Tennis in Spain
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Tennis is highly popular in Spain, and the country has produced several tennis players with international careers.
Spain has won the Davis Cup six times (2000, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2019) and the Billie Jean King Cup (formerly Fed Cup) five times (1991, 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1998).
Rafael Nadal is regarded as the greatest Spanish player of all time. He has won 22 Grand Slam men's singles titles, the second-most in tennis history. He has won the French Open a record 14 times, between 2005 and 2022.[1] After defeating then-world No. 1 Roger Federer in 2008, Nadal claimed the Wimbledon title in a historic final, having won the tournament twice thus far. In 2009, he became the first Spaniard to win the Australian Open, a feat he repeated at the 2022 Australian Open. After defeating Novak Djokovic in the 2010 US Open final, he became the first man in history to win majors on clay, grass, and hard courts in a calendar year (Surface Slam), and the first Spaniard to complete a Career Grand Slam, which he has achieved twice in singles (one of four men in history to do so). In addition, Nadal is one of two men to achieve the Career Golden Slam in singles and a two-time Olympic gold medalist, winning the singles event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the doubles event at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Spain has produced several other world No. 1 players; Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (a 3-time French Open champion in 1989, 1994 and 1998, and 1994 US Open champion), Carlos Moyá (1998 French Open champion), Juan Carlos Ferrero (2003 French Open champion), Garbiñe Muguruza (2016 French Open and 2017 Wimbledon champion) and Carlos Alcaraz (2022 US Open, 2023 and 2024 Wimbledon, and 2024 French Open champion).
Other Grand Slam champions are Manuel Santana (1961 and 1964 French Open, 1966 Wimbledon and 1965 US Open champion), Sergi Bruguera (1993 and 1994 French Open champion), Andrés Gimeno (1972 French Open champion), Manuel Orantes (1975 US Open champion), Conchita Martínez (1994 Wimbledon champion), and Albert Costa (2002 French Open champion).
Tournaments held in Spain on the men's tour every year include the Madrid Masters, Barcelona, and Mallorca. Madrid Masters is also contested by women in the WTA Tour.
List of Spanish tennis players (Open Era only)
[edit]Only includes players ranked in the top 50. Bold names indicate currently active players.[2]
Grand Slam performances of Spanish tennis players
[edit]Only includes players who have reached at least a Grand Slam quarterfinal
| Player | Australian Open | Roland Garros | Wimbledon | US Open | Total titles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rafael Nadal | Winner (2) | Winner (14) | Winner (2) | Winner (4) | 22 |
| Manuel Santana | DNP | Winner (2) | Winner | Winner | 4 |
| Arantxa Sánchez Vicario | Runner up | Winner (3) | Runner up | Winner | 4 |
| Carlos Alcaraz | QF | Winner | Winner (2) | Winner | 4 |
| Garbiñe Muguruza | Runner Up | Winner | Winner | 4R | 2 |
| Sergi Bruguera | 4R | Winner (2) | 4R | 4R | 2 |
| Conchita Martínez | Runner up | Runner up | Winner | SF | 1 |
| Juan Carlos Ferrero | SF | Winner | QF | Runner up | 1 |
| Manuel Orantes | QF | Runner up | SF | Winner | 1 |
| Andrés Gimeno | Runner up | Winner | SF | 4R | 1 |
| Carlos Moyá | Runner up | Winner | 4R | SF | 1 |
| Albert Costa | QF | Winner | 2R | 4R | 1 |
| Manuel Alonso | DNP | SF | Runner up | QF | 0 |
| Lili Álvarez | DNP | SF | Runner up | DNP | 0 |
| Àlex Corretja | 3R | Runner up | 2R | QF | 0 |
| Alberto Berasategui | QF | Runner up | 1R | 2R | 0 |
| David Ferrer | SF | Runner up | QF | SF | 0 |
| Fernando Verdasco | SF | 4R | 4R | QF | 0 |
| Roberto Bautista Agut | 4R | QF | 4R | SF | 0 |
| Félix Mantilla | QF | SF | 3R | 4R | 0 |
| Pablo Carreño Busta | 3R | QF | 1R | SF | 0 |
| José Higueras | DNP | SF | 2R | 4R | 0 |
| Emilio Sánchez | 4R | QF | 4R | QF | 0 |
| Tommy Robredo | QF | QF | 4R | QF | 0 |
| Virginia Ruano Pascual | QF | QF | 4R | 3R | 0 |
| Carla Suárez Navarro | QF | QF | 4R | QF | 0 |
| Feliciano López | 3R | 4R | QF | QF | 0 |
| Nicolás Almagro | QF | QF | 3R | 4R | 0 |
| Javier Sánchez | 3R | 4R | 2R | QF | 0 |
| Marta Marrero | 4R | QF | 2R | 1R | 0 |
| Albert Ramos Viñolas | 2R | QF | 3R | 2R | 0 |
