SPANISH national low-cost airline Vueling has announced numerous extra flights this summer, increasing frequency and destination choice for 2024.
Spanish tennis - the future is bright
19/09/2021
The sight of the great Rafael Nadal on crutches this week has yet again led sports journalists to wonder how much longer the Spanish superstar can carry on competing at the top of the game. Whilst nobody dares write him off just yet - he has bounced back in spectacular fashion too many times for anyone wortht their salt to venture down that road - even he admitted this week that having yet another operation on his troublesome foot and being on crutches now "was not in the script".
While the 20-times Grand Slam Champion takes time off in his native Mallorca to recover from this latest setback and prepare for the 2022 season, we take a look at the next wave of Spanish players making their way up the rankings ready to receive that baton, whenever it gets passed.
Carlos Alcaraz Garfia
Coached by former World No. 1, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Alcaraz has been maving waves and breaking records on the professional circuit for a couple of years now. At the age of 16, he made his ATP main draw debut at the 2020 Rio Open, defeating fellow countryman Albert Ramos Viñolas after receiving a wildcard for the singles main draw. Aged 17, Alcaraz qualified for the main draw of the Australian Open, making him the youngest participant in the men’s singles. He won his Grand Slam debut defeating fellow qualifier Botic van de Zandschulp in straight sets before losing in the second round to Mikael Ymer.
In 2021 Alcaraz became the youngest match winner in the Madrid Open's history, defeating Adrian Mannarino as a wildcard and breaking 18-year-old Rafael Nadal’s record from 2004. In the second round, he lost to five-time champion Nadal on his 18th birthday. By winning the biggest title of his career until then at the 2021 Open de Oeiras III challenger, he entered the top 100 as the youngest player at the age of 18 on 24 May 2021.
At the French Open, he reached the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career by defeating Nikoloz Basilashvili. In July 2021, he reached his first ATP final at the Plava Laguna Croatia Open in Umag, defeating top seed Albert Ramos-Viñolas. He then won his maiden ATP title by defeating Richard Gasquet and becoming the youngest tour-level champion since 18-year-old Kei Nishikori won Delray Beach in 2008. Alcaraz was the youngest Spaniard to win an ATP Tour title since Nadal claimed his first trophy in Sopot in 2004.
At Wimbledon, he lost in the second round to Daniil Medvedev, but just two months later he really announced himself on the tour when he defeated world No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas in a high-octane fifth-set tiebreak to reach the fourth round of the US Open - the biggest win of his career to date. At 18 years of age, Alcaraz became the youngest man in a Grand Slam fourth round since 17-year-old Andrei Medvedev at the 1992 French Open, and the youngest man in the US Open fourth round since 17-year-old Michael Chang and 18-year-old Pete Sampras in 1989.
His exploits at the US Open sent him flying up to a career-high ATP singles ranking of World No. 38. He is waiting in the wings and looks ready to do his part in maintaining Spain's enviable record in producing top-class tennis players.
Daniel Rincón Yagüe
Another 18 year old to burst onto the scene at this year's US Open was Dani Rincón, although in his case as the winner of the junior event. Born in Ávila in 2003, Rincón, who trains at the prestigious Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca, has a career high ATP singles ranking of 1180 (May 2021). As well as winning the US Open junior title, he was also the boys doubles runner up at this year's Wimbledon.
Rincón is one of the rising stars of Spanish tennis, making the headlines with his Orange Bowl win last year in the sub-16 category, an achievement that follows in the path of other several illustrious Spanish players like Alex Corretja and Tommy Robredo. He also took the doubles title with his Academy playing partner, Abedallah Shelbayh. He also has tree ITF world junior titles to his name - Vila do Conde (Portugal), Casablanca (Morocco), Oberhaching (Germany) and has made the finals at two other events - in Manacor and in Luque (Paraguay), and was a member of the Spanish junior Davis Cup team in 2019.
