Nicolas Almagro

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Nicolás Almagro
Country Spain
Residence Flag of Spain Murcia, Spain
Date of birth August 21, 1985 (1985-08-21) (age 22)
Place of birth Murcia, Spain
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight 81 kg (180 lb/12.8 st)
Turned pro 2003
Plays Right-handed; one-handed backhand
Career prize money $2,108,854
Singles
Career record: 108 - 87
Career titles: 4
Highest ranking: 13 (June 9, 2008)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open 1st (2005, 2006, 2008)
French Open QF (2008)
Wimbledon 1st (2005, 2007)
US Open 3rd (2007)
Doubles
Career record: 21 - 39
Career titles: 0
Highest ranking: 73 (February 4, 2008)

Infobox last updated on: June 9, 2008.

Nicolas Almagro Sanchez Rolle (Spanish: Nicolás Almagro Sánchez Rolle; born August 21, 1985 in Murcia, Spain) is a Spanish tennis player known for his flair, talent and inconsistency. He plays right-handed and uses a single-handed backhand. His favorite surface is clay. As of early 2008, Almagro is the second-youngest of the many Spanish players in the ATP Top 100 (after Rafael Nadal).

Almagro had been a highly rated junior for many years, and finally realised his potential in 2005. He played in the main draw of 3 out of 4 slams, and recorded his first victory over a top 10 player when he defeated Marat Safin 6–4 6–3 in Rome. Since then he has cemented his position within the top 50, but his results have remained somewhat inconsistent. His ATP career record against Top 10 opponents is currently 6–12, with previous victories coming against No. 4 Marat Safin at 2005 AMS Rome, No. 9 Guillermo Coria at 2006 Barcelona, No. 6 Nikolay Davydenko at 2006 AMS Rome, No. 7 Tommy Robredo at 2007 AMS Hamburg and No. 8 David Nalbandian in 2008 in Alcapulco.

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[edit] 2006

Finally, in April 2006, Almagro won his maiden ATP tournament title - the Open de Tenis Comunidad Valenciana (Valencia, Spain). Almagro was forced to come through the qualification rounds just to make this event, but that did not stop him from winning 8 matches in a row including 3 set victories over former world #1's Juan Carlos Ferrero and Marat Safin.

Following this title, Almagro stated that he was pleased with where his tennis is taking him, and that he expects even bigger and better results in the near future.

After Valencia, Almagro went on an excellent run, reaching the semi-finals of the Barcelona Open before losing to Rafael Nadal, and followed that up by reaching the quarter finals in Rome, where he lost to Roger Federer in 3 tight sets - 7–5 in the 3rd.

He entered Roland Garros 2006 as the bookmakers 3rd favourite but suffered a disappointing 2nd round loss to James Blake. The remainder of 2006 was uninspiring for Almagro as he was away from his favoured clay surface. He did show signs of improving his hard court game by making a quarter final indoors in Lyon and he also won matches at the Masters Events in Cincinnati and Paris.

[edit] 2007

He won his second title on April 15, 2007 by defeating Potito Starace 4–6, 6–2, 6–1 in Valencia for the second consecutive year. However, he lost in the 2nd round of the French Open in 5 sets to Michael Llodra, in what was perceived as another disappointing lapse in form. Still, his year contained highlights other than Valencia. He reached the SF of Buenos Aires, the finals of Bastad and began to show promise on hardcourts also, advancing to the QF of the Masters of Cincinnati and the 3rd round of the US Open (losing to Davydenko).

[edit] 2008

In 2008, Almagro won his 3rd title of his career in Costa Do Sauipe by defeating Carlos Moya in a rollercoaster 3 set battle. Two weeks later, Almagro followed up that victory with yet another in Alcapulco, defeating David Nalbandian in the finals 6–1 7–6(1). With his 4th career title, Almagro rose to a career-best ranking of No. 21 in the world, winning 21 of 26 matches on clay thus far in the season. He is 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 quarter-finals of the 2008 French Open, where he lost to Rafael Nadal 1-6, 1-6, 1-6. During his run he beat Boris Pashanski, Sebastian Decoud, tenth seed Andy Murray of Great Britain and home-favourite Jeremy Chardy.

[edit] Equipment

Nicolas Almagro uses a Dunlop 300G painted as the Dunlop Aerogel 500 Tour. He has been stringing with Luxilon Big Banger Original for years. He wears Reebok Match Point Shoes and the clothes he wears on the court are Reebok Match Point Group.

[edit] Singles (4)

No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent in the final Score
1. 16 April 2006 Valencia, Spain Clay Flag of France Gilles Simon 6–2, 6–3
2. 15 April 2007 Valencia, Spain Clay Flag of Italy Potito Starace 4–6, 6–2, 6–1
3. 17 February 2008 Costa do Sauípe, Brazil Clay Flag of Spain Carlos Moya 7–6(4), 3–6, 7–5
4. 1 March 2008 Acapulco, Mexico Clay Flag of Argentina David Nalbandian 6–1, 7–6(1)

[edit] Finals (2)

No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent in the final Score
1. 15 July 2007 Båstad, Sweden Clay Flag of Spain David Ferrer 6–2, 6–1
2. 20 April 2008 Valencia, Spain Clay Flag of Spain David Ferrer 4–6, 6–2, 7–6(2)

[edit] External links