Martín Alund (; sv, Ålund; born 26 December 1985) is a retired Argentine 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 c ...

player. He reached the semifinals of the

2013 Brasil Open The 2013 Brasil Open was a tennis tournament played on indoor clay courts. It was the 13th edition of the event known as the Brasil Open, and is part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the 2013 ATP World Tour. It took place from February 11 throu ...

; has won seven

ATP Challenger The ATP Challenger Tour, known until the end of 2008 as the ATP Challenger Series, is a series of international men's professional tennis tournaments. The Challenger Tour events are the second-highest tier of tennis competition, behind the ATP T ...

events in doubles; and achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 84 in March 2013.

Tennis career

Juniors

As a junior, Alund reached as high as No. 45 in the world singles rankings in March 2003 (and No. 62 in doubles the same year). He gained victories over promising junior prospects such as

Eduardo Schwank Eduardo Jonatan Schwank (; also known as ''Schwanka''; born 23 April 1986) is a retired professional tennis player from Argentina. In 2011, he reached the finals of the French Open in men's doubles partnering Juan Sebastian Cabal and of the US O ...

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 ...

and

Scoville Jenkins Scoville Jenkins (born September 23, 1986, in Atlanta, Georgia) is a former professional tennis player on the ATP Tour. He is sometimes referred to by his nickname "Sco". He reached a career-high ATP singles ranking of World No. 187 in April ...

Pro tour

2013

As a lucky loser, Alund reached the semifinals of the

, defeating World No. 25

Jérémy Chardy Jérémy Chardy (; born 12 February 1987) is a French inactive professional tennis player. He has won one ATP Tour singles title, in Stuttgart in 2009. His best Grand Slam performance in singles was reaching the quarterfinals of the 2013 Austra ...

(fresh off of his career-best

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. ...

quarterfinal run) and experienced claycourter

Filippo Volandri Filippo Volandri (born 5 September 1981; ) is a former Italian professional male tennis player. Volandri is a right-handed player who reached a career-high singles ranking of world no. 25 in July 2007. He turned professional in 1997 and has earn ...

en route. In the semis he valiantly took a set off top seed

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 world No. 1 for 209 weeks, and has finish ...

before losing in 3 sets. In

Houston Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...

a few weeks later, Alund defeated former World No. 1 and multiple grand slam champion

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 20 ...

."Alund beats Hewitt at rainy US Men's Clay Court"
''NDTV Sports'', 11 April 2013. Alund gained direct entry into both the

French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and v ...

and Wimbledon, winning a set against World No. 4

David Ferrer David Ferrer Ern (; ; born 2 April 1982) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. A three-time Davis Cup champion with Spain, Ferrer has won tournaments at all levels on the ATP Tour (ATP 250, ATP 500, Masters 1000) except at a major, a ...

in the first round of the latter before eventually losing in four sets."Ferrer outlasts Alund to reach Round 2 at Wimbledon"
''Tennis Earth'', 25 June 2013. In preparation for the grass courts, he won the Liverpool International exhibition tournament, etching his name alongside esteemed former champions

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 ...

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 ...

and

Fernando González Fernando Francisco González Ciuffardi (; born 29 July 1980) is a Chilean former professional tennis player. During his career he made it to at least the quarterfinals of all four Grand Slam tournaments. He played his only major final at the ...

."Martin Alund warms up for Wimbledon by winning the Liverpool International"
''Liverpool Echo'', 24 June 2013. Together with

João Souza João Olavo Soares de Souza (; born 27 May 1988) is a Brazilian former professional tennis player. Before receiving a lifetime ban for match-fixing, Souza competed mainly on the ATP Challenger Tour, both in singles and doubles. He reached his hi ...

, Alund reached the quarterfinals of the men's doubles at

Båstad Båstad () is a locality and the seat of Båstad Municipality, Scania County, Sweden, with approximately 5,000 permanent residents. It is however one of Sweden's most typical summer resorts. The population is presumably more than twice as large be ...

2014

After qualifying for both

Viña del Mar Viña del Mar (; meaning "Vineyard of the Sea") is a city and commune on central Chile's Pacific coast. Often referred to as ("The Garden City"), Viña del Mar is located within the Valparaíso Region, and it is Chile's fourth largest city ...

and

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the Capital city, capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata ...

, Alund defeated clay specialist

Albert Ramos Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert (supermarket), a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street market in The Gambia * Albert Productions, a record label * Alber ...

in straights and took a set off both World No. 18

Nicolas Almagro Nicolas or Nicolás may refer to: People Given name * Nicolas (given name) Mononym * Nicolas (footballer, born 1999), Brazilian footballer * Nicolas (footballer, born 2000), Brazilian footballer Surname Nicolas * Dafydd Nicolas (c.1705–17 ...

and No. 46

Robin Haase Robin Haase (; born 6 April 1987) is a Dutch professional tennis player. He reached his career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 33 in July 2012, and has won two singles titles, at the Austrian Open in both 2011 and 2012. Haase also reache ...

Retirement

After a year and a half of injuries, Alund announced he had decided to retire from the pro tour, lending his world class skills to the coaching team at Advantage Tennis in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...

."Martín Alund y una nueva vida siempre ligada al tenis"
, ''Ovación'', 8 January 2017.Advantage Tennis - World Class Coaches
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Playing style

Alund is a natural claycourter, though intersperses his defensive skills with clean hitting, a powerful first serve and deft dropshots. He possesses a heavy, hard-hitting forehand and a flashy one-handed backhand, both of which are capable of reeling off winners, but are also often error-prone.

Career finals

Challenger singles: 3 (0–3)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alund, Martin Argentine male tennis players Argentine people of Swedish descent Sportspeople from Mendoza, Argentina 1985 births Living people South American Games bronze medalists for Argentina South American Games medalists in tennis Competitors at the 2002 South American Games