Tennis in Spain

Long regarded as an elite sport in Spain, tennis, along with most other racquet sports have taken a little longer to attract Spaniards to jump on the bandwagon. For years tennis lacked in appeal due to a shortage of public tennis courts, in conjunction with high prices for private clubs. Lately, however, Spain has become one of the world’s strongest tennis countries and now produces some of the world’s best players. Growing steadily in popularity, tennis is fast becoming the new “it” sport in Spain. Thanks to Rafael Nadal´s continuous rise to stardom and the increase in tennis courts and clubs across the country, tennis is becoming the new sport of choice for singles, families and those looking to get a little exercise all year round. Due to Spain’s incredibly accommodating climate, tennis lovers can play outside most of the year on the thousands of courts around the country.

Rafael Nadal

Spain has produced a number of tennis champions, excelling in tournaments held on clay courts such as the Roland Garros tournament.

Besides that, Spain has also won the Davis Cup five times (2000, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2011) and the Fed Cup five other times (1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1998)

Rafael Nadal is considered the greatest Spanish tennis player of all time. He has won the French Open a record nine times, winning four consecutive French Open titles from 2005-2008 along with five consecutive French Open titles from 2010-2014. After defeating then world number #1 Roger Federer in 2008, Nadal claimed the Wimbledon trophy and became only the second Spaniard to do so. He also won the 2009 Australian Open, the first male Spaniard to do so. In 2009, he became the first player ever to simultaneously hold Grand Slam titles on clay, grass, and hardcourt. In addition, Nadal is the Gold Medalist at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. In 2010 and 2013, he won the U.S. Open. He currently has fourteen Grand Slam titles to his name: nine French Open titles, two Wimbledon titles, two US Open titles, and one Australian Open title.

Spain has produced several other world number one players such us Arantxa Sánchez Vicario in 1995 (also a 3 times French Open champion in 1989, 1994 and 1998 and 1994 US Open Champion), Carlos Moyá in 1998 (1998 French Open champion) and Juan Carlos Ferrero in 2003 (2003 French Open Champion).

Other Grand Slam champions include Manuel Santana (1961, 1964 French Opens, 1966 Wimbledon and 1965 US Open), Sergi Bruguera (1993-1994 French Opens), Andrés Gimeno (1972 French Open), Conchita Martínez (1994 Wimbledon) and Albert Costa (2002 French Open).

Tournaments held in Spain on the men's tour every year include Madrid, Barcelona, and Valencia. The women have events in Madrid, Barcelona, and Marbella.

List of Spanish tennis players (Open Era only)

Only includes players ranked in the top 50. Bold names indicate currently active players