Jaume Munar Clar
Another former star of Spain's junior Davis Cup team and shining star of the Rafa Nadal Academy is 24-year old Mallorcan-born Jaume Munar. On the junior tour, Munar reached a career-high combined ranking of No. 3, and reached the 2014 French Open Boys' Final, where he lost to Andrey Rublev. On his way to the final, he defeated top juniors like Michael Mmoh and Quentin Halys. He won the Junior Davis Cup with Spain in 2013.
He won his first ATP Tour match at the 2015 German Open against Guillermo García-López, after the world No. 31 retired after three games, and the result launched Munar into the top-500 for the first time. At the 2018 French Open and in only his ninth ATP/ITF tour match, Munar came from two sets down to defeat compatriot David Ferrer in the first round. He lost in the second round against Novak Djokovic. He reached his career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 52 in 20 May 2019.
Pedro Martínez Portero
Another star of that triumphant 2013 junor Davis Cup team is Pedro Martínez Portero. Born in Alzira, Valencia in 1997, Martínez made his ATP main draw debut at the 2018 Grand Prix Hassan II after qualifying for the singles main draw. He made his Grand Slam debut in the main draw at the 2019 French Open in singles and at the 2020 French Open in doubles with Christian Garin. He reached the third round of the 2020 French Open in singles, his best Grand Slam result thus far and as a result entered the top 100 in singles for the first time.
Martínez reached the third round of the Australian Open in singles for the first time in his career in 2021. At the 2021 French Open he reached the semifinals in doubles with fellow Spaniard Pablo Andujar, having entered the tournament as a replacement alternate pair for the top seeds Nikola Mektić/Mate Pavić. As a result Martínez made his top 100 debut in doubles at World No. 95 for the first time in his career. On his Wimbledon debut in 2021, Martínez reached the third round, defeating 13th seed Gael Monfils, his third showing in the third round of a Grand Slam.
Martínez reached his first ATP final at the 2021 Generali Open Kitzbühel where he was defeated by Casper Ruud. He secured the biggest win of his career when he overcame World No. 16 Roberto Bautista Agut en route to the championship match. At the 2021 US Open he recorded his first win at this Grand Slam tournament over James Duckworth to reach the second round.
After winning the Challenger in Seville this month, he reached a career-high ranking of World No. 59.
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina
Davidovich Fokina was born and raised in La Cala del Moral, Rincón de la Victoria, about 10 km away from Málaga, to Russian parents Edvard Davidovich and Tatiana Fokina. He began playing tennis with his father at the age of three. When he turned five, he started training at Calaflores and later Serramar tennis courts with coach Manolo Rubiales, but has been coached by Jorge Aguirre aince 2009.
Davidovich Fokina was Spanish Champion at U12, U15 and U18 levels and started his professional tennis career in 2016. He won the 2017 Wimbledon boys' singles title without dropping a set. He also reached the junior Roland Garros semifinals,.
He played his first ATP main draw match, losing in the first round of the Grand Prix Hassan II to Philipp Kohlschreiber after winning two qualifying matches. Later in the month, he reached the semifinals of the 2019 Estoril Open as a qualifier, beating Gaël Monfils and Taylor Fritz along the way.
He entered in the main draw of his first Grand Slam at the 2019 French Open. Later in the year, he finally won his first ATP Challenger title, defeating Jaume Munar to win the Seville Challenger. Just a month after that triumph, he won his second Challenger title in Liuzhou.
In 2020, Davidovich Fokina reached the second round of a Grand Slam for the first time at the 2020 Australian Open. He beat Norbert Gombos in a 5-set epic, before falling to Diego Schwartzman. He won his first ATP title in doubles at the 2020 Chile Open in Santiago, partnering with fellow Spaniard Roberto Carballés Baena,. He reached the second round of the French Open for the first time in 2020, defeating wildcard Harold Mayot before losing to 13th seed Andrey Rublev.
At the 2020 US Open, Davidovich Fokina reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career, beating Dennis Novak, Hubert Hurkacz, and Cameron Norrie, before losing in straight sets to Alexander Zverev. In Cologne, he reached the semifinals, only losing to eventual champion and top seed Alexander Zverev.
