Nicolás Almagro Sánchez (; born 21 August 1985 in
Murcia
Murcia ( , , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the Capital (political), capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the Ranked lists of Spanish municipalities#By population, seventh largest city i ...
, Spain) 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 of Latin American descent. He reached the quarterfinals of 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 ...
in
2008
2008 was designated as:
*International Year of Languages
*International Year of Planet Earth
*International Year of the Potato
*International Year of Sanitation
The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
,
2010
The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
and
2012
2012 was designated as:
*International Year of Cooperatives
*International Year of Sustainable Energy for All
Events January
*January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins.
* January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
(losing each time to
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 ...
, the eventual champion in each occasion), as well as the quarterfinals of the
Australian Open
The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
in
2013
2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years).
2013 was designated as:
*International Year of Water Cooperation
*International Year of Quinoa
Events
January
* January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...
(losing to
David Ferrer
David Ferrer Ern (; ; born 2 April 1982) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in July 2013. Ferrer won 27 ATP Tour singles titles, including a ...
after leading by two sets to love).
Over his career, Almagro won thirteen singles titles, and he achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 9 in May 2011. Following his retirement, Almagro began coaching American player
Danielle Collins
Danielle Rose Collins (born December 13, 1993) is an American professional tennis player. She has reached career-high WTA rankings of world No. 7 in singles and No. 79 in doubles. Collins has won four singles titles, including a WTA 1000 titl ...
.
Personal life
Almagro married Rafi Lardín on 6 December 2015. They welcomed their first child, a boy, in 2017.
Career
Juniors
Almagro reached as high as world No. 18 in the junior singles rankings in December 2003.
2005
Almagro won the gold medal at the
2005 Mediterranean Games by defeating compatriot
Guillermo García López in the final in
Almería
Almería (, , ) is a city and municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of Almería, province of the same name. It lies in southeastern Iberian Peninsula, Iberia on the Mediterranean S ...
, Spain.
2006
In April 2006, Almagro won his maiden
ATP tournament title, the Open de Tenis Comunidad Valenciana (
Valencia, Spain
Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...
). Almagro was forced to come through the qualification rounds just to make this event, but that did not stop him from winning eight matches in a row, including three-set victories over former world number ones
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 ...
and
Marat Safin
Marat Mubinovich Safin ( rus, Мара́т Муби́нович Са́фин, , mɐˈrat ˈsafʲɪn, Ru-Marat-Safin.ogg; ; born 27 January 1980) is a Russian former professional tennis player and former politician. He was ranked as the List of ...
.
After Valencia, Almagro went on an excellent run, reaching the semifinals of the Barcelona Open, before losing to
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 ...
, and followed that up by reaching the quarterfinals in Rome, 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 ...
in three tight sets, 7–5 in the third round.
At Roland Garros 2006, he suffered a disappointing second-round loss to
James Blake. The remainder of 2006 was uninspiring for Almagro. He did show signs of improving his hardcourt game by making a quarterfinal indoors in Lyon, and he also won matches at the Masters 1000 events in Cincinnati and Paris.
2007
Almagro won his second title on 15 April 2007 by defeating
Potito Starace, 4–6, 6–2, 6–1, in Valencia for the second consecutive year. However, he lost in the second round of the French Open in five sets to
Michaël Llodra
Michaël Llodra (; born 18 May 1980) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 3 in men's doubles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), winning 26 career doubles titles, including three majors and ...
, in what was perceived as another disappointing lapse in form. Still, his year contained highlights other than Valencia. He reached the semifinals of Buenos Aires, the finals of Båstad, and began to show promise on hard courts also, advancing to the quarterfinals of the Masters 1000 event in Cincinnati and the third round of the US Open (losing to Davydenko).