Men

Highest ranking	Name	Birth	Place of Birth	Turned pro	Titles
No. 1	Rafael Nadal	1986	Manacor, Mallorca	2001	69
No. 1	Carlos Moyá	1976	Palma	1995	20
No. 1	Juan Carlos Ferrero	1980	Ontinyent, Valencia	1995	15
No. 2	Manuel Orantes	1949	Granada	1968	33
No. 2	Àlex Corretja	1974	Barcelona	1991	17
No. 3	David Ferrer	1982	Xàbia, Alicante	2000	21
No. 3	Sergi Bruguera	1971	Barcelona	1988	14
No. 5	Tommy Robredo	1982	Hostalric, Girona	1998	12
No. 6	José Higueras	1953	Diezma	1973	16
No. 6	Albert Costa	1975	Lleida	1993	12
No. 7	Emilio Sánchez	1965	Madrid	1984	15
No. 7	Alberto Berasategui	1973	Bilbao	1991	14
No. 7	Fernando Verdasco	1983	Madrid	2001	7
No. 7	Juan Aguilera	1962	Barcelona	1981	5
No. 9	Nicolás Almagro	1985	Murcia	2003	12
No. 10	Carlos Costa	1968	Barcelona	1988	6
No. 10	Félix Mantilla	1974	Barcelona	1993	10
No. 12	Feliciano López	1981	Toledo	1997	4
No. 14	Roberto Bautista Agut	1988	Castellón de la Plana	2006	4
No. 18	Francisco Clavet	1968	Madrid	1988	8
No. 19	Marcel Granollers	1986	Barcelona	2003	4
No. 19	Albert Portas	1973	Barcelona	1994	1
No. 22	Albert Montañés	1980	Tarragona	1999	6
No. 23	Jordi Arrese	1964	Barcelona	1982	6
No. 23	Javier Sánchez	1968	Pamplona	1986	4
No. 23	Guillermo García-López	1983	La Roda, Albacete	2002	3
No. 29	Fernando Vicente	1977	Benircarló, Castelló	1996	3
No. 30	Julián Alonso	1977	Canet de Mar, Barcelona	1996	2
No. 31	Sergio Casal	1962	Barcelona	1981	1
No. 32	Pablo Andújar	1986	Valencia	2005	2
No. 32	Juan Gisbert	1942	Barcelona	1968	1
No. 34	Alberto Martín	1978	Barcelona	1995	3
No. 38	Albert Ramos-Viñolas	1988	Barcelona	2004	0
No. 40	Tomás Carbonell	1968	Barcelona	1987	2
No. 40	Galo Blanco	1976	Oviedo	1995	1
No. 41	David Sánchez	1978	Zamora	1997	2
No. 43	Jordi Burillo	1972	Barcelona	1991	1
No. 44	Álex Calatrava	1973	Cologne, Germany	1993	1
No. 47	Juan Albert Viloca	1973	Barcelona	1992	0
No. 48	Daniel Gimeno-Traver	1985	Valencia	2004	0
No. 48	Óscar Hernández	1978	Barcelona	1998	0
No. 49	Pablo Carreño Busta	1991	Gijón	2009	0
No. 50	Rubén Ramírez Hidalgo	1978	Alicante	1998	0

Women

Highest ranking	Name	Birth	Place of Birth	Turned pro	Titles
No. 1	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	1971	Barcelona	1985	29
No. 2	Conchita Martínez	1972	Monzón, Huesca	1988	33
No. 3	Garbiñe Muguruza	1993	Guatire, Venezuela	2012	2
No. 6	Carla Suárez Navarro	1988	Las Palmas	2003	2
No. 16	Anabel Medina Garrigues	1982	Valencia	1998	11
No. 19	María José Martínez Sánchez	1982	Yecla, Murcia	1998	5
No. 19	Magüi Serna	1979	Las Palmas	1996	3
No. 22	Ángeles Montolio	1975	Barcelona	1990	3
No. 27	Gala León García	1973	Madrid	199?	1
No. 27	Cristina Torrens Valero	1974	Pamplona	1992	2
No. 28	Virginia Ruano Pascual	1973	Madrid	1992	3
No. 33	María Sánchez Lorenzo	1977	Salamanca	1994	1
No. 35	Nuria Llagostera Vives	1980	Mallorca	1996	2
No. 40	Lourdes Domínguez Lino	1981	Pontevedra	1996	2
No. 46	Arantxa Parra Santonja	1982	Barcelona	2000	0
No. 47	María Teresa Torró Flor	1992	Villena	2007	1
No. 47	Marta Marrero	1983	Las Palmas	1998	0

