Background
Parents are Nicolas and Mercedes. His siblings Juan and Balta are both teachers. Started playing tennis at age eight. If he wasn't a player, he would have loved to be a football player.
Nicolas Almagro of Spain returns a shot to Steve Darcis of Belgium during the third round of Men's Singles Tennis on Day 5 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at Wimbledon on August 1, 2012 in London, England.
Nicolas Almagro of Spain returns a shot to Steve Darcis of Belgium during the third round of Men's Singles Tennis on Day 5 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at Wimbledon on August 1, 2012 in London, England.
Rafael Nadal (R) and Nicolas Almagro of Spain pose prior to their men's singles quarter final match during day 11 of the French Open at Roland Garros on June 6, 2012 in Paris, France.
Nicolas Almagro of Spain hits a backhand during his win over Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on March 14, 2012 in Indian Wells, California.
Nicolas Almagro of Spain and Bruno Soares of Brazil congratulate Daniel Nestor of Canada and Max Mirnyi of Belarus after their match during the Shanghai Rolex Masters at the Qi Zhong Tennis Center on October 14, 2011 in Shanghai, China.
Nicolas Almagro of Spain serves during his third round match against Mikhail Youzhny of Russia on Day Six of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on June 25, 2011 in London, England.
Nicolas Almagro of Spain celebrates winning a set in his third round match against Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia during day five of the 2011 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 21, 2011 in Melbourne, Australia.
Nicolas Almagro of Spain celebrates winning a set in his third round match against Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia during day five of the 2011 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 21, 2011 in Melbourne, Australia.
Nicolas Almagro and Rafael Nadal of Spain pose with ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti (C) during a presentation for the Spanish Davis Cup team for winning the 2008 Davis Cup during day three of the 2009 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 21, 2009 in Melbourne, Australia.
Parents are Nicolas and Mercedes. His siblings Juan and Balta are both teachers. Started playing tennis at age eight. If he wasn't a player, he would have loved to be a football player.
2000 -- At 14 years, 9 months, earned first ATP points at Spanish Futures where he reached 2nd RD.
2001 -- Was 7-5 in Futures events, reaching one SF and two QFs.
2002 -- Reached two SFs while going 11-7 in Futures events.
2003 -- Improved his ATP Ranking by over 700 positions; Made ATP debut in Palermo and advanced to 2nd RD; Claimed six Futures titles in seven finals appearances; Also won first Challenger title in Olbia; Reached doubles finals in Olbia and Manerbio (w/Menedez).
2004 -- Finished in Top 100 for first time and won one Futures and three Challenger titles (Barletta, Manerbio, Kiev); Reached Barcelona 2nd RD (d. Corretja, l. to Montanes); Made Grand Slam debut as a qualifier at Roland Garros (l. to Kuerten); Reached final at Cordoba Challenger (l. to Muller).
2005 -- Reached his first ATP QF in Buenos Aires with wins over Ventura and Zabaleta (l. to Acasuso). In May, qualified at AMS Rome, reaching 3rd RD with wins over Andreev and No. 4 Safin for first Top 10 win (l. to Stepanek). Advanced to 2nd RD at Roland Garros, losing to No. 1 Federer. In August, made US Open debut and reached 2nd RD (l. to Dent).
2006 -- Finished in Top 50 for first time, highlighted by winning first ATP title. Jumped off to a 19-8 start through Roland Garros, with title in Valencia (d. Safin) followed by SF in Barcelona (l. to Nadal) in April. In May, reached first ATP Masters Series QF in Rome (l. to Federer). Advanced to SF in Palermo in final clay outing. In October, reached QF in Lyon. Early on, advanced to QF in Costa do Sauipe and SF in Acapulco.
2007 -- Finished in Top 30 for first time (No. 28) and repeated his ATP title in Valencia (d. Starace). Also advanced to QF or better in six other tournaments, including final in Bastad (l. to Ferrer) and QF at AMS Hamburg (d. No. 7 Robredo, l. to Hewitt).
2008 -- The Spaniard compiled his best season by finishing in Top 20 for first time and winning a career-high 35 matches. Won two ATP titles and reached another final, all on clay. In first two months, went 15-3, winning in Costa do Sauipe (d. Moya) and Acapulco (d. Nalbandian). Made Davis Cup debut vs. Peru and won both 1st RD matches. In April, advanced to final in Valencia (l. to Ferrer). Continued consistent play with consecutive QF showings in Barcelona, AMS Rome and Roland Garros (l. to Nadal), his best Grand Slam result. Struggled rest of season with on-and-off right hand injury and went 4-7. Underwent surgery July 21 to repair tendon on his right hand. Best finish was 3rd RD at US Open (l. to Muller in five sets). Went 2-3 vs. Top 10 opponents and compiled marks of 30-8 on clay (most wins) and 4-8 on hard. Earned a career-high $851,017.