2021 saw Davidovich Fokina miss the Australian Open after testing positive for COVID-19, but he bounced back to score his first win over a top-10 player defeating Matteo Berrettini at the Monte-Carlo Masters. After beating Lucas Pouille to reach his first ever Masters 1000 quarterfinal, he retired against Stefanos Tsitsipas due to injury. Just a couple of months later, at the French Open, Davidovich Fokina reached his first ever Grand Slam quarterfinals following wins over Federico Delbonis and 15th-seeded Casper Ruud.
The 22 year old is currently ranked No. 44 in the world, but made it as high as World No. 32 in August this year.
Roberto Carballés Baena
28 year old Tenerife-born Carballés Baena has tended to fly somewhat under the radar. He recorded his first ATP World Tour win at the 2014 Casablanca Open, defeating David Goffin of Belgium, eventually losing in the semifinals to fellow Spaniard Guillermo García-López.
In February 2018, he won his first ATP tournament at the 2018 Ecuador Open Quito, beating Albert Ramos Vinolas in the final. He became the 1st Spanish qualifier to win a title since Almagro at the 2006 Valencia Open and the youngest Spanish champion at age 24 since Nadal (age 24) at the 2011 Barcelona Open. This victory resulted in him being ranked World No. 72 - the highest singles ranking of his career this far.
In February 2020, Carballés Baena won his first ATP title in doubles at the 2020 Chile Open in Santiago, partnering with fellow Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. He reached the third round of the 2020 French Open, his best showing at a Grand Slam in his career by defeating 9th seed Denis Shapovalov in the second round, but retired in the next round against 18th seed Grigor Dimitrov.
Men's tennis in Spain has undoubtedly been living a golden era over the past 20 years, with the likes of Juan Carlos Ferrero, David Ferrer, Carlos Moyá, Pablo Carreño Busta, Roberto Bautista Agut, Feliciano López, Tommy Robredo, Nicolás Almagro, Albert Ramos-Vinolas, Pablo Andujar, Guillermo García-López and Marc López adding their names and many achievements to the long list notched up by the country's foremost player - Rafael Nadal. This next wave of younger players now looks ready to start stealing some of the limelight from this illustrious group.
Martín de la Puente
In wheelchair tennis, Vigo-born Martín de la Puente made history this week by becoming the first Spaniard to break into the World Top 10.
The 22 year old has been crowned junior world champion no less than three times, has three national titles, 16 ITF titles and recently made it to the round of 16 at the Tokyo Paralimpic Games 2020.
In July last year he had already broken the Spanish ranking record in wheelchair tennis by reaching the No. 11 spot, going one better than Madrid-based Daniel Caverzaschi who made it to No. 12 in 2019.
The first Spaniard to break into the Top 20 in this speciality was Barcelona's Francesc Tur in 2010.
There are currently a total of 5 Spanish tennis players in the Top 100 of the world ranking for wheelchair tennis. After De la Puente, come Daniel Caverzaschi (Nº 13), Murcia's Enrique Siscar (Nº 43), Barcelona's Francesc Tur (Nº 44) and Córdoba's Francisco García Vena (Nº 68).
In the women's game, with the severe illness and then subsequent retirement of Carla Suárez Navarro, 27-year-old double Grand Slam champion Garbiñe Muguruza suddenly found herself somewhat alone in terms of other Spanish women in the top echelons of the sport. That all changed in 2021 when two of the 'ladies-in-waiting' started making major inroads at the big tournaments.
Paula Badosa Gibert
Paula Badosa, a former world junior No. 8, really announced herself onto the tennis scene when she won the 2015 French Open girls' singles title. She made her debut on the ITF Women's Circuit in May 2012 in Getxo. In November 2013, she won her first title in Sant Jordi. In March 2015, she received a wildcard for the main draw at the Premier Mandatory Miami Open, where she recorded her first two match wins on the WTA Tour. In the third round, she lost to seed No. 14 Karolína Plíšková. Later, she reached the main draw of the Madrid Open through qualifying, but had to retire in her first-round match against Sara Errani.