2008
In 2008, Almagro won the third title of his career in Costa do Sauipe by defeating
Carlos Moyá
Carlos Moyá Llompart (; born 27 August 1976) is a Spanish former professional tennis player and coach. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Moyá won 20 ATP Tour-level singles tit ...
in a rollercoaster three-set battle. Two weeks later, Almagro followed that victory up with yet another in Acapulco, defeating
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 finals, 6–1, 7–6. With his fourth career title, Almagro rose to a career-best ranking of No. 21 in the world, winning 21 of 26 matches on clay in the season. He was at a career-best ranking of No. 17 in the world following the Masters Series in Rome.
He achieved his best Grand Slam result in June by reaching the quarterfinals of the
2008 French Open, where he
lost to Rafael Nadal, 1–6, 1–6, 1–6. During his run, he beat
Boris Pašanski,
Sebastián Decoud, tenth seed
Andy Murray
Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British former professional tennis player and coach. 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 Professio ...
, and home-favourite
Jérémy Chardy
Jérémy Chardy (; born 12 February 1987) is a French tennis coach and a former professional player. He has won one ATP Tour singles title, in Stuttgart in 2009. His best major performance in singles was reaching the quarterfinals of the 2013 ...
in straight sets. He hit more aces than any other player in the French Open that year (78).
2009
In January, Almagro participated in the
2009 Heineken Open, held in
Auckland
Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
, New Zealand. The fourth seed at the event, Almagro received a bye into the second round, where he defeated
Lu Yen-hsun of Taiwan in three sets. This gained him entry into the quarterfinals, where he was defeated in straight sets by American
Sam Querrey
Samuel Austin Querrey ( ; born October 7, 1987) is an American professional pickleball player and former tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 11 achieved on February 26, 2018, and won ten ATP singles titles. Known ...
, sixth seed at the event.
At the
Australian Open
The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, Almagro won in the first round of the tournament for the first time, making it to the third round before losing to
Gaël Monfils
Gaël Sébastien Monfils (; born 1 September 1986) is a French professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked as high as world No. 6 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved in November 2016. Mon ...
. At the
2009 Brasil Open, where Almagro was the defending champion and top seed, he lost in the quarterfinals to
Frederico Gil in two tiebreak sets, 6–7, 6–7. At the
Abierto Mexicano, Almagro successfully defended his 2008 win, defeating Monfils in the final, 6–4, 6–4.
Almagro's next tournament was the
2009 Sony Ericsson Open, an ATP Masters Series event where he was seeded 19th. After receiving a bye into the second round, he was defeated by
Taylor Dent
Taylor Phillip Dent (born April 24, 1981) is a retired professional tennis player from the United States. He reached a career-high singles ranking of World No. 21, winning 4 singles titles.
Career
Early career and back injury
Dent won ATP titl ...
in a third-set tiebreak.
At 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 made it through to the third round, but lost to countryman,
Fernando Verdasco
Fernando Verdasco Carmona (; born 15 November 1983) is a Spaniards, Spanish tennis coach and a former professional player. He was ranked world No. 7 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP, achieved in April 2009, and w ...
in straight sets.
At Wimbledon, he reached the third round, but was stopped easily by recent French Open runner-up
Robin Söderling
Robin Bo Carl Söderling (; born 14 August 1984) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 4 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in November 2010. Söderling won ten singles titles on th ...
. In the first round, he scraped his way through after trailing 7–6, 7–6, 5–4, 40–30 with
Juan Mónaco
Juan Mónaco (; born 29 March 1984), nicknamed "Pico", is an Argentine former professional tennis player. He won nine singles titles, reached the semifinals of the 2010 Shanghai Rolex Masters – Singles, 2010 Shanghai Masters and the 2012 Sony ...
serving on match point. In the second round, he led
Karol Beck
Karol Beck (born 3 April 1982) is a male former tennis player from Slovakia, who turned professional in 2001. His career-high singles ranking is World No. 36, achieved in August 2005. Beck reached the fourth round of the 2004 US Open and the qu ...
two sets to love, only to find himself again fighting in five sets to survive. Nicolas won by 6–4, 7–6, 3–6, 3–6, 7–5.
