Dominik Hrbatý (; born 4 January 1978) is a Slovakian former professional

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player. Hrbatý reached the semifinals of the 1999 French Open, and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 12 in October 2005. Hrbatý is one of only three players, alongside Nick Kyrgios and

Lleyton Hewitt Lleyton Glynn Hewitt (born 24 February 1981) is an Australian former world No. 1 tennis player. He is the most recent Australian man to win a major singles title, with two at the 2001 US Open and 2002 Wimbledon Championships. In November 200 ...

, to have beaten each member of the Big Three (

Novak Djokovic Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl, Новак Ђоковић, translit=Novak Đoković, ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 1 for a record total 373 weeks, and has finished as the year-end No. 1 ...

Roger Federer Roger Federer (; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at No. 1, world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, in ...

, and

Rafael Nadal Rafael Nadal Parera (, ; born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He is currently ranked world No. 2 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He has been ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis ...

) the first time he played each of them. Hrbatý is one of a select few players to have competed on the

ATP Tour The ATP Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals. The second-tier tour is the ATP Challenger Tour and the third-tier is the ITF Men's World Tennis Tour. The equivalent women's organis ...

with a positive winning record against Federer (2–1), Nadal (3–1),

Murray Murray may refer to: Businesses * Murray (bicycle company), an American manufacturer of low-cost bicycles * Murrays, an Australian bus company * Murray International Trust, a Scottish investment trust * D. & W. Murray Limited, an Australian who ...

(1–0), and Berdych (1–0 in ATP-level matches, or 2–0 overall). Hrbatý's record against Djokovic stands at 1–1 (or 0–1 at tour-level events). Hrbaty,

Alex Corretja Alex is a given name. It can refer to a shortened version of Alexander, Alexandra, Alexis. People Multiple * Alex Brown (disambiguation), multiple people * Alex Gordon (disambiguation), multiple people * Alex Harris (disambiguation), multiple ...

and

are the only players to have a winning record over Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Personal life

Hrbatý was born on 4 January 1978 in

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

. His father was an architecture engineer and his younger brother is an umpire. When he was younger, Hrbatý was European junior competitor in skiing and from the age of 11, he focused on tennis full-time. He is married to Nelly Petrová; he proposed after Slovakia won the

Hopman Cup The Hopman Cup is an international eight-team indoor hardcourt tennis tournament that played mixed-gender teams on a country-by-country basis.It was held in Perth, Western Australia each year from 1989 to 2019, before being replaced on the calen ...

on 10 January 2009 (with

Dominika Cibulková Dominika Cibulková (; born 6 May 1989) is a Slovak former professional tennis player. She is the 2016 WTA Finals champion, becoming the fourth player (after Serena Williams in 2001 WTA Tour Championships, 2001, Maria Sharapova in 2004 WTA Tour ...

).Hrbatý Celebrates Engagement
ATPtennis.com, 11 January 2009 He also won the tournament for Slovakia in 2005 with

Daniela Hantuchová Daniela Hantuchová (; born 23 April 1983) is a Slovak tennis commentator and retired player. She turned professional in 1999 and had her breakthrough year in 2002, when she won her first WTA Tour title at the Indian Wells Masters, defeating Mar ...

. This makes Hrbatý a dual winner to move into the company of Serena Williams, James Blake, Tommy Robredo and Arantxa Sánchez Vicario.

Tennis career

Hrbatý turned professional in 1996. During the year he reached six Challenger finals and achieved a 35–15 match record. He ended the year as the youngest player in the top 100. In 1997, Hrbatý won the

Košice Košice ( , ; german: Kaschau ; hu, Kassa ; pl, Коszyce) is the largest city in eastern Slovakia. It is situated on the river Hornád at the eastern reaches of the Slovak Ore Mountains, near the border with Hungary. With a population of app ...

Challenger title defeating

Nicolás Lapentti Nicolás Alexander Lapentti Gómez (; born 13 August 1976) is a former professional tennis player from Ecuador. His brothers, Giovanni Lapentti, Giovanni and Leonardo, uncle Andrés Gómez, Andrés, and cousins Roberto Quiroz, Roberto and Emil ...

. He also reached his first ATP Tour final in

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

, losing to

Alberto Berasategui Alberto Berasategui Salazar (born 28 June 1973) is a former top-10 professional tennis player from Spain. He was a Grand Slam finalist at the 1994 French Open, and won a total of 14 ATP singles titles, achieving a career-high singles ranking ...

. His first doubles success on the Tour was reaching the final of

Umag Umag (; it, Umago) is a coastal town in Istria, Croatia. Geography It is the westernmost town of Croatia, and it includes Bašanija, the westernmost point of Croatia. Population Umag has a population of 7,281, with a total municipal populatio ...

with

Karol Kučera Karol Kučera (born 4 March 1974) is a retired ATP professional male tennis player from Slovakia. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 6 in September 1998, reaching the semi-finals of the Australian Open the same year. In 20 ...