Her breakthrough came in 2018 when she reached the quarterfinals of the Morocco Open and won the Open de Valencia. She made her Grand Slam main-draw debut at the 2019 Australian Open a few months later and reached her first WTA semifinal at the Palermo International in July the same year. She followed this up by reaching the semifinals of the WTA Challenger Karlsruhe Open and made the top 100 for the first time.
2020 saw Badosa's progress continue with a first Grand Slam match-win at the Australian Open, and a semifinal appearance at the İstanbul Cup. Her biggest result of the year was at the French Open, where she defeated two former Grand Slam champions, Sloane Stephens and Jeļena Ostapenko, and reached the round of 16 for the first time at a major tournament.
In April 2021 she defeated seeded players, No. 5 Bencic and No. 1 Barty, at the Charleston Open enroute to the semifinals, where she lost to the eventual champion, and a month later reached her first WTA 1000 semifinal at the Madrid Open, making her the first Spanish woman to reach the semifinals in the tournament history, defeating No. 8 seed Belinda Bencic. She faced top seed and world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty in the semifinal, where Barty got her revenge for the defeat in Charleston.
At the Serbia Open, she reached a third straight clay-court semifinal and, as a result, entered the top 40 for the first time in her career and went on to win her maiden title after Ana Konjuh retired injured in the final.
The French Open was to prove a happy hunting ground again in 2021 and she made the quarterfinals of a major for the first time in her career. She is now ranked No. 26 in the world and has her sights set on the top 20.
Sara Sorribes Tormo
With three singles titles and three doubles titles on the ITF junior circuit to her name, Sorribes reached had a career-high junior ranking of No. 33 and was also runner-up at the 2013 junior US Open in doubles, together with Belinda Bencic. In 2014, she won the European Junior Championships, defeating her countrymate Paula Badosa in the final.
Sorribes made her WTA Tour main-draw debut at the 2015 Rio Open, after making it through the qualifying rounds. Her first main-draw debut in a Grand Slam came at the 2016 French Open, when she passed qualification. Her first Grand-Slam win was 2018 at Wimbledon, where she defeated Kaia Kanepi in the first round.
In 2017 she reached the semifinals at the Copa Colsanitas in Bogotá and at the Ladies Championship in Gstaad and made it into the top 100 for the first time. 2018 saw her earn her first win at the Madrid Open, upsetting Madison Keys in the first round. She failed to match her previous year's performance at the Swiss Open, going out in the quarter finals, but got her first singles win at a Grand Slam win, defeating Kaia Kanepi in the first round at Wimbledon, before losing to fellow Spaniard Carla Suárez Navarro in second round
Sorribes scored her first win at French Open in 2019 and moved up to World No. 64 that same month. At the Australian Open the following year she went out in the second round, but just a month later scored one of her biggest upset wins to date when she defeated Naomi Osaka 6–0, 6–3 in the Fed Cup Qualifying Round - her first top 10 win.
2021 saw Sorribes clinch her first WTA singles title at the Abierto Zapopan in Guadalajara. After that, she headed to the Monterrey Open where she made it to the semifinals losing to the eventual champion, Leylah Fernandez. She reached the quarter finals of the Miami Open, her first WTA 1000 event, losing to world No. 9 Bianca Andreescu in three sets, but entering the top 50 at World No. 48 on 5 April 2021.
At the Tokyo Olympics, Sorribes shocked World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty in straight sets - her second top 10 win. She reached the 2nd round of the 2021 US Open a month later, only to be swept aside by the now legendary Emma Raducanu in the 3rd.
Although Badosa and Sorribes have been the stand-out players of 2021 so far, there are plenty more outstanding young Spanish women players eager to join them in the top 50: 22-year-old Rebeka Masarova, 19-year-old Leyre Romero Gormaz, 23-year-old Aliona Bolsova, 21-year-old Marina Bassols Ribera ad 17-year-old Ane Mintegi Del Olmo to name but a few.