At the
US Open, Almagro lost in the third round to fellow Spaniard Nadal. Before this, he defeated Belgian
Steve Darcis in the first round, before getting past American
Robby Ginepri in a 4 hr 15 min five-set match in the second round.
In the subsequent ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Paris, Almagro once again fell to Nadal. Despite having five match points and the opportunity to serve for the match in the third set, Almagro lost, 6–3, 6–7, 5–7.
2010
At the
2010 Australian Open, Almagro prevailed in long five-set matches to beat
Xavier Malisse
Xavier Malisse (born 19 July 1980) is a Belgian tennis coach and a former professional player. Born in the north-western Flemish Region, Flemish city of Kortrijk and nicknamed ''X-Man'', he is one of only two Belgian men (the other being David G ...
, (8–6 in the fifth set) and
Benjamin Becker, (6–3 in the fifth set) in the first two rounds. In the third round, he beat
Alejandro Falla
Alejandro Falla Ramírez (; born 14 November 1983) is a Colombian former professional tennis player. The left-hander turned professional in 2000 and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 48 in July 2012. At the 2006 Wimbledon tou ...
with relative ease in three sets. In the fourth round, he was defeated by
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (; born 17 April 1985) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 5 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved in February 2012. Tsonga won 18 singles titles on th ...
in another five-set battle lasting over 4 hours. Almagro played the whole tournament with a broken left wrist, preventing him from exceeding 200 km/h when serving due to an altered ball-toss.
He was ousted in the opening round of the
2010 Copa Telmex tournament for the second straight year (losing to Gimeno Traver). He then entered the Abierto Mexicano in Acapulco as the two-time defending champion. He beat
Dudi Sela
David "Dudi" Sela (; born 4 April 1985) is an Israeli former professional tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of World No. 29 in July 2009.
Sela won the French Open 2003 junior doubles title. Representing Israel Davis Cup te ...
and
Richard Gasquet
Richard Gabriel Cyr Gasquet (; born 18 June 1986) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 7 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP, attained in July 2007. Gasquet won 16 singles ...
to reach the quarterfinals. However, he lost to in-form
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 ...
, 1–6, 7–5, 2–6, who was on a 12-match winning streak.
As for his performances in ATP Masters 1000 tournaments, in Indian Wells Masters 1000, he reached the fourth round before retiring hurt against Andy Murray. At the Miami Masters 1000, he lost to eventual champion
Andy Roddick
Andrew Stephen Roddick (born August 30, 1982) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 13 weeks, including as the year-end No. 1 in ...
in the quarterfinals. In the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters 1000, he beat
Simon Greul before falling to
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (; born 17 April 1985) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 5 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved in February 2012. Tsonga won 18 singles titles on th ...
in the second round. In the Rome Masters 1000, he beat
Łukasz Kubot
Łukasz Kubot (; born 16 May 1982) is a former Polish professional tennis player who was ranked world No. 1 in doubles.
He is a two-time Grand Slam champion in doubles, having won the 2014 Australian Open with Robert Lindstedt, as well as the ...
, but lost to
Ivan Ljubičić in the second round. In the Madrid Masters 1000, he beat
Victor Troicki, fourth seed Söderling, Mónaco, and Melzer to reach the semifinals of a Masters event for the first time. There, he was beaten by the previous year's finalist Rafael Nadal, 6–4, 2–6, 2–6.
In the
2010 French Open, seeded 19th, he beat
Robin Haase
Robin Haase (; born 6 April 1987) is a Dutch professional tennis player.