. Hrbatý broke through for his first ATP title in 1998 in

San Marino San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...

and defended his title in Košice. He continued his form into 1999 capturing his second title in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

. His greatest breakthrough was reaching the semi-finals of Roland Garros where he defeated

Julien Boutter Julien Boutter (born 5 April 1974) is a former professional male tennis player from France. Career At the 2002 Australian Open, Boutter defeated No. 2 seed and former World No. 1 Gustavo Kuerten, despite being down two sets, 3–6, 4–6, 7–5, ...

Yevgeny Kafelnikov Yevgeny Aleksandrovich Kafelnikov ( rus, Евгений Александрович Кафельников, , jɪvˈɡʲenʲɪj ˈkafʲɪlʲnʲɪkəf, a=Ru-Yevgeny-Kafelnikov.ogg; born 18 February 1974) is a Russian former world No. 1 tennis p ...

Andrew Ilie Andrew Ilie (born 18 April 1976) is a former tennis player. Ilie fled Romania at age 10 with his family, spending a year at a refugee camp in Austria before emigrating to Australia. He turned professional in 1994 and became a citizen of Austra ...

Marat Safin Marat Mubinovich Safin ( rus, Мара́т Муби́нович Са́фин, , mɐˈrat ˈsafʲɪn, Ru-Marat-Safin.ogg; tt-Cyrl, Марат Мөбин улы Сафин; born 27 January 1980) is a Russian retired world No. 1 tennis player an ...

and

Marcelo Ríos Marcelo Andrés Ríos Mayorga (; born 26 December 1975) is a Chilean former world No. 1 tennis player. Nicknamed ''"El Chino"'' ("The Chinese") and ''"El zurdo de Vitacura"'' ("The Lefty from Vitacura"), he became the first Latin American play ...

before falling to eventual winner,

Andre Agassi Andre Kirk Agassi ( ; born April 29, 1970) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He is an eight-time major champion and an Olympic gold medalist, as well as a runner-up in seven other majors. Agassi is the second of five men to ach ...

. Despite not winning a title in 2000, Hrbatý reached three finals in

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

and

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

. During the year he helped Slovakia win the

ATP World Team Championship The World Team Cup was the international men's team championship of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). The inaugural edition of the tournament was contested in 1975 in Kingston, Jamaica and was called the Nations Cup. No tourname ...

where he had wins over

Pete Sampras Petros "Pete" Sampras ( el, Πέτρος Σάμπρας; born August 12, 1971) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. His professional career began in 1988 and ended at the 2002 US Open, which he won, defeating longtime rival Andre ...

and Kafelnikov. While not winning a title in singles, he won the

Rome Masters The Italian Open ( it, Internazionali d'Italia; literally: ''Italy's Internationals''), originally called the Italian International Championships, is a tennis tournament held in Rome, Italy. It is one of the most important clay tennis tournament ...

doubles title with

Martin Damm Martin Damm Sr. (born 1 August 1972) is a former professional tennis player from the Czech Republic. He is best known as a doubles player (his highest ranking being No. 5 in the world in April 2007). His highest singles ranking was No. 42 in A ...

and reached another three finals. 2001 got off to a quick start for Hrbatý, winning in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

for his third ATP title, defeating at the final the Spaniard

Francisco Clavet Francisco Javier Clavet González de Castejón (; born 24 October 1968), known as Pato Clavet (), is a former professional tennis player from Spain. He won eight singles titles, reached the semifinals of the 1992 Indian Wells Masters and the 1 ...

. He backed up that win with a quarter-finals appearance at the

Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...

. On his way he defeated number two seed,

. Other notable singles results were reaching the semi-finals in

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of ...

and Moscow. Hrbatý helped Slovakia back into the World Group stage in

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...

by defeating

Nicolás Massú Nicolás Alejandro Massú Fried (; born 10 October 1979), nicknamed ''El Vampiro'' (Spanish, 'the vampire'), is a Chilean former professional tennis player. A former world No. 9 in singles, he won the singles and doubles gold medals at the 200 ...

and Rios in 5 sets coming from two sets down in each match. Hrbatý teamed up with

in the men's doubles at the Australian Open in

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

. However they were knocked out by

Thomas Shimada Thomas Shimada (born February 10, 1975 in Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List ...

and

Myles Wakefield Myles Wakefield (born 13 June 1974), is a former professional tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses ...