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The sight of the great Rafael Nadal on crutches this week has yet again led sports journalists to wonder how much longer the Spanish superstar can carry on competing at the top of the game. Whilst nobody dares write him off just yet - he has bounced back in spectacular fashion too many times for anyone wortht their salt to venture down that road - even he admitted this week that having yet another operation on his troublesome foot and being on crutches now "was not in the script".
While the 20-times Grand Slam Champion takes time off in his native Mallorca to recover from this latest setback and prepare for the 2022 season, we take a look at the next wave of Spanish players making their way up the rankings ready to receive that baton, whenever it gets passed.
Carlos Alcaraz Garfia
Coached by former World No. 1, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Alcaraz has been maving waves and breaking records on the professional circuit for a couple of years now. At the age of 16, he made his ATP main draw debut at the 2020 Rio Open, defeating fellow countryman Albert Ramos Viñolas after receiving a wildcard for the singles main draw. Aged 17, Alcaraz qualified for the main draw of the Australian Open, making him the youngest participant in the men’s singles. He won his Grand Slam debut defeating fellow qualifier Botic van de Zandschulp in straight sets before losing in the second round to Mikael Ymer.
In 2021 Alcaraz became the youngest match winner in the Madrid Open's history, defeating Adrian Mannarino as a wildcard and breaking 18-year-old Rafael Nadal’s record from 2004. In the second round, he lost to five-time champion Nadal on his 18th birthday. By winning the biggest title of his career until then at the 2021 Open de Oeiras III challenger, he entered the top 100 as the youngest player at the age of 18 on 24 May 2021.
At the French Open, he reached the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career by defeating Nikoloz Basilashvili. In July 2021, he reached his first ATP final at the Plava Laguna Croatia Open in Umag, defeating top seed Albert Ramos-Viñolas. He then won his maiden ATP title by defeating Richard Gasquet and becoming the youngest tour-level champion since 18-year-old Kei Nishikori won Delray Beach in 2008. Alcaraz was the youngest Spaniard to win an ATP Tour title since Nadal claimed his first trophy in Sopot in 2004.
At Wimbledon, he lost in the second round to Daniil Medvedev, but just two months later he really announced himself on the tour when he defeated world No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas in a high-octane fifth-set tiebreak to reach the fourth round of the US Open - the biggest win of his career to date. At 18 years of age, Alcaraz became the youngest man in a Grand Slam fourth round since 17-year-old Andrei Medvedev at the 1992 French Open, and the youngest man in the US Open fourth round since 17-year-old Michael Chang and 18-year-old Pete Sampras in 1989.
His exploits at the US Open sent him flying up to a career-high ATP singles ranking of World No. 38. He is waiting in the wings and looks ready to do his part in maintaining Spain's enviable record in producing top-class tennis players.
Daniel Rincón Yagüe
Another 18 year old to burst onto the scene at this year's US Open was Dani Rincón, although in his case as the winner of the junior event. Born in Ávila in 2003, Rincón, who trains at the prestigious Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca, has a career high ATP singles ranking of 1180 (May 2021). As well as winning the US Open junior title, he was also the boys doubles runner up at this year's Wimbledon.
Rincón is one of the rising stars of Spanish tennis, making the headlines with his Orange Bowl win last year in the sub-16 category, an achievement that follows in the path of other several illustrious Spanish players like Alex Corretja and Tommy Robredo. He also took the doubles title with his Academy playing partner, Abedallah Shelbayh. He also has tree ITF world junior titles to his name - Vila do Conde (Portugal), Casablanca (Morocco), Oberhaching (Germany) and has made the finals at two other events - in Manacor and in Luque (Paraguay), and was a member of the Spanish junior Davis Cup team in 2019.
