Men
Martin Arguello Vassallo (ARG)
The Argentine turned professional in 1999 and is currently coached by former ATP pro Horacio de la Penna. He considers clay his favourite surface and to date has won 5 Challenger titles. In his early years he spent much of his time on the Futures tour to rise up the rankings. In 2002 he posted a 20-17 record on the Challenger circuit, highlighted by winning his first title in Rome, where he defeated home favourite Volandri in the final. He also qualified for his first Grand Slam at Roland Garros where he lost to Todd Martin in the first round in five sets. A year later in 2003 he won two Challenger titles, both on clay. In May he won in Kosice and then two months later won his third Challenger title in Oberstaufen, defeating Andreas Seppi in straight sets. In the same month he added his third title of the season in Trani, Italy. It was in 2004 when the Argentine started to compete more regularly on the ATP circuit and reached the third round at Kitzbuhel, defeating Thomann and Melzer, before falling to Verdasco. The Argentine finished in the top 100 for the first time in 2006 and posted a 14-7 Challenger record in the first six months of the season. At Roland Garros he recorded a Grand Slam best fourth round appearance, losing to fellow countryman David Nalbandian. In 2007, Vassallo finished in the top 100 for the second straight season, highlighted by a career-high 14 ATP level match wins and posting a 18-7 Challenger record, with one title in the opening tournament at Santiago. He also reached his fist ATP semi-final in Vina del Mar, losing to eventual winner Horna.
End of 2007 Statistics: Ranking 76 I Career Titles 0 I Prize Money $697,187
Santiago Ventura (ESP)
The right-hander from Castellon in Spain began playing tennis at the age of six with his father Santiago, and turned professional in 2001. His tennis idols are Boris Becker and Juan Carlos Ferrero and like most of his fellow countryman prefers to play on clay courts. He considers his backhand to be his best shot and his most memorable highlight to date is winning his first ATP title in Casablanca, defeating Dominik Hrbaty in the final after qualifying for the main draw. In 2001 he won back-to-back Futures titles in Spain to rise up the rankings. He continued to play on the Futures circuit in his early years anad played exclusively on the tour in 2003, posting a 36-21 record. In 2004, he improved his ranking by over 300 positions and enjoyed a breakthrough year highlighted by winning his first ATP title in Morocco on his debut. During the year he also reached the third round at Kitzbuhel to break into the top 100 for the first time in his career. Ventura finished just outside the top 100 in 2005 after winning personal a personal best nine matches on the ATP circuit, reaching the quarter final stages on the clay courts in Costa do Sauipe. He also made his Grand Slam debut at the Australian Open in January, reaching the second round before losing to David Nalbandian. In the season he went on to make his Masters Series debut in Miami and also at Roland Garros, losing to Chris Guccione in five sets. The Spaniard had limited ATP play in 2006 but finished in the year end top 100 for the first time in his career with consistent Challenger results and reaching an ATP semi-final.
End of 2007 Statistics: Ranking 89 I Career Titles 1 I Prize Money $535,550
Fernando Verdasco (ESP)
Born in Madrid, the Spaniard started playing at the age of four and is comfortable on all surfaces. The left-hander considers his forehand to be his best shot and uses a two-handed back hand. He turned professional in 2001 and won his first ATP point at a Spanish Satellite tournament at the age of 15. He spent his early years playing on the Futures circuit, but made his Grand Slam debut in 2003 at Wimbledon where he lost to Finland's Jarkko Nieminen. Later in the year he reached the third round on his debut at the US Open, knocking out fellow countryman Tommy Robredo in the first round, before falling to Paradorn Srichaphan. His breakthrough season came in 2004 when he won his first ATP title in Valencia, beating defending champion Juan Carlos Ferrero in the semi-finals and Albert Montanes in the final. he finished the season in the top 40 and also reached the final in Acapulco, losing to Carlos Moya. In 2005, Verdasco posted a career-high 35 matches and reached a career best fourth round at the US Open, where he defeated Serbian Novak Djokovic before losing to Nieminen. During the season he also reached his first ATP Masters Series quarter final in Rome, defeating Davydenko and Roddick. Verdasco had his best season in the Grand Slams in 2006, when he reached the fourth round at Wimbledon and the third round at US Open where he lost to eventual runner-up Andy Roddick in five sets. In 2007 he lost in the fourth round at Roland Garros to Djokovic and also advanced to the third round at Wimbledon and the US Open.
End of 2007 Statistics: Ranking 26 I Career Titles 1 I Prize Money $2,424,589
Kristof Vliegen (BEL)
As a youngster he went to the same tennis academy as Kim Clijsters, and still remains friends today. His best results have come on the hard courts and his best shot is his serve, making full use of his height. In 2003, he reached his first ATP final in the opening tournament in Adelaide, losing to Nikolay Davydenko in the final. He made his Grand Slam debut at the end of the season by losing to former world number one Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the first round. He broke into the top 100 for the first time in 2004, highlighted by reaching a semi-final at the ATP event in Barcelona, losing to Tommy Robredo. He went on to make his Grand Slam debuts at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, losing in the first round in both. It was in 2007 when the Belgian finished as the country's number one for the first time. He completed the season with his best results and a personal-high 32 match wins, as well as a second career ATP final appearance in Munich. In 2007 the Belgian finished in the top 100 for the third straight year despite up-and-down results. He opened the season with a quarter final at Auckland, losing to eventual champion David Ferrer. His biggest result came in February during the first round of Davis Cup in the tie against Australia. In the opening match he came back to defeat Lleyton Hewitt in five sets and then defeated Chris Guccione in straight sets in the fifth and decisive rubber to give his country a 3-2 lead. In April he advanced to the third round as the Masters Series in Monte Carlo and in Grand Slam, reached the third round at the French Open.
End of 2007 Statistics: Ranking 93 I Career Titles 0 I Prize Money $1,334,351
Filippo Volandri (ITA)
Born in Livorno, Italy he started playing tennis at the age of seven and turned professional in 1997. His favourite surface is clay and his best shot is his forehand. To date he has won 4 Challenger titles and 2 on the ATP circuit. His first Challenger title came in 2000 in his homecountry at Biella, defeating Argentine Hernan Gumy in the final. In 2001 he continued to make progress and in Davis Cup play he posted a five-set win over Goran Ivanisevic against Croatia in the World Group stage. In 2003 he finished as the number one Italian with Challenger titles in Cagliari, where he defeated Rafa Nadal and also in Biella, beating Jose Acasuso in the final. At the ATP Masters Series in Monte-Carlo he made the quarter final wth wins over Stepanek, Nalbandian and Magnus Norman before losing to Spadea. A year later in 2004 he made the top 50 for the second straight year by capturing his first ATP title in St. Poelten, defeating Xavier Malisse in the final and reaching two other finals in Umag and Palermo. He won his first career match at Wimbledon by defeating wildcard Jamie Delgado in his home tournament., before losing in five sets to former champion Ivanisevic. he also made the second round at the Australian Open and also at the US Open. On the ATP circuit he reached the semi-final stages in Bucharest, before losing to Acasuso. In 2005 he continued to improve his ranking and had a successful season on the ATP circuit. In 2006 the Italian won his second ATP title on the clay courts in Palermo, defeating Lapentti. His biggest career win came at the Rome Masters in 2007 when as a wildcard he defeated world number one Roger Federer in straight sets.
End of 2007 Statistics: Ranking 41 I Career Titles 2 I Prize Money $2,243,069
Tennis Blog I Tennis Books I Advertise I Site Map I Links
