Began playing tennis at age six with his father, Santiago, who works in the administrative department of a company... Mother, Felia , is a housewife... Nickname is "Santi"... Has a sister, Elana, who is a physiotherpist... Likes soccer and supports the Barcelona team... Favourite music group is Nirvana... Favorite movie is Pearl Harbor... Enjoys skiing and surfing the net... Tennis idols are Boris Becker and Juan Carlos Ferrero... Prefers to play on clay and considers his backhand his best shot... Most memorable experience was winning title in Casablanca over Hrbaty after qualifying into main draw...coached by Emilio Viuda.
2000 -- Compiled a record of 10-10 in Futures and 4-3 in Challengers. Reached QF at Morroco Futures #1 and Poland #3. In Challenger events, reached QF at Espinho and Sopot. Won doubles title at Spain Futures #1 (w/ Perez-Vazquez). Doubles finalist at Seville Challenger (w/ Robredo).
2001 -- Won back-to-back Futures titles in Spain, winning #9 (d. Cruciat) and #10 (d. Bourgeois). Went 17-9 in Futures. Won doubles titles at France #3 (w/ M Lopez) and Spain #8 (w/ Martin).
2002 -- Reached SF at Morocco Futures #1. Won titles in the next two weeks at Morocco #2 (d. Scheidweiler) and #3 (d. Maamoun). Went 17-7 in Futures and 4-5 in Challengers. Won doubles title at France #3 (w/Ramirez Hidalgo) and Spain #20 (w/Navarro Pastor). Doubles finalist at one Futures and Challenger event.
2003 -- Played exclusively at Futures events, posting a 36-21 record. Claimed titles at Spain #11 (d. Ouahab), #20 (d. Hipperdinger) and #29 (d. Viloca). Starting in August won at least to matches to reach at least the QF in six straight events. Won seven Futures doubles titles.
2004 -- Improved his ranking by over 300 positions and enjoyed a breakthrough year highlighted by his first career ATP title, which came in his debut. In May at Casablanca as a qualifier (at No. 316), posted wins over Sabau, Mahut, Heuberger and C. Rochus. Claimed title with a three- set win over Hrbaty in final. Became first player to win an ATP title in his debut since Nicolas Lapentti in Bogota in 1995. Was first player to win a title as a qualifier since Hyung-Taik Lee won in Sydney in '03. Reached 3rd RD in Kitzbuhel, defeating Pescosolido and Montanes before falling to F. Lopez. Broke into the Top 100 for the first time in his career on Oct. 25. Played Futures events in first four months of year, winning title at Spain #3 and reaching final at Italy #1 . Posted a 21-11 Futures record and 17-10 in Challengers. Won Challenger title at Fruedenstadt (d. Andersen) and a finalist in Barcelona (l. to Hernandez). Also SF in Brasov. In doubles, won two Futures titles and reached final at Great Britain #2 and Freudenstadt Challenger (w/Navarro)...
2005 -- Finished just outside Top 100 after winning personal-best nine matches on ATP circuit... Season highlighted by reaching QF in Costa do Sauipe on clay... Made Grand Slam debut at Australian Open in January, reaching 2nd RD before losing to No. 9 Nalbandian... Enjoyed successful South American clay court swing, advancing to 2nd RD in Vina del Mar before QF run in Brazil (l. to Mello)... Following week, lost to eventual champion Nadal in 2nd RD Acapulco... Made ATP Masters Series debut in Miami (l. to Mello)...Made Roland Garros debut (l. to Guccione in five sets)... Went 0-3 on grass before returning to clay, advancing to QF in Pamplona and Geneva Challengers... In October, reached QF in final tournament of season at Montevideo Challenger... In doubles, won titles in Vina del Mar and Acapulco (w/Ferrer)... Earned career-high $226,612...
2006 -- Struggled most of year, compiling a 6-19 match record in Challenger play...Went 1-2 in ATP play, reaching 2nd RD in Vina del Mar (d. Capdeville, l. to Montanes)...In doubles, won Barletta Challenger title (w/Vicente) and reached final at Tarragona Challenger (w/Lopez-Moron)...
2007 -- Finished in Top 100 for first time at No. 89 with consistent Challenger results, climbing over 300 ranking positions from previous season...Compiled a 42-24 record (second-most match wins) and won two titles while reaching one ATP SF...Began season by competing in Futures events, advancing to SF at Spain #3 in January and winning Spain #5 title in February...In March, moved to Challenger level, reaching QF at Barletta and Monza, Italy...In only two ATP appearances, advanced to SF in Valencia (l. to eventual champ Almagro) and 2nd RD in Estoril (l. to eventual winner No. 5 Djokovic)...Returned to Challengers in May and reached final at Mas Palomas (l. to Luczak)...Following month, won Milan title (d. Hanescu), dropping only one set during week...In next two months, advanced to final at Timisoara (l. to Hanescu) and Cherkassy (l. to Pashanski) and won Montevideo (d. Granollers-Pujol)...In doubles, won a circuit-best nine titles in 10 finals with five different partners.
Delicious
Digg
Facebook
Mixx
Reddit
StumbleUpon