He reached his career-high Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP singles ranking of world No. 33 in July 2012 and his highest doubles ranking of world No. 29 in May 2023 ...
in five sets. In the second round, he beat Steve Darcis in straight sets. After beating
Alexandr Dolgopolov
Alexandr Oleksandrovych Dolgopolov (born 7 November 1988), formerly known as Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr., is a Ukrainian retired professional tennis player. He changed his forename spelling to the current form in May 2010. Dolgopolov reached the qu ...
in the third round, he managed to upset
Fernando Verdasco
Fernando Verdasco Carmona (; born 15 November 1983) is a Spaniards, Spanish tennis coach and a former professional player. He was ranked world No. 7 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP, achieved in April 2009, and w ...
in the fourth round in four sets, 6–1, 4–6, 6–1, 6–4. Almagro then bowed out in straight sets in the quarterfinals, losing a closely contested match against eventual champion Rafael Nadal, 6–7, 6–7, 4–6.
At the
2010 Wimbledon Championships, Almagro suffered a first-round exit to Italian
Andreas Seppi
Andreas Seppi (born 21 February 1984) is an Italian former professional tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 18 on 28 January 2013. He became the first Italian to win a title on all three surfaces.
Personal lif ...
, 6–7, 6–7, 2–6.
After this, Almagro traveled to his first clay-court tournament since Roland Garros, the
2010 Swedish Open
The 2010 Swedish Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts part of the ATP World Tour 250 Series of the 2010 ATP World Tour and 2010 WTA Tour. It took place in Båstad, Sweden, from July 5 through July 11, 2010 for Women's and f ...
. He defeated
Jarkko Nieminen
Jarkko Kalervo Nieminen (born 23 July 1981) is a Finnish former professional tennis player. His highest ranking of world No. 13, achieved in July 2006, is a Finnish record. He has won two ATP singles titles and five doubles titles in his caree ...
, 6–4, 6–4, Croatian qualifier
Franko Škugor
Franko Škugor (; born 20 September 1987) is a Croatian inactive professional tennis player who mainly competes on the ATP Challenger Tour and specialized in doubles. He has a career-high ATP doubles ranking of World No. 17 achieved on 22 April 2 ...
, 4–6, 6–4, 6–0, in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, he defeated fellow Spaniard
Tommy Robredo
Tomás Robredo Garcés (, ; born 1 May 1982) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking was world No. 5, which he reached in August 2006 as a result of winning the 2006 Hamburg Masters – Singles, Hamburg M ...
, 6–1, 6–3, and then in the final he defeated home favourite, top seed, and defending champion
Robin Söderling
Robin Bo Carl Söderling (; born 14 August 1984) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 4 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in November 2010. Söderling won ten singles titles on th ...
, 7–5, 3–6, 6–2, to snap a 17-month title drought dating back to February 2009 in Acapulco. Almagro then played in the 2010 International German Open, where he was stunned in the opening round by Uzbekistani
Denis Istomin, 6–7, 6–7. After this, he appeared at the
2010 Allianz Suisse Open Gstaad as second seed. He won the tournament after defeating compatriot
Marcel Granollers
Marcel Granollers Pujol (; ; born 12 April 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He reached a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 1 on 6 May 2024, becoming the second Spanish man to achieve the feat (after Emilio Sánchez Vicari ...
, 7–6, 3–6, 6–3, Swiss wildcard
Michael Lammer
Michael Lammer (born 25 March 1982) is a retired Swiss professional tennis player. At the 2009 Allianz Suisse Open in Gstaad, he won the doubles tournament with compatriot Marco Chiudinelli. It was his only ATP tour title.[< ...]
, 3–6, 6–3, 6–2, Frenchman
Jérémy Chardy
Jérémy Chardy (; born 12 February 1987) is a French tennis coach and a former professional player. He has won one ATP Tour singles title, in Stuttgart in 2009. His best major performance in singles was reaching the quarterfinals of the 2013 ...
, 6–2, 7–6, and then another fellow Spaniard
Daniel Gimeno Traver, 7–6, 3–6, 6–3. In the final, he defeated
Richard Gasquet
Richard Gabriel Cyr Gasquet (; born 18 June 1986) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 7 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP, attained in July 2007. Gasquet won 16 singles ...