Jaume Munar Clar
Another former star of Spain's junior Davis Cup team and shining star of the Rafa Nadal Academy is 24-year old Mallorcan-born Jaume Munar. On the junior tour, Munar reached a career-high combined ranking of No. 3, and reached the 2014 French Open Boys' Final, where he lost to Andrey Rublev. On his way to the final, he defeated top juniors like Michael Mmoh and Quentin Halys. He won the Junior Davis Cup with Spain in 2013.
He won his first ATP Tour match at the 2015 German Open against Guillermo García-López, after the world No. 31 retired after three games, and the result launched Munar into the top-500 for the first time. At the 2018 French Open and in only his ninth ATP/ITF tour match, Munar came from two sets down to defeat compatriot David Ferrer in the first round. He lost in the second round against Novak Djokovic. He reached his career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 52 in 20 May 2019.
Pedro Martínez Portero
Another star of that triumphant 2013 junor Davis Cup team is Pedro Martínez Portero. Born in Alzira, Valencia in 1997, Martínez made his ATP main draw debut at the 2018 Grand Prix Hassan II after qualifying for the singles main draw. He made his Grand Slam debut in the main draw at the 2019 French Open in singles and at the 2020 French Open in doubles with Christian Garin. He reached the third round of the 2020 French Open in singles, his best Grand Slam result thus far and as a result entered the top 100 in singles for the first time.
Martínez reached the third round of the Australian Open in singles for the first time in his career in 2021. At the 2021 French Open he reached the semifinals in doubles with fellow Spaniard Pablo Andujar, having entered the tournament as a replacement alternate pair for the top seeds Nikola Mektić/Mate Pavić. As a result Martínez made his top 100 debut in doubles at World No. 95 for the first time in his career. On his Wimbledon debut in 2021, Martínez reached the third round, defeating 13th seed Gael Monfils, his third showing in the third round of a Grand Slam.
Martínez reached his first ATP final at the 2021 Generali Open Kitzbühel where he was defeated by Casper Ruud. He secured the biggest win of his career when he overcame World No. 16 Roberto Bautista Agut en route to the championship match. At the 2021 US Open he recorded his first win at this Grand Slam tournament over James Duckworth to reach the second round.
After winning the Challenger in Seville this month, he reached a career-high ranking of World No. 59.
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina
Davidovich Fokina was born and raised in La Cala del Moral, Rincón de la Victoria, about 10 km away from Málaga, to Russian parents Edvard Davidovich and Tatiana Fokina. He began playing tennis with his father at the age of three. When he turned five, he started training at Calaflores and later Serramar tennis courts with coach Manolo Rubiales, but has been coached by Jorge Aguirre aince 2009.
Davidovich Fokina was Spanish Champion at U12, U15 and U18 levels and started his professional tennis career in 2016. He won the 2017 Wimbledon boys' singles title without dropping a set. He also reached the junior Roland Garros semifinals,.
He played his first ATP main draw match, losing in the first round of the Grand Prix Hassan II to Philipp Kohlschreiber after winning two qualifying matches. Later in the month, he reached the semifinals of the 2019 Estoril Open as a qualifier, beating Gaël Monfils and Taylor Fritz along the way.
He entered in the main draw of his first Grand Slam at the 2019 French Open. Later in the year, he finally won his first ATP Challenger title, defeating Jaume Munar to win the Seville Challenger. Just a month after that triumph, he won his second Challenger title in Liuzhou.
In 2020, Davidovich Fokina reached the second round of a Grand Slam for the first time at the 2020 Australian Open. He beat Norbert Gombos in a 5-set epic, before falling to Diego Schwartzman. He won his first ATP title in doubles at the 2020 Chile Open in Santiago, partnering with fellow Spaniard Roberto Carballés Baena,. He reached the second round of the French Open for the first time in 2020, defeating wildcard Harold Mayot before losing to 13th seed Andrey Rublev.
At the 2020 US Open, Davidovich Fokina reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career, beating Dennis Novak, Hubert Hurkacz, and Cameron Norrie, before losing in straight sets to Alexander Zverev. In Cologne, he reached the semifinals, only losing to eventual champion and top seed Alexander Zverev.
