masters | A | A | A | 2R | 2R | 4R | 3R | 2R | QF | 2R | 3R | 3R | A | A | 9–8 | ||||
Monte Carlo Masters | A | A | A | 1R | 3R | 1R | A | QF | 3R | 3R | 2R | 3R | 3R | A | 13–9 | ||||
Rome Masters | A | A | A | QF | 3R | 2R | 1R | 1R | QF | QF | 3R | A | A | A | 13–8 | ||||
Madrid Masters (Stuttgart) | A | A | 1R | 2R | 2R | QF | 3R | 3R | 2R | 2R | 3R | A | A | A | 8–9 | ||||
Canada Masters | A | A | A | 2R | 3R | 2R | 3R | 2R | 2R | 2R | 2R | 2R | A | 10–9 | |||||
Cincinnati Masters | A | A | A | 3R | 1R | SF | 2R | SF | 2R | 2R | 1R | 1R | A | 12–9 | |||||
Shanghai Masters | Not Masters Series | 3R | 2R | 2R | 4–3 | ||||||||||||||
Paris Masters | A | A | 1R | 2R | 3R | 2R | QF | SF | QF | 2R | 3R | A | A | 11–9 | |||||
Hamburg Masters | A | A | A | SF | 2R | 3R | 3R | W | 2R | 2R | NMS | 16–6 | |||||||
Win–Loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 13–9 | 10–9 | 12–9 | 11–7 | 19–8 | 8–9 | 11–9 | 12–9 | 8–6 | 6–2 | 0–0 | 110–79 | ||||
Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||
Titles–Finals | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 2–4 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 10–17 | ||||
Win–Loss | 2–2 | 0–2 | 37–20 | 32–26 | 38–26 | 43–25 | 44–24 | 49–29 | 49–26 | 37–23 | 46–25 | 20–23 | 20–12 | 0–0 | 417–263 | ||||
Year End Ranking | 249 | 131 | 30 | 30 | 21 | 13 | 19 | 7 | 10 | 21 | 16 | 50 | 51 |
Year | Majors | ATP wins | Total wins | Earnings ($) | Money list rank |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1998 | 0 | 0 | 0 | $2,805 | |
1999 | 0 | 0 | 0 | $23,370 | |
2000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | $41,210 | |
2001 | 0 | 1 | 1 | $367,762 | |
2002 | 0 | 0 | 0 | $552,493 | 36 |
2003 | 0 | 0 | 0 | $697,900 | 24 |
2004 | 0 | 1 | 1 | $861,357 | 12 |
2005 | 0 | 0 | 0 | $811,883 | 21 |
2006 | 0 | 2 | 2 | $1,454,675 | 7 |
2007 | 0 | 2 | 2 | $1,027,147 | 12 |
2008 | 0 | 1 | 1 | $893,211 | 17 |
2009 | 0 | 2 | 2 | $1,273,805 | 14 |
2010 | 0 | 0 | 0 | $658,356 | 41 |
2011 | 0 | 1 | 1 | $473,653 | 66 |
Career | 0 | 10 | 10 | $9,206,018 | 47 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tommy Robredo |
|
|
|
|
|
Persondata | |
---|---|
Name | Robredo, Tommy |
Alternative names | |
Short description | Spanish tennis [player |
Date of birth | 1 May 1982 |
Place of birth | Hostalric, Spain |
Date of death | |
Place of death |