, 7–5, 6–1, to clinch the title.
At the
2010 US Open, Almagro beat
Potito Starace and
Guillermo García López, both in four sets, before losing to
Sam Querrey
Samuel Austin Querrey ( ; born October 7, 1987) is an American professional pickleball player and former tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 11 achieved on February 26, 2018, and won ten ATP singles titles. Known ...
in the third round in straight sets, 3–6, 4–6, 4–6.
2011

Almagro began his year at the
2011 Heineken Open in New Zealand. Seeded second, he received a bye into the second round. In his first match, he beat
Victor Hănescu, 6–4, 7–6, to advance to the quarterfinals, where he won against
Adrian Mannarino, 7–6, 6–7, 6–2, to advance to the semifinals, where he was defeated by David Nalbandian, 6–4, 6–2.
At the
Australian Open
The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, Almagro was seeded 14th. He defeated
Stéphane Robert
Stéphane Robert (; born 17 May 1980) is a French tennis coach and a former professional player.
Professional career 2007–2008
Robert missed 16 months of tennis action in 2007–2008 because he was infected with the Hepatitis A virus in F ...
in the first round, 6–4, 6–3, 6–7, 7–5. He then battled through
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 ...
in the second round, 7–5, 2–6, 4–6, 7–6, 7–5, saving three match points in the process and rallying from a 2–4 deficit in the fifth set. In the third round, he defeated 17th seed
Ivan Ljubičić in straight sets, 6–4, 7–6, 6–3. In the fourth round, he was dismantled by world no. 3 and eventual champion
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 ...
, 3–6, 4–6, 0–6.
Almagro next entered the
2011 Brasil Open
The 2011 Brasil Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 11th edition of the event known as the Brasil Open, and was part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the 2011 ATP World Tour. It took place in Costa do Sauípe, ...
, where he had a bye in the first round. He easily cruised to the semifinals, and after a slow start, he defeated
Juan Ignacio Chela
Juan Ignacio Chela (; born 30 August 1979), nicknamed as "El Flaco" or "Liliano," is a tennis coach and former professional player from Argentina. Chela was given a three-month ban from the professional tour in 2001 for failing a drugs test. Post ...
, 1–6, 6–2, 6–4, to reach the final. He then won his eighth career title against Alexandr Dolgopolov, 6–3, 7–6.
His winning streak continued as he snatched his second consecutive title in as many weeks at the
2011 Copa Claro tournament in Buenos Aires, Argentina, defeating
Juan Ignacio Chela
Juan Ignacio Chela (; born 30 August 1979), nicknamed as "El Flaco" or "Liliano," is a tennis coach and former professional player from Argentina. Chela was given a three-month ban from the professional tour in 2001 for failing a drugs test. Post ...
, 6–3, 3–6, 6–4, in the final. His hot streak stretched even further at the
2011 Abierto Mexicano Telcel tournament in Acapulco, Mexico, making his third consecutive clay-court final. He beat
Victor Hănescu,
Filippo Volandri
Filippo Volandri (; born 5 September 1981) is an Italian tennis coach and former professional player.
Volandri reached a career-high singles ranking of world no. 25 in July 2007.
He turned professional in 1997 and earned almost $4 million in priz ...
,
Santiago Giraldo
Santiago Giraldo Salazar (, born 27 November 1987) is a Colombian former professional tennis player. He played on the ATP tour and represented Colombia Davis Cup team, Colombia in the Davis Cup competition. His best tournament result is reachi ...
, and
Thomaz Bellucci
Thomaz Cocchiarali Bellucci (born 30 December 1987, in Tietê, São Paulo, Tietê) is a Brazilian former professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 21 in July 2010.
Bellucci used a string of ATP Challeng ...
