Pablo Andújar

Pablo Andújar Alba (; born 23 January 1986) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. Andújar has won four ATP Tour singles titles and reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 32 in July 2015. His best results are reaching the fourth round of the 2019 US Open and the 2021 French Open doubles semifinals.

Junior career

As a junior, Andújar compiled a singles win–loss record of 67–16 (and 48–14 in doubles), reaching as high as No. 5 in the combined junior world rankings in June 2004.

Junior Slam results:

Australian Open: -

French Open: QF (2004)

Wimbledon: 1R (2004)

US Open: 1R (2004)

Professional career

2008–11: Grand Slam & top 100 debuts, first ATP title & top 50

On his Grand slam debut at the 2008 French Open as a lucky loser he reached the second round defeating Filippo Volandri. In August 2008, following his wins at two consecutive Challengers in Vigo and in San Sebastián, he entered the top 100 on 25 August 2008 at World No. 88.

He competed at the 2009 Australian Open, but lost to Gilles Simon in the first round. At the 2009 French Open, he defeated Robby Ginepri in the first round, but lost in the second round against Paul-Henri Mathieu of France in three sets.

He made the final of the 2010 BCR Open Romania, where he lost to Juan Ignacio Chela.

In 2011, Andújar won his first ATP title at the Grand Prix Hassan II tournament in Morocco, defeating Italian Potito Starace in the final. As a result he entered the top 50 at World No. 48 on 25 April 2011.

The Spaniard reached two more ATP-level finals during the 2011 season, one at the 2011 Stuttgart Open and the other at the 2011 BCR Open Romania.

2012–15: First Masters semifinal & ATP 500 final, two titles, top 35

In January 2012, he was a finalist in doubles with Carlos Berlocq in Viña del Mar, Chile. In February, he was a quarterfinalist in the Abierto Mexicano Telcel.

In April 2012, he won his second title in Morocco, defeating Albert Ramos Viñolas in the final.

In May 2013, as a wildcard and as world No. 113 in the ATP rankings, he reached the semifinals of an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament for the first time in his career in Madrid where he faced Rafael Nadal and lost 6–0, 6–4. His road to the semifinals saw him defeat 10th seed Marin Čilić, John Isner, Daniel Gimeno-Traver and 14th seed Kei Nishikori.

He won his third title at the 2014 Swiss Open defeating Juan Mónaco.

Andújar reached his biggest final at the 2015 Barcelona Open where he was defeated by Kei Nishikori. On 13 July 2015 he reached a career-high singles ranking of No. 32.

2016–18: Hiatus due to surgery, Fourth title & first in four years

Between March 2016 and April 2017, Andújar underwent three elbow surgeries with three different doctors and considered retirement if the third surgery didn't work. Upon his return in January 2018, Andújar lost five of his first six matches at all levels.

In April 2018, Andújar won his fourth ATP tournament and his first in for four years, beating Kyle Edmund in straight sets in the final in Marrakesh to become the lowest-ranked tour-level titlist at World No. 355 since then-World No. 550 Lleyton Hewitt at Adelaide in 1998.

2019–21: US Open fourth round, French Open doubles semifinal, Olympics

In September 2019, Andújar reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time, at the 2019 US Open by defeating Kyle Edmund, Lorenzo Sonego and Alexander Bublik in the first three rounds.

In May 2021, ranked No. 75, Andújar upset Roger Federer in three sets at the Geneva Open and reached the semifinals of the event. He lost to eventual champion Casper Ruud.

At the 2021 French Open, he continued his good form by coming back from two sets down to defeat fourth seed Dominic Thiem in the opening round of the tournament. He also reached the semifinals as alternate in doubles with fellow Spaniard Pedro Martínez, with whom he also made his Grand Slam doubles debut as a pair at the 2021 Australian Open. They defeated the 14th seeded Belgians S.Gillé/J.Vliegen in the third round and the pair of Rohan Bopanna/Franko Skugor in the quarterfinals. They entered the tournament as a replacement alternate pair for the top seeds Nikola Mektić/Mate Pavić.

At the 2021 Wimbledon Championships he reached the second round only for the second time in his career.

He qualified to represent Spain in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in singles and doubles partnering with Roberto Carballés Baena.

In September 2021, he reached the third round of the 2021 US Open only for the second time in his career where he lost to World No. 2 and eventual champion Daniil Medvedev. He finished the year 2021 with a positive record of 5–3 in Grand Slams for the first time in his career.

2022: Australian Open third round

Andújar started his 2022 season at the Sydney Classic. He lost in the first round of qualifying to Viktor Durasovic. At the Australian Open, he reached the third round for the first time in his career, thus completing a career set of third rounds at all four Grand Slams. He was defeated in the third round by 32nd seed Alex de Minaur.

In February, Andújar played at the Argentina Open. He lost in the second round to sixth seed Federico Delbonis. At the Rio Open, he beat eighth seed, Albert Ramos Viñolas, in the second round in three sets. He was defeated in his quarterfinal match by third seed, world No. 14, 2018 champion, and eventual finalist, Diego Schwartzman. In Acapulco, he lost in the second round to top seed and world No. 2, Daniil Medvedev. In March, he competed at the BNP Paribas Open. He was beaten in the first round by Fabio Fognini.

