Nicolas Almagro

Titles Won (4) : 

(2006) Valenica, (2007) Valencia, (2008) Costa Do Sauipe, Acapulco

Nicolas Almagro is a professional tennis player from Spain. His favourite surface is clay and considers his forehand to be his best shot. In 2000, he earned his first ATP points at a Spanish Futures event where he reached the second round, aged 14 years and 9 months. In the following season he posted a 7-5 record on the Futures tour, reaching one semi-final and two quarter finals. His breakthrough came in 2003 when he improved his ranking by over 700 positions. He made his ATP debut in Palermo and advanced to the second round. On the Futures circuit he won six titles in seven finals and also won his first Challenger title in Olbia. In 2004, he finished in the Top 100 for the first time and won one Futures title and three Challenger titles at Barletta, Manerbio and Kiev. On the ATP circuit he reached the second round at Barcelona (d. Corretja, l. Montanes). He made his Grand Slam debut as a qualifier at Roland Garros, losing to Gustavo Kuerten. In February 2005, Almagro reached his first ATP quarter final in Buenos Aires, losing to Argentine Jose Acasuso. In May he reached the third round of the Masters Series event in Rome, defeating Igor Andreev in the first round and world number four Marat Safin in the second round before falling to Radek Stepanek. At Roland Garros he reached the second round, losing to Roger Federer in straight sets. During the season, Almagro won the gold medal at the 2005 Mediterranean Games by defeating compatriot Guillermo Garcia 6-2, 7-5 in the final at Almeria, Spain.

In 2006, Almagro finished in the Top 50 for the first time, highlighted by winning his first ATP title. The Spaniard started the season well posting a 19-8 record on the ATP Tour through to Roland Garros. In February he reached the quarter final at Costa Do Sauipe (l. Massu) and just a week later reached the semi-final in Acapulco (l. Chela). In April, he won his maiden ATP tournament title at the Open de Tenis Comunidad Valenciana. Almagro was forced to come through the qualification rouns just to make this event, but that did not stop him from winning 8 matches in a row, including a three set victory over former world number ones Juan Carlos Ferrero and Marat Safin. After winning his first title, Almagro went on an excellent run-, reaching the semi-finals of the Barcelona Open before losing to Rafa Nadal and followed that up by reachjing the quarter finals at the Masters Series in Rome, where he lost to Roger Federer in three tight sets. He entered Roland Garros as the bookmakers third favourite but suffered a dissapointing second round exit to James Blake. The remainder of the season was uninspiring for Almagro as he stayed away from his favoured surface clay. Almagro finished in the Top 30 for the first time in 2007, winning a second successive title at Valencia (d. Starace). He also advanced to the quarter stages or better in six other tournaments, including the final at Bastad (l. Ferrer) and a quarter final at the Masters Series in Hamburg (d. Robredo, l. Hewitt).

Almagro compiled his best season in 2008 by finishing in the Top 20 for the first time and winning a career-high 35 matches. In February he won his third ATP title on the clay courts at Costa Do Sauipe, defeating Carlos Moya in the final. In his next tournament he reached the quarter final in Buenos Aires (l. Chela) and just one week later won his fourth ATP title at Acapulco. En route to the final he defeated Nicolas Massu and Jose Acasuso before defeating Nalbandian in the final 6-1, 7-6(1). At Roland Garros he reached a career best quarter final, losing to world number two and eventual champion Rafa Nadal in straight sets. At Wimbledon he lost in the second round to fellow countryman Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and at the US Open reached the third round (l. Muller). He also represented his country at the Beijing Olympics but lost to Gael Monfils in the first round 4-6, 6-3, 3-6.