2021 saw Davidovich Fokina miss the Australian Open after testing positive for COVID-19, but he bounced back to score his first win over a top-10 player defeating Matteo Berrettini at the Monte-Carlo Masters. After beating Lucas Pouille to reach his first ever Masters 1000 quarterfinal, he retired against Stefanos Tsitsipas due to injury. Just a couple of months later, at the French Open, Davidovich Fokina reached his first ever Grand Slam quarterfinals following wins over Federico Delbonis and 15th-seeded Casper Ruud.
The 22 year old is currently ranked No. 44 in the world, but made it as high as World No. 32 in August this year.
Roberto Carballés Baena
28 year old Tenerife-born Carballés Baena has tended to fly somewhat under the radar. He recorded his first ATP World Tour win at the 2014 Casablanca Open, defeating David Goffin of Belgium, eventually losing in the semifinals to fellow Spaniard Guillermo García-López.
In February 2018, he won his first ATP tournament at the 2018 Ecuador Open Quito, beating Albert Ramos Vinolas in the final. He became the 1st Spanish qualifier to win a title since Almagro at the 2006 Valencia Open and the youngest Spanish champion at age 24 since Nadal (age 24) at the 2011 Barcelona Open. This victory resulted in him being ranked World No. 72 - the highest singles ranking of his career this far.
In February 2020, Carballés Baena won his first ATP title in doubles at the 2020 Chile Open in Santiago, partnering with fellow Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. He reached the third round of the 2020 French Open, his best showing at a Grand Slam in his career by defeating 9th seed Denis Shapovalov in the second round, but retired in the next round against 18th seed Grigor Dimitrov.
Men's tennis in Spain has undoubtedly been living a golden era over the past 20 years, with the likes of Juan Carlos Ferrero, David Ferrer, Carlos Moyá, Pablo Carreño Busta, Roberto Bautista Agut, Feliciano López, Tommy Robredo, Nicolás Almagro, Albert Ramos-Vinolas, Pablo Andujar, Guillermo García-López and Marc López adding their names and many achievements to the long list notched up by the country's foremost player - Rafael Nadal. This next wave of younger players now looks ready to start stealing some of the limelight from this illustrious group.
Martín de la Puente
In wheelchair tennis, Vigo-born Martín de la Puente made history this week by becoming the first Spaniard to break into the World Top 10.
The 22 year old has been crowned junior world champion no less than three times, has three national titles, 16 ITF titles and recently made it to the round of 16 at the Tokyo Paralimpic Games 2020.
In July last year he had already broken the Spanish ranking record in wheelchair tennis by reaching the No. 11 spot, going one better than Madrid-based Daniel Caverzaschi who made it to No. 12 in 2019.
The first Spaniard to break into the Top 20 in this speciality was Barcelona's Francesc Tur in 2010.
There are currently a total of 5 Spanish tennis players in the Top 100 of the world ranking for wheelchair tennis. After De la Puente, come Daniel Caverzaschi (Nº 13), Murcia's Enrique Siscar (Nº 43), Barcelona's Francesc Tur (Nº 44) and Córdoba's Francisco García Vena (Nº 68).
In the women's game, with the severe illness and then subsequent retirement of Carla Suárez Navarro, 27-year-old double Grand Slam champion Garbiñe Muguruza suddenly found herself somewhat alone in terms of other Spanish women in the top echelons of the sport. That all changed in 2021 when two of the 'ladies-in-waiting' started making major inroads at the big tournaments.
Paula Badosa Gibert
Paula Badosa, a former world junior No. 8, really announced herself onto the tennis scene when she won the 2015 French Open girls' singles title. She made her debut on the ITF Women's Circuit in May 2012 in Getxo. In November 2013, she won her first title in Sant Jordi. In March 2015, she received a wildcard for the main draw at the Premier Mandatory Miami Open, where she recorded her first two match wins on the WTA Tour. In the third round, she lost to seed No. 14 Karolína Plíšková. Later, she reached the main draw of the Madrid Open through qualifying, but had to retire in her first-round match against Sara Errani.
