Tennis in Spain


Long regarded as an elite sport in Spain, tennis, along with most other racquet sports, has 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.

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 and the Fed Cup five other times
Rafael Nadal is considered the greatest Spanish tennis player of all time. He has won the French Open a record twelve times, winning four consecutive French Open titles from 2005–2008 along with five consecutive French Open titles from 2010–2014 and another three titles from 2017–2019. After defeating then world number #1 Roger Federer in 2008, Nadal claimed the Wimbledon trophy and became 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 men's singles Gold Medalist at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China and men's doubles gold medalist at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympics. In 2010, 2013, 2017 and 2019, he won the U.S. Open. He currently has nineteen Grand Slam titles to his name: twelve French Open titles, two Wimbledon titles, four US Open titles, and one Australian Open title, making him second only to Federer, who has won 20 major titles.
Spain has produced several other world number one players; Arantxa Sánchez Vicario in 1995, Carlos Moyá and Juan Carlos Ferrero.
Other Grand Slam champions are Manuel Santana, Sergi Bruguera, Andrés Gimeno, Manuel Orantes, Conchita Martínez, Albert Costa and Garbiñe Muguruza.
Tournaments held in Spain on the men's tour every year include Madrid and Barcelona. The women have events in Madrid and Mallorca.

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
NameBirthPlace of BirthTurned
pro
Titles
No. 1Rafael Nadal1986 Manacor, Mallorca200184
No. 1Carlos Moyá1976 Palma199520
No. 1Juan Carlos Ferrero1980 Ontinyent, Valencia199516
No. 2Manuel Orantes1949 Granada196833
No. 2Àlex Corretja1974 Barcelona199117
No. 3David Ferrer1982 Xàbia, Alicante200027
No. 3Sergi Bruguera1971 Barcelona198814
No. 5Tommy Robredo1982 Hostalric, Girona199812
No. 6José Higueras1953 Diezma197316
No. 6Albert Costa1975 Lleida199312
No. 7Emilio Sánchez1965 Madrid198415
No. 7Alberto Berasategui1973 Bilbao199114
No. 7Fernando Verdasco1983 Madrid20017
No. 7Juan Aguilera1962 Barcelona19815
No. 9Nicolás Almagro1985 Murcia200313
No. 10Carlos Costa1968 Barcelona19886
No. 10Félix Mantilla1974 Barcelona199310
No. 10Pablo Carreño Busta1991 Gijón20093
No. 12Feliciano López1981 Toledo19976
No. 13Roberto Bautista Agut1988
Castellón de la Plana
20069
No. 17Albert Ramos-Viñolas1988 Barcelona20041
No. 18Francisco Clavet1968 Madrid19888
No. 19Marcel Granollers1986 Barcelona20034
No. 19Albert Portas1973 Barcelona19941
No. 22Albert Montañés1980 Tarragona19996
No. 23Jordi Arrese1964 Barcelona19826
No. 23Javier Sánchez1968 Pamplona19864
No. 23Guillermo García-López1983 La Roda, Albacete20023
No. 29Fernando Vicente1977 Benircarló, Castelló19963
No. 30Julián Alonso1977 Canet de Mar, Barcelona19962
No. 31Sergio Casal1962 Barcelona19811
No. 32Pablo Andújar1986 Valencia20052
No. 32Juan Gisbert1942 Barcelona19681
No. 34Alberto Martín1978 Barcelona19953
No. 40Tomás Carbonell1968 Barcelona19872
No. 40Galo Blanco1976 Oviedo19951
No. 41David Sánchez1978 Zamora19972
No. 43Jordi Burillo1972 Barcelona19911
No. 44Álex Calatrava1973 Cologne, Germany19931
No. 47Juan Albert Viloca1973 Barcelona19920
No. 48Daniel Gimeno-Traver1985 Valencia20040
No. 48Óscar Hernández1978 Barcelona19980
No. 50Rubén Ramírez Hidalgo1978 Alicante19980