Andújar started his clay-court season at the Andalucía Challenger in Marbella. Seeded third, he reached the semifinals where he lost to Pedro Cachin. At the Grand Prix Hassan II in Marrakech, he upset second seed and world No. 26, Dan Evans, in the first round. He lost in the second round to eventual champion David Goffin. In Barcelona, he was defeated in the first round by Ugo Humbert. At the Estoril Open, he retired during his first-round match against Nuno Borges. At the Madrid Open, he fell in the first round of qualifying to Ugo Humbert. Last year semifinalist at the Geneva Open, he lost in the first round to eventual finalist João Sousa. At the French Open, he lost in the first round to 2018 semifinalist, Marco Cecchinato, in five sets.

After Roland Garros, Andújar competed at the UniCredit Czech Open. Seeded fourth, he lost in the second round to eventual champion Vít Kopřiva. Seeded fourth at the Open Sopra Steria de Lyon, he was defeated in the first round by lucky loser Juan Bautista Torres.

At Wimbledon, Andújar lost in the first round to ninth seed, world No. 12, and eventual semifinalist, Cameron Norrie.

After Wimbledon, Andújar played at the Iași Open. As the second seed, he made it to the final where he lost to eighth seed Felipe Meligeni Alves. At the Generali Open Kitzbühel, he beat ninth seed, Lorenzo Sonego, in the first round. He lost in the second round to Austrian wildcard and eventual finalist, Filip Misolic. Seeded second at the first edition of the Kozerki Open, he retired from his second-round match against qualifier Alexey Vatutin due to an arm injury.

Andújar withdrew from the US Open due to the same arm injury he picked up while he was in Grodzisk Mazowiecki.

2023: Retirement

Andújar announced on Instagram in December 2022 that the 2023 season will be his last on tour. He started his season at the Maharashtra Open. He lost in the first round to eighth seed Aslan Karatsev. At the Australian Open, he fell in the first round of qualifying to Australian wildcard Adam Walton.

In February, Andújar played at the Córdoba Open. He retired during his first-round match against Argentinian wildcard and 2021 champion, Juan Manuel Cerúndolo, due to a right shoulder injury. At the Open 13 Provence in Marseille, he lost in the first round to qualifier Alexander Ritschard. In March, he competed at the BNP Paribas Open. He was defeated in the final round of qualifying by Borna Gojo.

Andújar began his clay-court season at the Girona Challenger. Playing as a wildcard, he lost in the first round to Miljan Zekić. In Marrakech, he was defeated in the first round of qualifying by Riccardo Bonadio. He accepted a wildcard for the Barcelona Open. He lost in the first round to Tomás Martín Etcheverry. After his first-round loss, he said farewell, hoping to play one more match at the Valencia Challenger. Receiving a wildcard to enter the qualifying round at the Madrid Open, he was eliminated in the first round of qualifying by Zsombor Piros in three sets.

Performance timelines

Singles

Doubles

ATP career finals

Singles: 9 (4 titles, 5 runner-ups)

Doubles: 7 (7 runner-ups)

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals

Singles: 27 (13–14)

Doubles: 17 (6–11)

Junior Grand Slam finals

Doubles: 1 (1 title)

Record against top 10 players

Andújar's match record against players who have been ranked world No. 10 or higher is as follows. Players who have been No. 1 are in boldface.

* Gilles Simon 4–2
* Fernando Verdasco 3–3
* Tommy Robredo 2–2
* Roger Federer 1–0
* Lleyton Hewitt 1–0
* Karen Khachanov 1–0
* Juan Mónaco 1–0
* Jürgen Melzer 1–1
* Janko Tipsarević 1–1
* Marin Čilić 1–2
* Juan Carlos Ferrero 1–2
* John Isner 1–2
* Jack Sock 1–2
* Mikhail Youzhny 1–2
* Tomáš Berdych 1–3
* Grigor Dimitrov 1–3
* David Ferrer 1–3
* David Goffin 1–3
* Dominic Thiem 1–3
* Kei Nishikori 1–4
* Fabio Fognini 1–5
* Marcos Baghdatis 0–1
* Matteo Berrettini 0–1
* James Blake 0–1
* Guillermo Canas 0–1
* Pablo Carreño Busta 0–1
* Nikolay Davydenko 0–1
* Richard Gasquet 0–1
* Fernando González 0–1
* Tommy Haas 0–1
* Andy Murray 0–1
* Cameron Norrie 0–1
* Andrey Rublev 0–1
* Radek Štěpánek 0–1
* Stefanos Tsitsipas 0–1
* Kevin Anderson 0–2
* Daniil Medvedev 0–2
* Carlos Moya 0–2
* Milos Raonic 0–2
* Casper Ruud 0–2
* Diego Schwartzman 0–2
* Denis Shapovalov 0–2
* Roberto Bautista Agut 0–3
* Novak Djokovic 0–3
* Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 0–3
* Stanislas Wawrinka 0–3
* Nicolás Almagro 0–4
* Gaël Monfils 0–4
* Rafael Nadal 0–4

:''* .''

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

Andújar lives in the Valencian Community since he was three years old, and his father is from Sueca, Valencia.

He married Cristina Moreta Icart in November 2016. The couple have four children.

Notes

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Andujar, Pablo
1986 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Cuenca, Spain
Tennis players from Castilla–La Mancha
Spanish male tennis players
French Open junior champions
Grand Slam (tennis) champions in boys' doubles
Tennis players at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Olympic tennis players for Spain
21st-century Spanish sportsmen