Her breakthrough came in 2018 when she reached the quarterfinals of the Morocco Open and won the Open de Valencia. She made her Grand Slam main-draw debut at the 2019 Australian Open a few months later and reached her first WTA semifinal at the Palermo International in July the same year. She followed this up by reaching the semifinals of the WTA Challenger Karlsruhe Open and made the top 100 for the first time.
2020 saw Badosa's progress continue with a first Grand Slam match-win at the Australian Open, and a semifinal appearance at the İstanbul Cup. Her biggest result of the year was at the French Open, where she defeated two former Grand Slam champions, Sloane Stephens and Jeļena Ostapenko, and reached the round of 16 for the first time at a major tournament.
In April 2021 she defeated seeded players, No. 5 Bencic and No. 1 Barty, at the Charleston Open enroute to the semifinals, where she lost to the eventual champion, and a month later reached her first WTA 1000 semifinal at the Madrid Open, making her the first Spanish woman to reach the semifinals in the tournament history, defeating No. 8 seed Belinda Bencic. She faced top seed and world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty in the semifinal, where Barty got her revenge for the defeat in Charleston.
At the Serbia Open, she reached a third straight clay-court semifinal and, as a result, entered the top 40 for the first time in her career and went on to win her maiden title after Ana Konjuh retired injured in the final.
The French Open was to prove a happy hunting ground again in 2021 and she made the quarterfinals of a major for the first time in her career. She is now ranked No. 26 in the world and has her sights set on the top 20.
Sara Sorribes Tormo
With three singles titles and three doubles titles on the ITF junior circuit to her name, Sorribes reached had a career-high junior ranking of No. 33 and was also runner-up at the 2013 junior US Open in doubles, together with Belinda Bencic. In 2014, she won the European Junior Championships, defeating her countrymate Paula Badosa in the final.
Sorribes made her WTA Tour main-draw debut at the 2015 Rio Open, after making it through the qualifying rounds. Her first main-draw debut in a Grand Slam came at the 2016 French Open, when she passed qualification. Her first Grand-Slam win was 2018 at Wimbledon, where she defeated Kaia Kanepi in the first round.
In 2017 she reached the semifinals at the Copa Colsanitas in Bogotá and at the Ladies Championship in Gstaad and made it into the top 100 for the first time. 2018 saw her earn her first win at the Madrid Open, upsetting Madison Keys in the first round. She failed to match her previous year's performance at the Swiss Open, going out in the quarter finals, but got her first singles win at a Grand Slam win, defeating Kaia Kanepi in the first round at Wimbledon, before losing to fellow Spaniard Carla Suárez Navarro in second round
Sorribes scored her first win at French Open in 2019 and moved up to World No. 64 that same month. At the Australian Open the following year she went out in the second round, but just a month later scored one of her biggest upset wins to date when she defeated Naomi Osaka 6–0, 6–3 in the Fed Cup Qualifying Round - her first top 10 win.
2021 saw Sorribes clinch her first WTA singles title at the Abierto Zapopan in Guadalajara. After that, she headed to the Monterrey Open where she made it to the semifinals losing to the eventual champion, Leylah Fernandez. She reached the quarter finals of the Miami Open, her first WTA 1000 event, losing to world No. 9 Bianca Andreescu in three sets, but entering the top 50 at World No. 48 on 5 April 2021.
At the Tokyo Olympics, Sorribes shocked World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty in straight sets - her second top 10 win. She reached the 2nd round of the 2021 US Open a month later, only to be swept aside by the now legendary Emma Raducanu in the 3rd.
Although Badosa and Sorribes have been the stand-out players of 2021 so far, there are plenty more outstanding young Spanish women players eager to join them in the top 50: 22-year-old Rebeka Masarova, 19-year-old Leyre Romero Gormaz, 23-year-old Aliona Bolsova, 21-year-old Marina Bassols Ribera ad 17-year-old Ane Mintegi Del Olmo to name but a few.
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