. He lost, however, to defending champion
David Ferrer
David Ferrer Ern (; ; born 2 April 1982) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in July 2013. Ferrer won 27 ATP Tour singles titles, including a ...
, 6–7, 7–6, 2–6.
Almagro then lost in the third round at both the
Indian Wells (losing to
Albert Montañés
Albert Montañés Roca (, ; born 26 November 1980) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He first entered the top 100 in 2001, achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 22 in 2010, and has won six singles titles and two doubl ...
, 6–4, 2–6, 4–6) and at the
Miami Open (losing to
Florian Mayer
Florian Mayer (; born 5 October 1983) is a German former professional tennis player.
Mayer reached his career-high singles ranking of world No. 18 in June 2011. Also in 2011, Mayer won his first ATP Tour title after four previous defeats in AT ...
, 1–6, 6–3, 1–6).
At
Monte-Carlo, he beat
Marcel Granollers
Marcel Granollers Pujol (; ; born 12 April 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He reached a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 1 on 6 May 2024, becoming the second Spanish man to achieve the feat (after Emilio Sánchez Vicari ...
, 6–3, 6–3, before prevailing in a marathon encounter against
Máximo González
Máximo González Mereira (; born July 20, 1983) is an Argentine professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is World No. 58, achieved in July 2009 and his career-high doubles ranking is World No. 10 achieved on 11 September 2023 ...
, 6–7, 7–5, 7–6, saving a total of four match points (three consecutive match points when *0–40 on serve at *4–5 in the third set, and one match point in the third set tiebreak at *7–8). He then lost to
Jürgen Melzer
Jürgen Melzer (born 22 May 1981) is an Austrian tennis coach and former professional tennis player. Melzer reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 8 in April 2011, and a doubles ranking of world No. 6 in September 2010. He has a youn ...
, 1–6, 4–6, in the third round.
Almagro then appeared at the
2011 Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell, where he notched a 7–5, 7–6 win over in-form compatriot
Pablo Andújar. In the third round, he 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 ...
, 7–6, 6–3, to enter the world's top 10 for the first time in his career. He followed this victory with a solid 6–3, 6–3 victory in the quarterfinals over a resurgent Juan Carlos Ferrero, who had just come back from a knee injury. In the semifinals, he lost to David Ferrer, 3–6, 4–6.
He lost at the Madrid Masters to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 1–6, 3–6, in the first round, before making it to the third round at the Rome Masters and losing 3–6, 6–3, 4–6 to Robin Söderling. Almagro improved at the
Open de Nice Côte d'Azur, where he defeated
Victor Hănescu, 6–7, 6–3, 6–3. In
Hamburg
Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
, Almagro lost in the final, 4–6, 6–4, 4–6, to
Gilles Simon
Gilles Simon (; born 27 December 1984) is a French former tennis player. He turned professional in 2002 and won fourteen singles titles on the ATP Tour, and attained a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 6, on 5 January 2009.
Personal li ...
.
Almagro played
Julien Benneteau
Julien Henry Guy Benneteau-Desgrois (; born 20 December 1981) is a French retired professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 25 and doubles ranking of No. 5 in November 2014. Benneteau did not win a singles ti ...
in the first round of the US Open, making many unforced errors and only managing to break once out of 13 chances. He lost 2–6, 4–6, 2–6.
2012
Almagro lost in the fourth round of the
2012 Australian Open to
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 ...
. Afterwards, Berdych refused to shake Almagro's hand after an incident in the match where Almagro hit Berdych with a ball.
In February, Almagro earned his 11th career title in São Paulo, defeating
Filippo Volandri
Filippo Volandri (; born 5 September 1981) is an Italian tennis coach and former professional player.
Volandri reached a career-high singles ranking of world no. 25 in July 2007.
He turned professional in 1997 and earned almost $4 million in priz ...
in the final. He also made the final in Buenos Aires, bowing to David Ferrer.