2009 -- The Spaniard finished in Top 30 for third consecutive season after posting a 30-24 mark with a title defense at Acapulco, defeating No. 10 Monfils in final. Only dropped one set during tournament en route to his fifth career ATP World Tour title. Opened season with QF appearances in Auckland (l. to Querrey) and Costa do Sauipe (l. to Gil). In July reached another QF in Båstad (l. to eventual champion Soderling) and Hamburg (l. to Cuevas). In Grand Slam play reached 3rd RD at all four events, losing to Top 15 opponents…In latter part of season advanced to his sixth QF of year in Vienna (l. to Kohlschreiber) before losing in Paris* to Nadal in 2nd RD after squandering five match points. Finished season No. 9 in aces (551). Went 1-4 vs. Top 10 opponents and compiled marks of 18-12 on clay, 10-11 on hard and 2-1 on grass.
2010 - The Spaniard finished a year-end best No. 15, his second Top 20 ranking in three years. He reached QFs or better eight times during season, winning clay court titles in July in Båstad (d. Soderling) and two weeks later in Gstaad (d. Gasquet). Also reached first SF in Madrid* (l. to Nadal)…At the Australian Open he reached the 4th RD (l. to Tsonga 9-7 in fifth set) for the first time in his career. In 22 previous Grand Slams he had only reached that stage once before at 2008 Roland Garros (en route to QFs). He won a personal-high 44 matches and one of eight Spaniards to win a title during year. Went 3-8 vs. Top 10 opponents and compiled marks of 28-11 on clay and 14-10 on hard and earned a career-high $1,205,538.
2011 -- The No. 3 Spaniard (behind No. 2 Nadal, No. 5 Ferrer) finished a year-end best No. 10, won a career-high 3 ATP World Tour titles in 5 finals, all on clay, and 47 matches. In February, won back-to-back titles in Costa do Sauipe (d. Dolgopolov) and Buenos Aires (d. Chela). In May, picked up 10th title in Nice (d. Hanescu). Runner-up in Acapulco (l. to Ferrer) and Hamburg (l. to Simon). On April 25, broke into Top 10 for 3 weeks. After his runner-up in Hamburg, re-entered the Top 10 on July 25, moving from No. 14 to No. 10. Went 1-7 vs. Top 10 and compiled marks of 32-9 on clay, 13-12 on hard courts. His 32 match wins on clay was a tour-best and earned a career-high $1,326,007.
2012 -- The No. 3 Spaniard (behind No. 4 Nadal, No. 5 Ferrer) finished Top 15 for 3rd straight year, highlighted by a personal-best 58 match wins, 2 ATP World Tour titles and 5-2 record in Davis Cup play in leading Spain to final (l. 3-2 to Czech Republic). Won titles in São Paulo (d. Volandri) and Nice (d. Baker) while reaching finals in Buenos Aires and Båstad (l. to Ferrer in both), all on clay. Overall, QF or better in 13 tournaments. Best Grand Slam result was 3rd career QF at Roland Garros (d. No. 8 Tipsarevic, l. to Nadal). Also made 4R at Australian and US Opens (l. to Berdych in both). Hit a career-high and ATP season-best 48 aces in 1R at Wimbledon vs. Rochus. Led ATP World Tour for 3rd time in 5 years with 35 match wins on clay (35-9) along with 18-13 on hard and 5-2 on grass. Went 4-1 in 5-set matches, spent 6 weeks in Top 10 and went 3-14 vs. Top 10 opponents...Earned a career-high $1,334,555.
2013 -- Reached QF at Australian Open for first time in nine appearances. Led fellow Spaniard Ferrer two sets to love, but lost 6-2 in fifth set. It was his fourth career Grand Slam QF (other three at Roland Garros). During loss to Ferrer, pulled left hamstring and withdrew from Davis Cup 1R vs. Canada. Failed in bid to clinch fourth Sao Paul title, falling to Nalbandian 76(3) in third set in QFs. Reached the Buenos Aires SFs for third straight year (l. to Wawrinka). On 1 March, fell to Nadal in Acapulco SFs. On 12 March, failed to convert one match point at 5-4 in 3rd set loss versus Haas in ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells 3R. On 26 March, lost to Gasquet 76(3) in 3rd set in ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami 4R. On 14 April, reached his 19th clay-court final at Houston (l. to Isner); in doubles partnered Ramirez Hidalgo, to Houston SFs (l. to J. Murray/Peers). Fell to Melzer in ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo 2R. On 28 April, contested the Barcelona final (l. to Nadal) for the first time on 10th appearance. Fell in ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Madrid 2R (l. to Youzhny). Fell in ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Rome 1R (l. to Benneteau). As No. 11 seed, beat Seppi in Roland Garros 3R; on 2 June, failed to convert two-set lead versus No. 32 seed Robredo in Roland Garros 4R losing 6-4 in fifth set.