Fred Gil

João Frederico Limpo Franco Gil (born 24 March 1985), known as Fred Gil (), is a retired Portuguese professional tennis player, who currently competes in the ITF Men's Circuit. He is ranked no. 432 in the world by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), as of 10 April 2017.

Gil made some Portuguese tennis major breakthroughs during his career. At the 2010 Estoril Open, he was the first Portuguese to reach an ATP Tour final, and in April 2011, he achieved a career-high singles world ranking of 62 – the highest ever for a Portuguese player until he was surpassed by Rui Machado in September that same year. Gil was the first Portuguese man to reach the third round in a Grand Slam singles event (2012 Australian Open) and the quarterfinals of a Masters 1000 event ( 2011 Monte-Carlo Masters). He was the first Portuguese to hit one million dollars in career prize money. In 2009, Gil became the second Portuguese player to reach the singles top 100 (after Nuno Marques), and in October 2010, he and Rui Machado were the first Portuguese duo to rank inside the top 100 simultaneously. Gil is currently coached by Vasco Antunes.

Personal life

Frederico "Fred" Gil was born in São Jorge de Arroios, Lisbon. His father Rui works for an insurance company and his mother Carlota is a mathematics teacher. He has a younger sister named Ana.

Gil started playing tennis at the age of four on a court built in his family's grounds. He joined a local club when he was 7, and won his first tournament shortly after. Aged 10, Gil was diagnosed with osteochondroma and was told to give up from tennis. However, three years later he was fully recovered and restarted training to become a professional player. In 2003, Gil joined the Clube Escola Ténis de Oeiras, led by his mentor and future coach João Cunha e Silva.

Gil's favorite club is S.L. Benfica. While growing up, his idol was Andre Agassi and his favorite hobbies include computers, video games, internet, gadgets and golf. He has been a guest commentator at Portuguese Eurosport transmissions. Gil's former coaches include Cunha e Silva, Juan Esparcia and Bernardo Mota.

In 2016, Gil modified his name on the professional tour from Frederico Gil to Fred Gil.

Career

2000–2003: Junior years

Gil made his debut in a junior tournament in July 2000 at the Grade 4 Taça Diogo Nápoles in Porto, by playing the main draw in the doubles event. His first main draw singles event came later in August in Vila do Conde. Though Gil won his first title in his maiden finals presence at a doubles event in March 2001 in Panama, his first singles title did not occur until February 2002 in Bolivia. Until his last appearance in a junior event in December 2003, Gil won three singles titles out of six finals, and conquered six doubles titles in eight finals attempts.

At junior Grand Slam, he debuted at the 2002 French Open doubles event and played all four Grand Slam tournaments in 2003, reaching the third round twice. At Grade A events, Gil reached the 2003 singles final and won the 2002 and 2003 doubles finals of the Banana Bowl, as well as the quarterfinals of the singles event at the 2003 Orange Bowl. He finished 2003 season at no. 10 in the world junior rankings.

After making early attempts in 2000, Gil entered his first Satellite main draw event in May 2002 in Espinho, and his first Futures main draw event in July that same year. In 2003, his final junior season, Gil turned professional after entering his first singles main draw event at a Futures event in Espinho in February.

2004–2007: Early career and ATP debut

2004 was Gil's first full season at a professional tour. His first Futures doubles final came in Albufeira in March, and in April he won his first title – a Futures doubles event in Lagos. For the remaining season, Gil was runner-up in another Futures doubles event and won one Satellite doubles title. He was also runner-up in a Satellite singles event. At the 2004 Estoril Open, Gil made his ATP Tour debut playing the doubles event alongside Bernardo Mota and reached the quarterfinals. Gil was called for the Portugal Davis Cup team for the first time this season. Playing in the Europe/Africa Zone Group II, he won two matches in his debut against Tunisia in April, but lost all his three matches against Serbia and Montenegro later in July.

Gil began 2005 season with two straight singles titles and one doubles runner-up at Futures tournaments in Faro and Lagos between February and March. Later in October, he won a third title in Futures singles in Caracas. He also won two singles titles and one doubles title out of two finals at Futures level. In July, Gil entered the main draw of a Challenger tournament for the first time in Tolyatti. He played regularly at that level the rest of the season and reached his first doubles final in Bogotá. At ATP Tour level, Gil entered again in the Estoril Open doubles event and lost in the first round with Leonardo Tavares. At Davis Cup, Gil consolidated his place in the National team with 3 more participations. He won six matches out seven against Estonia, Algeria and Slovenia teams, with his only loss coming against Algeria's Lamine Ouahab. His performance contributed for Portugal's promotion to the Europe/Africa Zone Group I.

