Carlos Moyá Llompart (; born 27 August 1976) is a Spanish former professional
tennis
Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
player and coach. He was ranked as the
world No. 1 in men's singles by the
Association of Tennis Professionals
The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) is the governing body of the men's professional tennis circuits – the ATP Tour and the ATP Challenger Tour. It was formed in September 1972 by Donald Dell, Jack Kramer, and Cliff Drysdale to p ...
(ATP). Moyá won 20
ATP Tour
The ATP Tour (known as ATP World Tour between January 2009 and December 2018) is the sole worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) founded in 1990 that replaced the earlier dual Grand Prix ...
-level singles titles, including the
1998 French Open, and was part of the victorious
Spanish Davis Cup team in
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...
. He was also the runner-up at the
1997 Australian Open. After his playing career, Moyá served as
Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal Parera (born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for ...
's primary coach from 2016 to 2024.
Tennis career
In November 1995, at the age of 19, Moyá won his first tournament at the top-level in
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
, defeating
Félix Mantilla in the final. In May 1996, Moyá defeated the clay-court champion
Thomas Muster
Thomas Muster (born 2 October 1967) is an Austrian former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Muster ...
, in the semifinals of the tournament in
Munich
Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
, ending Muster's streak of winning 38 matches in a row on clay-courts. It was the fourth time in four weeks that Moyá had played a match against Muster. In the final of
Munich
Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
,
Sláva Doseděl defeated Moyá.
In 1997, Moyá reached his first
Grand Slam final at the Australian Open, defeating
defending champion Boris Becker
Boris Franz Becker (; born 22 November 1967) is a German former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Becker won 49 c ...
in the first round of the tournament,
Jonas Björkman in the fourth round, and world No. 3
Michael Chang
Michael Te-pei Chang (born February 22, 1972) is an American former professional tennis player and coach. He was ranked world No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in 1996. Chang is the youngest man in history to win a singl ...
in the semifinals, in straight sets, before losing in straight sets to
Pete Sampras
Pete Sampras (born August 12, 1971) is an American former professional tennis player. One of the most successful tennis players of all time, he was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the A ...
. Before the US Open, he won brilliantly in Long Island. His opponent in the final was the future winner of
US Open a few days later, the Australian
Patrick Rafter. Moyá lost due to an injury in the first round of the US Open.
In 1998, Moyá won the
French Open
The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
. He defeated
Sébastien Grosjean
Sébastien René Grosjean (; born 29 May 1978) is a French tennis coach and a former professional player. Grosjean reached the semifinals at the 2001 Australian and French Opens, and at Wimbledon in 2003 and 2004. He finished eight consecutive ...
,
Pepe Imaz,
Andrew Ilie and
Jens Knippschild before beating the tournament favourite,
Marcelo Ríos
Marcelo Andrés Ríos Mayorga (; born 26 December 1975) is a Chilean former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), the first Latin American to reach the t ...
in the quarterfinal. He then defeated
Félix Mantilla Botella in the semifinal and fellow-Spaniard
Álex Corretja in the final with a straight-sets win. He also won his first
Tennis Masters Series tournament that year at
Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...
. He reached the semifinals of the
US Open, losing to
Mark Philippoussis
Mark Anthony Philippoussis (born 7 November 1976) is an Australian tennis coach, commentator and former professional tennis player of Greek and Italian descent. Philippoussis' greatest achievements are winning two Davis Cup titles with Austra ...
. He concluded the year by finishing runner-up at the
ATP World Championships (now known as the
ATP World Tour Finals), where he lost in a five-set final to Corretja, having won the first two sets.
In March 1999, after finishing runner-up at
Indian Wells, Moyá reached the world No. 1 singles ranking, the first
Spanish player in history to achieve this feat. He held the top spot for two weeks. Later that year, he entered the French Open as defending champion and lost in the fourth round to eventual winner
Andre Agassi
Andre Kirk Agassi ( ; born April 29, 1970) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 101 ...