| Paula Badosa | 4R | QF | 4R | 2R | 0 |
| Alejandro Davidovich Fokina | 2R | QF | 3R | 4R | 0 |
Spanish tennis achievements timeline
[edit]| Year | Grand Slam
titles |
Total titles (ATP WTA) | Team competitions | Olympics | Special achievements |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | 0 | 4 (2 ATP 2 WTA) | - | 1 silver | |
| 1989 | 1 | 8 (3 ATP 5 WTA) | - | - | Arantxa Sánchez Vicario becomes the first Spanish woman to win a Grand Slam title |
| 1990 | 0 | 12 (7 ATP 5 WTA) | Hopman Cup champions (1/4) | - | |
| 1991 | 0 | 12 (8 ATP 4 WTA) | Fed Cup champions (1/5) | - | |
| 1992 | 0 | 11 (8 ATP 3 WTA) | - | 2 silvers, 1 bronze | |
| 1993 | 1 | 19 (10 ATP 9 WTA) | Fed Cup champions (2/5) | - | |
| 1994 | 4 | 26 (14 ATP 12 WTA) | Fed Cup champions (3/5) | - | Sergi Bruguera and Alberto Berasategui play first all-Spanish Grand Slam final Conchita Martínez becomes the first Spanish woman to win Wimbledon |
| 1995 | 0 | 12 (4 ATP 8 WTA) | Fed Cup champions (4/5) | - | Arantxa Sánchez Vicario reaches #1 in both singles and doubles world rankings |
| 1996 | 0 | 16 (12 ATP 4 WTA) | 2 silvers, 1 bronze | ||
| 1997 | 0 | 16 (15 ATP 1 WTA) | - | - | |
| 1998 | 2 | 17 (12 ATP 5 WTA) | Fed Cup champions (5/5) | Àlex Corretja wins the Year-end Championships | |
| 1999 | 0 | 13 (9 ATP 4 WTA) | - | Carlos Moyá reaches #1 | |
| 2000 | 0 | 11 (9 ATP 2 WTA) | Davis Cup champions (1/6) | 1 bronze | |
| 2001 | 0 | 18 (12 ATP 6 WTA) | - | ||
| 2002 | 1 | 12 (10 ATP 2 WTA) | Hopman Cup champions (2/4) | - | |
| 2003 | 1 | 13 (10 ATP 3 WTA) | - | Juan Carlos Ferrero reaches #1 | |
| 2004 | 0 | 9 (8 ATP 1 WTA) | Davis Cup champions (2/6) | 1 silver | |
| 2005 | 1 | 16 (12 ATP 4 WTA) | - | ||
| 2006 | 1 | 13 (10 ATP 3 WTA) | - | ||
| 2007 | 1 | 13 (12 ATP 1 WTA) | - | ||
| 2008 | 2 | 18 (16 ATP 2 WTA) | Davis Cup champions (3/6) | 1 gold, 1 silver | Rafael Nadal wins two majors including a 4th French Open title (the most by any Spaniard), an Olympic singles gold medal, and finishes the year as world No. 1 for the first time |
| 2009 | 1 | 16 (13 ATP 3 WTA) | Davis Cup champions (4/6) | - | Rafael Nadal becomes the first Spaniard to win the Australian Open |
| 2010 | 3 | 20 (19 ATP 1 WTA) | Hopman Cup champions (3/4) | - | Rafael Nadal becomes the first man to win majors on all three surfaces (clay, grass, and hard), the only Spaniard to complete the Career Golden Slam (second overall) and win Wimbledon twice, and ends the year as world No. 1 |
| 2011 | 1 | 18 (13 ATP 5 WTA) | Davis Cup champions (5/6) | - | |
| 2012 | 1 | 15 (14 ATP 1 WTA) | |||
| 2013 | 2 | 17 (17 ATP 0 WTA) | Hopman Cup champions (4/4) | - | Rafael Nadal makes a stellar return to tennis in one of the greatest comeback seasons of all time, wins two majors including a 2nd US Open title (the most by any Spaniard), and ends the year as world No. 1 |
| 2014 | 1 | 14 (11 ATP 3 WTA) | - | ||
| 2015 | 0 | 11 (10 ATP 1 WTA) | - | ||
| 2016 | 1 | 13 (10 ATP 3 WTA) | 1 gold | Garbiñe Muguruza wins a career-first Grand Slam title | |
| 2017 | 3 | 13 (11 ATP 2 WTA) | - | Rafael Nadal makes a stellar comeback to tennis, wins two majors including a milestone 10th French Open title, and ends the year as world No. 1. Nadal and Garbiñe Muguruza top both the ATP and WTA rankings simultaneously | |
| 2018 | 1 | 10 (9 ATP 1 WTA) | - | ||
| 2019 | 2 | 9 (8 ATP 1 WTA) | Davis Cup champions (6/6) | - | |
| 2020 | 1 | 2 (2 ATP 0 WTA) | - | Rafael Nadal wins a milestone 20th Grand Slam singles title, reaches 1000 career match wins (the most by any Spaniard), and becomes the first man to be ranked world No. 1 in three different decades | |
| 2021 | 0 | 12 (6 ATP 6 WTA) | 1 bronze | Paula Badosa becomes the first Spanish woman to win the Indian Wells Masters Garbiñe Muguruza becomes the first Spanish woman to win the WTA Finals | |
| 2022 | 3 | 9 (8 ATP 1 WTA) | - | Rafael Nadal becomes the first man to win a 21st and 22nd Grand Slam singles title. Nadal becomes the fourth man to achieve a double Career Grand Slam in singles and the first to win multiple majors in three different decades Paula Badosa becomes the fourth Spanish woman to reach the Top 5 of the WTA rankings |
References
[edit]- ^ "Fascinating facts about Rafael Nadal's net worth, wife, world rankings, trophies". sportsbrief.com. Retrieved 2024-08-07.
- ^ "Spanish tennis players with the most ATP titles". Puntodebreak.com. Retrieved 2024-08-07.