Almagro got his revenge at
Indian Wells, where he beat and
bageled Berdych in the fourth round to advance to the quarterfinals, where he met Novak Djokovic.
Almagro defended his title in Nice for his 12th career title, beating American
Brian Baker in the final.
At the French Open, he defeated
Paolo Lorenzi
Paolo Lorenzi (; born 15 December 1981) is an Italian former professional tennis player and former Italian number 1. He was coached by Claudio Galoppini. At the age of 34 years and seven months, Lorenzi became the oldest first-time champion in AT ...
, in the first round,
Marcos Baghdatis
Marcos Baghdatis (Greek language, Greek: Μάρκος Παγδατής, Arabic language, Arabic: ماركوس بغداتيس); born 17 June 1985 is a Greek Cypriot former professional tennis player and coach. He was the runner-up at the 2006 Aus ...
in the second round,
Leonardo Mayer in the third round, and
Janko Tipsarević in the fourth round to reach quarterfinals without losing a set. He lost his first set to
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 the quarterfinals, where he ultimately lost, 6–7, 2–6, 3–6.
Almagro has yet to go past the third round at Wimbledon and is not known for his proficiency on grass. However, during the
2012 London Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
, he made a surprising run to the quarterfinals without dropping a set, before losing 4–6, 1–6 to eventual champion Andy Murray.
Almagro reached the finals of the Swedish Open, losing again to Ferrer, 2–6, 2–6.
Almagro reached the semifinals of the German Tennis Championships in Hamburg, losing to Juan Mónaco, 6–3, 3–6, 4–6.
2013
Almagro reached the quarterfinals of the
Australian Open
The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
for the first time, where he played compatriot David Ferrer, whom he had never beaten in twelve previous meetings. Almagro led by two sets and served for a place in his first Grand Slam semifinal once in the third set and twice in the fourth, but was unable to manufacture a match point, and Ferrer eventually won, 4–6, 4–6, 7–5, 7–6
(4), 6–2.
Almagro's next tournament was the Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco. He reached the semifinals without dropping a set. However, he was beaten by Rafael Nadal in straight sets.
In Houston, Almagro was the top seed. He made it to the final, but was defeated by
John Isner
John Robert Isner (born April 26, 1985) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 8 in singles and No. 14 in doubles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Considered one of the best servers ...
.
Almagro then reached the fourth round of the French Open where, for the second Grand Slam running, he lost after leading by two sets and a break against a compatriot, this time
Tommy Robredo
Tomás Robredo Garcés (, ; born 1 May 1982) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking was world No. 5, which he reached in August 2006 as a result of winning the 2006 Hamburg Masters – Singles, Hamburg M ...
. Almagro led 7–6
(5), 6–3, 4–1 but went on to lose the last three sets 4–6, 4–6, 4–6, despite also leading sets four and five by a break of serve.
At Wimbledon, Almagro was the 15th seed. He reached the third round, where he lost in straight sets to
Jerzy Janowicz
Jerzy Filip Janowicz Jr. (; born 13 November 1990) is a Polish inactive professional tennis player and padel player. Janowicz is best known for becoming the first Polish man to reach a Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, major semifinal, at the 2013 ...
.
Almagro reached the semifinal stage of the bet-at-home Open in Hamburg, losing to
Fabio Fognini
Fabio Fognini (; born 24 May 1987) is an Italian professional tennis player. He has a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP ranking of world No. 9 achieved on 15 July 2019. Fognini's most successful surface is Clay court#Red clay, ...
in straight sets.
2014
Almagro pulled out of Sydney and the Australian Open because of a shoulder injury. He reached the Houston final, where he lost to Fernando Verdasco. The Spaniard won over
Nicolas Mahut
Nicolas Pierre Armand Mahut (; born 21 January 1982) is a French professional tennis player who is a former world No. 1 in doubles.
He is a five-time Grand Slam champion in doubles, having completed the career Grand Slam with victories at th ...
to reach the third round of the Monte-Carlo Masters.