;Women
Highest
ranking
NameBirthPlace of BirthTurned
pro
Titles
No. 1Arantxa Sánchez Vicario1971 Barcelona198529
No. 1Garbiñe Muguruza1993 Guatire, Venezuela20125
No. 2Conchita Martínez1972 Monzón, Huesca198833
No. 6Carla Suárez Navarro1988 Las Palmas20032
No. 16Anabel Medina Garrigues1982 Valencia199811
No. 19María José Martínez Sánchez1982 Yecla, Murcia19985
No. 19Magüi Serna1979 Las Palmas19963
No. 22Ángeles Montolio1975 Barcelona19903
No. 27Gala León García1973 Madrid19901
No. 27Cristina Torrens Valero1974 Pamplona19922
No. 28Virginia Ruano Pascual1973 Madrid19923
No. 33María Sánchez Lorenzo1977 Salamanca19941
No. 35Nuria Llagostera Vives1980 Mallorca19962
No. 40Lourdes Domínguez Lino1981 Pontevedra19962
No. 46Arantxa Parra Santonja1982 Barcelona20000
No. 47María Teresa Torró Flor1992 Villena20071
No. 47Marta Marrero1983 Las Palmas19980

Grand Slam performances of Spanish tennis players

Only includes players who have reached at least a Grand Slam quarterfinal
PlayerAustralian OpenRoland GarrosWimbledonUS OpenTotal titles
Rafael NadalWinnerWinner Winner Winner 19
Manuel SantanaDNPWinner WinnerWinner4
Arantxa Sánchez VicarioRunner upWinner Runner upWinner4
Sergi Bruguera4RWinner 4R4R2
Garbiñe MuguruzaRunner UpWinnerWinner4R2
Conchita MartínezRunner upRunner upWinnerSF1
Juan Carlos FerreroSFWinnerQFRunner up1
Manuel OrantesQFRunner upSFWinner1
Andrés GimenoRunner upWinnerSF4R1
Carlos MoyáRunner upWinner4RSF1
Albert CostaQFWinner2R4R1
Manuel AlonsoDNPSFRunner upQF0
Lili ÁlvarezDNPSFRunner upDNP0
Àlex Corretja3RRunner up2RQF0
Alberto BerasateguiQFRunner up1R2R0
David FerrerSFRunner upQFSF0
Fernando VerdascoSF4R4RQF0
Félix MantillaQFSF3R4R0
Pablo Carreño Busta3RQF1RSF0
José HiguerasDNPSF2R4R0
Emilio Sánchez4RQF4RQF0
Tommy RobredoQFQF4RQF0
Virginia Ruano PascualQFQF4R3R0
Carla Suárez NavarroQFQF4RQF0
Feliciano López3R4RQFQF0
Nicolás AlmagroQFQF3R4R0
Javier Sánchez3R4R2RQF0
Marta Marrero4RQF2R1R0
Albert Ramos Viñolas2RQF3R2R0

Spanish Tennis achievements timeline

YearGrand Slam
titles
Total titles Team competitionsOlympicsSpecial achievements
198804 -1 silver
198918 --Arantxa Sánchez Vicario becomes first Spanish woman to win a Grand Slam
1990012 Hopman Cup champions -
1991012 Fed Cup champions -
1992011 -2 silvers, 1 bronze
1993119 Fed Cup champions -
1994426 Fed Cup champions -Sergi Bruguera and Alberto Berasategui play first all-Spanish Grand Slam final
Conchita Martínez becomes first Spanish woman to win Wimbledon
1995012 Fed Cup champions -Arantxa Sánchez Vicario reaches #1 in both singles and doubles rankings
1996016 2 silvers, 1 bronze
1997016 --
1998217 Fed Cup champions Àlex Corretja wins Tennis Masters Cup
1999013 -Carlos Moyá reaches #1
2000011 Davis Cup champions 1 bronze
2001018 -
2002112 Hopman Cup champions -
2003113 -Juan Carlos Ferrero reaches #1
200409 Davis Cup champions 1 silver
2005116 -
2006113 -
2007113 -
2008218 Davis Cup champions 1 gold, 1 silverRafael Nadal wins olympic gold medal and ends first year as #1
2009116 Davis Cup champions -Rafael Nadal becomes first Spanish player to win the Australian Open
2010320 Hopman Cup champions -Rafael Nadal completes career golden slam after winning the US Open
2011118 Davis Cup champions -
2012115
2013217 Hopman Cup champions -
2014114 -
2015011 -
2016113 1 goldGarbiñe Muguruza wins first grand slam