Grand Slam performances of Spanish tennis players

Only includes players who have reached at least a Grand Slam quarterfinal

Player	Australian Open	Roland Garros	Wimbledon	US Open	Total titles
Rafael Nadal	Winner	Winner (9)	Winner (2)	Winner (2)	14
Manuel Santana	DNP	Winner (2)	Winner	Winner	4
Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	Runner up	Winner (3)	Runner up	Winner	4
Sergi Bruguera	4R	Winner (2)	4R	4R	2
Conchita Martínez	Runner up	Runner up	Winner	SF	1
Juan Carlos Ferrero	SF	Winner	QF	Runner up	1
Manuel Orantes	QF	Runner up	SF	Winner	1
Andrés Gimeno	Runner up	Winner	SF	4R	1
Carlos Moyá	Runner up	Winner	4R	SF	1
Garbiñe Muguruza	4R	Winner	Runner up	2R	1
Albert Costa	QF	Winner	2R	4R	1
Manuel Alonso	DNP	SF	Runner up	QF	0
Lili Álvarez	DNP	SF	Runner up	DNP	0
Àlex Corretja	3R	Runner up	2R	QF	0
Alberto Berasategui	QF	Runner up	1R	2R	0
David Ferrer	SF	Runner up	QF	SF	0
Fernando Verdasco	SF	4R	4R	QF	0
Félix Mantilla	QF	SF	3R	4R	0
José Higueras	DNP	SF	2R	4R	0
Emilio Sánchez	4R	QF	4R	QF	0
Tommy Robredo	QF	QF	4R	QF	0
Virginia Ruano Pascual	QF	QF	4R	3R	0
Carla Suárez Navarro	QF	QF	4R	QF	0
Feliciano López	3R	4R	QF	QF	0
Nicolás Almagro	QF	QF	3R	4R	0
Javier Sánchez	3R	4R	2R	QF	0
Marta Marrero	4R	QF	2R	1R	0

Spanish Tennis achievements timeline

Year	Grand Slam titles	Total titles (ATP + WTA)	Team competitions	Olympics	Special achievements
1988	0	4 (2 ATP + 2 WTA)	-	1 silver
1989	1	8 (3 ATP + 5 WTA)	-	-	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario becomes first Spanish woman to win a Grand Slam
1990	0	12 (7 ATP + 5 WTA)	Hopman Cup champions (1/3)	-
1991	0	12 (8 ATP + 4 WTA)	Fed Cup champions (1/5)	-
1992	0	11 (8 ATP + 3 WTA)	-	2 silvers, 1 bronze
1993	1	19 (10 ATP + 9 WTA)	Fed Cup champions (2/5)	-
1994	4	26 (14 ATP + 12 WTA)	Fed Cup champions (3/5)	-	Sergi Bruguera and Alberto Berasategui play first all-Spanish Grand Slam final Conchita Martínez becomes first Spanish woman to win Wimbledon
1995	0	12 (4 ATP + 8 WTA)	Fed Cup champions (4/5)	-	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario reaches #1 in both singles and doubles rankings
1996	0	16 (12 ATP + 4 WTA)		2 silvers, 1 bronze
1997	0	16 (15 ATP + 1 WTA)	-	-
1998	2	17 (12 ATP + 5 WTA)	Fed Cup champions (5/5)		Àlex Corretja wins Tennis Masters Cup
1999	0	13 (9 ATP + 4 WTA)		-	Carlos Moyá reaches #1
2000	0	11 (9 ATP + 2 WTA)	Davis Cup champions (1/4)	1 bronze
2001	0	18 (12 ATP + 6 WTA)		-
2002	1	12 (10 ATP + 2 WTA)	Hopman Cup champions (2/3)	-
2003	1	13 (10 ATP + 3 WTA)		-	Juan Carlos Ferrero reaches #1
2004	0	9 (8 ATP + 1 WTA)	Davis Cup champions (2/4)	1 silver
2005	1	16 (12 ATP + 4 WTA)		-
2006	1	13 (10 ATP + 3 WTA)		-
2007	1	13 (12 ATP + 1 WTA)		-
2008	2	18 (16 ATP + 2 WTA)	Davis Cup champions (3/4)	1 gold, 1 silver	Rafael Nadal wins olympic gold medal and ends first year as #1
2009	1	16 (13 ATP + 3 WTA)	Davis Cup champions (4/4)	-	Rafael Nadal becomes first Spanish player to win the Australian Open
2010	3	20 (19 ATP + 1 WTA)	Hopman Cup champions (3/3)	-	Rafael Nadal completes career golden slam after winning the US Open

External links

Tennis in Europe

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