At the
Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, he defeated
Martin Kližan
Martin Kližan (; born 11 July 1989) is a Slovak professional tennis player. He has a career-high singles ATP rankings, ranking of world No. 24, achieved on 27 April 2015, and No. 73 in doubles, achieved on 4 May 2015. He won the 2006 French Ope ...
and Fernando Verdasco, then snapped Nadal's 41-match winning streak. This marked his first victory over his dominant compatriot in 11 meetings.
Santiago Giraldo
Santiago Giraldo Salazar (, born 27 November 1987) is a Colombian former professional tennis player. He played on the ATP tour and represented Colombia Davis Cup team, Colombia in the Davis Cup competition. His best tournament result is reachi ...
defeated him in semifinals.
At
Roland Garros, Nicolás was forced to retire in the first round against American
Jack Sock
Jack Sock (born September 24, 1992) is an American former professional tennis doubles and a current pickleball player. He won four career singles titles and 17 doubles titles on the ATP Tour, and had career-high tennis rankings of world No. 8 ...
due to a foot injury.
Almagro subsequently withdrew from both
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* W ...
and the
US Open due to the same injury.
2015
At the
Australian Open
The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, he lost to
Kei Nishikori
is a Japanese professional tennis player. He is the only Japanese man in the Open Era to have been ranked in the top five in singles, reaching his career-high ranking of world No. 4 in March 2015, and the second man in history to do so after ...
6–4, 7–6
(1), 6–2 in the first round.
2019
Almagro announced his retirement during the
Murcia Open in April 2019, which would be his last professional tournament.
Playing style
Almagro's playing style fits that of an
offensive baseliner. Almagro's groundstrokes, particularly on his favored backhand side, are very powerful. Almagro uses a very quick and compact service motion which helps his first serve often exceed speeds of 210 km/h.
Almagro marches on to quarter-finals, TENNIS News
''tvnz.co.nz'' In addition to his powerful game, Almagro is also known for playing on the edge of his emotions, sometimes losing his temper on-court. Almagro is most proficient on clay courts, as evidenced by all his ATP finals being at clay court events. Almagro has had success on hard courts, reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open in 2013, and has also reached the quarterfinals in Cincinnati (2007) and Miami (2010). However, he generally prefers to play on clay courts and tailors his schedule to play the majority of the clay court events on the ATP World Tour.
Equipment
Nicolás Almagro uses the Volkl V-Sense 10 Tour. He has been stringing with Luxilon Big Banger Original for years. In January 2016 Almagro signed with Joma for clothing and shoes.
Davis Cup
He has played seven Davis Cup ties, winning 8 of the 10 singles matches he has contested. All his wins have come on clay.
In 2008, he helped the Spanish Davis Cup team to win the title, winning two rubbers at the first round against Peru by beating Matías Silva 3–6, 6–3, 7–5, 6–0 and Iván Miranda 6–2, 6 –3.
In the 2012 Davis Cup final, he lost to 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 ...
and again to Radek Štěpánek
Radek Štěpánek (; born 27 November 1978) is a Czech former professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking was world No. 8 and best doubles ranking was world No. 4. Štěpánek's biggest achievements are reaching two Masters 1000 ...
in the fifth rubber, denying Spain a repeat win.
ATP career finals
Singles: 23 (13 titles, 10 runner-ups)
Doubles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)
Performance timelines
Singles
1Held as Hamburg Masters till 2008.
2Held as Madrid Masters till 2008.
Doubles
Wins over top 10 players
References
External links
*
*
*
Almagro world ranking history
{{DEFAULTSORT:Almagro, Nicolas
1985 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Murcia
Spanish male tennis players
Tennis players from the Region of Murcia
Tennis players at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Tennis players at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Olympic tennis players for Spain
Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Spain
Competitors at the 2005 Mediterranean Games
Mediterranean Games medalists in tennis
21st-century Spanish sportsmen