In 2006, Gil made his ATP Tour debut in a singles event at the 2006 Estoril Open. After defeating David Luque-Velasco in the first round, Gil upset world no. 33 Dmitry Tursunov in the second round. He fell in the quarterfinals to then world no. 4 and eventual champion David Nalbandian. In the doubles event, Gil teamed up with Gonçalo Nicau and lost in the first round. In June, he won his first Challenger singles titles in Sassuolo and was runner-up in the doubles event at the Milan Challenger. Earlier in May, Gil played his last Futures tournaments until 2013. At this level, he added two more singles titles and one doubles title in 2006. At the Davis Cup, Gil entered two rounds. After losing his two matches against Luxembourg in the first round, he helped Portugal remain in the Europe/Africa Zone Group I for the following season with three wins over Morocco.

Gil made his first attempt to enter the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament at the 2007 French Open, but lost in the final match of the qualifying rounds. He entered his first ATP tournament outside of Portugal at the Grand Prix Hassan II, where he lost in the first round to Julien Benneteau. At the Estoril Open, Gil was defeated by Richard Gasquet in the second round. The Challenger Tour remained Gil's main focus in 2007. He won one singles titles in Seville in September, and reached four doubles finals (Bogotá, Karlsruhe, Fürth and Manerbio). The 2007 Davis Cup edition was not successful for Gil, as he lost all his five matches against Georgia and Netherlands. Consequently, Portugal was relegated to the Europe/Africa Zone Group II in 2008.

2008: First Grand Slam appearances

In the first months of the 2008 season, Gil competed exclusively in the Challenger Tour. He reached the doubles final in Napoli in March. The next month, Gil was called up for the Portugal Davis Cup team to face Tunisia and won his singles match against Malek Jaziri. Then, he entered his first ATP Tour of the season at the Estoril Open where he reached the quarterfinals for the second time, after wins over Nicolas Mahut and João Sousa. He lost at that stage in straight sets to then world no. 1 Roger Federer.

After a return to the Challenger Tour, during which he won his first Challenger doubles title in Marrakech, Gil made his Grand Slam main draw debut at the French Open. Following a successful participation in the qualifying rounds, he lost in the first round to Jérémy Chardy. In June, Gil won the Challenger singles title in Sassuolo and entered the Wimbledon Championships. Similarly to the French Open, he made it to the main draw through the qualifying rounds and was defeated by Chardy in the first round. Gil also entered the doubles event and reached the second round, partnering Dick Norman.

Between July and August, Gil won another Challenger singles title in Istanbul and a doubles title in Turin. Also, he won all his three matches for Portugal Davis Cup team against Cyprus. In consequence, Gil became the second Portuguese player after Nuno Marques to enter the ATP top 100 singles ranking, and equaled Marques' world no. 86 career-high position. Gil then entered directly in the main draw of the US Open, where he lost again to Chardy in the first round. Gil played Challenger tournaments the remaining season, without reaching any finals. Despite the several milestones achieved during 2008, Gil finished the year ranked outside the top 100, at world no. 110.

2009: ATP World Tour breakthrough

After skipping the Australian Open, Gil began his 2009 season with back-to-back semifinals appearances in ATP World Tour tournaments. At the SA Tennis Open, he defeated Guillermo García-López to become the second Portuguese to reach the semifinals at this level, after his coach João Cunha e Silva in 1992. Gil was defeated then by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. At the Brasil Open, and after beating world no. 18 and reigning champion Nicolás Almagro, Gil lost in the semifinals to Thomaz Bellucci. In result, he broke his shared record with Nuno Marques and became the sole holder of the highest ranking ever for a Portuguese player, at no. 82.

In early March, Gil played against Cyprus at the Davis Cup. After winning the first match over Photos Kallias, he lost both his doubles and singles matches and Portugal moved to the relegation round. Gil then entered his first career Masters 1000 event in Miami, as a qualifier. Following wins over Mischa Zverev and Ivo Karlović, Gil was defeated by then world no. 1 Rafael Nadal in the third round. He moved up again in the ATP ranking, and entered April as world no. 70. Gil continued his form with a quarterfinals presence at the Grand Prix Hassan II, and fell in the second round at the Barcelona Open