. At the US Open, Moyá withdrew in the second round with a back injury and only played in two tournaments for the rest of the year.
Despite being hampered with a stress fracture in his lower back from the 1999 US Open through the early part of 2000, Moyá still finished in the top 50 in the world for the fifth straight year. He reached the fourth round of the US Open, where he held a match point in the fourth set, but eventually lost to
Todd Martin in five sets, 7–6, 7–6, 1–6, 6–7, 2–6. Moyá's best result for the rest of 2000 was winning at the
Portugal Open final over his countryman
Francisco Clavet.
In 2001, Moyá won the title at
Umag. He also finished runner-up at
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
, where he lost in a four-hour marathon final to countryman
Juan Carlos Ferrero
Juan Carlos Ferrero Donat (; born 12 February 1980) is a Spanish former professional tennis player and current coach. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Pro ...
.
2002 saw Moyá win four titles from six finals. He captured his second career Tennis Masters Series title, and the biggest hard-court title of his career, at
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
, where he defeated world No. 1,
Lleyton Hewitt
Lleyton Glynn Hewitt (born 24 February 1981) is an Australian former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) fo ...
, in the final.
Moyá captured three clay-court titles in 2003. He also helped Spain reach the final of the
Davis Cup, compiling a 6–0 singles record. In the semifinals, he won the deciding rubber against
Gastón Gaudio as Spain beat
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
, 3–2. He beat
Mark Philippoussis
Mark Anthony Philippoussis (born 7 November 1976) is an Australian tennis coach, commentator and former professional tennis player of Greek and Italian descent. Philippoussis' greatest achievements are winning two Davis Cup titles with Austra ...
on grass in the final. But that proved to be Spain's only point, as they lost the final 1–4 to Australia.
In 2004, Moyá helped Spain go one better and win the Davis Cup. In the final, he won two critical singles rubbers against
Andy Roddick and
Mardy Fish, as Spain beat the United States 3–2. The year also saw Moyà capture his third career Masters Series title at
Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
, where he defeated
David Nalbandian
David Pablo Nalbandian (; born 1 January 1982) is an Argentine former professional tennis player. He reached his highest ranking in singles of world No. 3 in March 2006, during a career that spanned from 2000 to 2013. Nalbandian was runner-up in ...
in the final. He was the only player on the tour to win at least 20 matches on both clay courts and hardcourts that year.
In July 2004, Moyá's kind-hearted gesture to hit with
ball boy Sandeep Ponniah at the 2004 Tennis Masters Series Toronto event captured audiences during an injury timeout against opponent
Nicolas Kiefer of Germany. To the crowd's surprise, Ponniah shuffled Moyá across the baseline and received an ovation for an overhead smash on a Moyá lob.
Moyá won his 18th career title in January 2005 at
Chennai
Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...
. He donated his prize money for the win to the
2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami
On 26 December 2004, at 07:58:53 local time ( UTC+7), a major earthquake with a magnitude of 9.2–9.3 struck with an epicentre off the west coast of Aceh in northern Sumatra, Indonesia. The undersea megathrust earthquake, known in the sci ...
victims.
In January 2007, Moyá was the runner-up at the
Sydney International, losing to defending champion
James Blake.
In May 2007, at the Hamburg Masters, he defeated
Mardy Fish, world No. 12
Tomáš Berdych
Tomáš Berdych (; born 17 September 1985) is a Czech former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 4 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved in May 2015. Berdych won 13 ATP Tour singles titles, i ...
, world No. 9 Blake, and world No. 6
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Новак Ђоковић, Novak Đoković, separator=" / ", ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at N ...
, a run which saw him reach his first Masters semifinal since 2004 Indian Wells, where he lost to
Roger Federer
Roger Federer ( , ; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 3 ...
.