. Hrbatý had an average year in 2002 where he finished out of the top 50 for the first time since 1996. He won a Challenger title in

Biella Biella (; pms, Biela; la, Bugella) is a city and ''comune'' in the northern Italian region of Piedmont, the capital of the province of the same name, with a population of 44,324 as of 31 December 2017. It is located about northeast of Turin an ...

. In 2003, Hrbatý made the final in Auckland losing to

Gustavo Kuerten Gustavo "Guga" Kuerten (; born 10 September 1976) is a Brazilian former world No. 1 tennis player. He won the French Open singles title three times ( 1997, 2000, and 2001), and was the Tennis Masters Cup champion in 2000. During his career he ...

. Also made the semi-finals in

Casablanca Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...

and Umag. Defeated

Andy Roddick Andrew Stephen Roddick (born 30 August 1982) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He is a major champion, having won the 2003 US Open. Roddick reached four other major finals (Wimbledon in 2004, 2005, and 2009, and the US Open ...

in the Davis Cup to end the American's 19-match winning streak. Hrbatý's best season in his career to date was in 2004. He started the season with back-to-back title wins in Auckland and

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

. The Auckland victory was over

in the final. Then won his sixth career title in

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

and then made it to the final in Casablanca. He achieved one of his best wins by defeating World No. 1

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

and then made it to the quarter-finals of the US Open. In 2005, Hrbatý finished in the top 20 despite not reaching a singles final. His best results were semi-finals in Los Angeles,

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand E ...

and

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

. He had good success in the

ATP Masters Series The ATP Masters 1000 tournaments (previously known as ATP Masters Series) is an annual series of nine tennis tournaments featuring the top-ranked players on the ATP Tour. The series' events have been held in Europe and North America since the ...

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

, Rome and

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, where he reached the quarter-finals. Also in 2005, Hrbatý helped Slovakia reach the

final against

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

. He compiled a 6–1 singles record during the season. Inflicted

Ivan Ljubičić Ivan Ljubičić (; born 19 March 1979) is a Croatian former professional tennis player. He reached a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) world No. 3 singles ranking on 1 May 2006. His career highlights include reaching a Grand S ...

's only singles loss in the final but Slovakia lost the final 2–3. 2006 was a mixed year for Hrbatý. He reached his second Tennis Masters Series title final in Paris losing to

Nikolay Davydenko Nikolay Vladimirovich Davydenko ( rus, Никола́й Влади́мирович Давыде́нко ; born 2 June 1981) is a Ukrainian-born Russian former professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 3 i ...

, which helped him finish in the top 25 in the year-end rankings. Other results were semi-finals in Los Angeles and

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

and a quarter-finals in Beijing. Hrbatý's form started to drop in 2007. He was plagued by an elbow injury which severely limited his play in that season. At the 2007 U.S. Open, in doubles, he lost to

Jesse Levine Jesse Levine (born October 15, 1987) is an American-Canadian former professional tennis player. He achieved his career-high singles rank of world No. 69 on October 1, 2012. Levine represented the United States through 2012, and he represented Can ...

and

Alex Kuznetsov Alex Kuznetsov (born February 5, 1987) is a retired American professional tennis player. He is a former hitting partner of Maria Sharapova Personal life Kuznetsov was born in Ukraine. His family moved to the United States when he was 3 years o ...

, while pairing with

Harel Levy Harel Levy ( he, הראל לוי; born 5 August 1978) is a retired Israeli professional tennis player, and the current captain of Israel's Davis Cup team. He reached the final of the 2000 Toronto Masters and achieved a career-high singles rank ...

of Israel, 6–1, 6–4. At the

2008 Wimbledon Championships The 2008 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 122nd edition of the The Championships, Wimbledon, Wimbledon C ...

, Hrbatý lost to his good friend and former doubles partner Federer in the first round, 6–3, 6–2, 6–2. Hrbatý sat immediately next to Federer and had an amicable conversation with him during the last changeover of the match, telling Federer that this may be Hrbatý's last Wimbledon and that, as a joke, this has been the first victory for Federer in a match against him and leads him 2–1 in head to head. In 2010, Hrbaty announced his retirement as he became a father for the first time. In 2012, Hrbaty temporarily returned to professional tennis by playing in the qualifying tournament for the 2012 Heineken Open. He won his first round of qualifying by beating Pere Riba in straight sets 6–4, 6–2.

Major finals

ATP Masters 1000 finals

Singles: 2 (0–2)

Doubles: 1 (1–1)

Career finals

Singles: 13 (6–7)

Performance timeline

Singles

Top 10 wins

Notes

References

External links

* * *
Hrbaty world ranking history
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hrbaty, Dominik 1978 births Hopman Cup competitors Living people Slovak male tennis players Slovak expatriates in Monaco Olympic tennis players of Slovakia Tennis players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Tennis players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Tennis players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Tennis players from Bratislava People from Monte Carlo