Moyá lost against
Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal Parera (born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for ...
in straight sets in the quarterfinals of the
2007 French Open.
During
Wimbledon, Moyá lost in the first round to
Tim Henman in a five-set thriller, the fifth set stretching to 24 games (Henman won 13–11). Despite the loss, Moyá had no points to defend (he had not played a grass-court match in a few years), resulting in his moving to world No. 20, his first time inside the top 20 since 13 June 2005.
In July 2007, Moyá won the
Croatia Open in
Umag, defeating
Andrei Pavel. The win brought him to world No. 18 in the rankings, his highest rank since 23 May 2005, when he was world No. 15. In 2007 at Cincinnati, he reached the quarter-finals, where he lost to
Lleyton Hewitt
Lleyton Glynn Hewitt (born 24 February 1981) is an Australian former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) fo ...
.
In 2008 at the Cincinnati Masters, Moyá defeated
Nikolay Davydenko
Nikolay Vladimirovich Davydenko ( ; born 2 June 1981) is a Russian former professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 3 in November 2006. Davydenko's best result in a Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam tournam ...
, the match being played over the course of two days because of rain. Hours after his match with Davydenko, Moyá beat
Igor Andreev
Igor Valeryevich Andreev (, BGN/PCGN: ''Andreyev'', ISO 9: ''Andreev'', ; born 14 July 1983) is a Russian coach and a former professional tennis player. He won three ATP Tour singles titles, reached the quarterfinals of the 2007 French Open a ...
.
Moyá made a slow start in 2009. He failed to progress beyond the second round of his first four tournaments, including a first-round loss at the Australian Open. In March 2009, he announced that he would have an indefinite hiatus from tennis to recover from injured
tendon
A tendon or sinew is a tough band of fibrous connective tissue, dense fibrous connective tissue that connects skeletal muscle, muscle to bone. It sends the mechanical forces of muscle contraction to the skeletal system, while withstanding tensi ...
s and
in his
hip. He returned to professional tennis in January 2010, losing against
Janko Tipsarević in the first round of the Chennai Open, then losing in the first round of the
2010 Australian Open to
Illya Marchenko.
On 17 November 2010, he announced his retirement from tennis owing to a long-standing foot injury from which he failed to recover. He received a special ceremony at the O2 Arena in London during the 2010
ATP World Tour Finals, with all top eight singles and doubles players attending. Other players who attended included
Fernando Verdasco,
Mikhail Youzhny
Mikhail Mikhailovich Youzhny (born 25 June 1982), nicknamed "Misha" and "Colonel" by his fans, is a Russian former professional tennis player who was ranked inside the top 10 and was the Russian No. 1. He achieved a top-10 ranking by the Associ ...
,
Àlex Corretja
Alejandro Corretja Verdegay (; born 11 April 1974) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 2 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in 1999. Corretja won 17 ATP Tour singles titles, incl ...
,
Jonas Björkman, and
Thomas Johansson.
He has won ATP Tour singles titles in eleven countries: Argentina, Croatia, France, Italy, India, Mexico, Monaco, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United States.
Major finals
Grand Slam finals
Singles: 2 (1–1)
Year-end championships finals
Singles: 1 (1 title)
Masters Series finals
Singles: 6 (3–3)
ATP career finals
Singles: 44 (20 titles, 24 runner-ups)
Team
2004 –
Davis Cup winner with Spain
Singles performance timeline
Top 10 wins
*He has a record against players who were, at the time the match was played, ranked in the top 10.
Personal life
In July 2011, Moyá married actress
Carolina Cerezuela. They have two daughters and a son.
See also
*
List of Grand Slam men's singles champions
References
External links
Carlos Moya on Twitter
*
*
*
bio – file interview with Carlos MoyaMoya Recent Match ResultsMoya World Ranking History
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moya, Carlos
1976 births
Tennis players from the Balearic Islands
Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland
Hopman Cup competitors
Living people
Sportspeople from Palma de Mallorca
Spanish male tennis players
Olympic tennis players for Spain
Tennis players at the 2004 Summer Olympics
French Open champions
Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's singles
Spanish tennis coaches
Masters tennis players
ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players