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.

Rafael Nadal

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 (2000, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2011) and the Fed Cup five other times (1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1998)

Rafael Nadal is considered the greatest Spanish tennis player of all time. He has won the French Open a record thirteen times, winning four consecutive French Open titles from 2005–2008 along with five consecutive French Open titles from 2010–2014 and another four titles from 2017–2020. 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 twenty Grand Slam titles to his name: thirteen French Open titles, two Wimbledon titles, four US Open titles, and one Australian Open title, tying him with Federer, who has also won 20 major titles.

Spain has produced several other world number one players; Arantxa Sánchez Vicario in 1995 (a three-time French Open champion in 1989, 1994 and 1998, and 1994 US Open Champion), Carlos Moyá (1998 French Open champion) and Juan Carlos Ferrero (2003 French Open Champion).

Other Grand Slam champions are Manuel Santana (1961, 1964 French Opens, 1966 Wimbledon and 1965 US Open), Sergi Bruguera (1993-1994 French Opens), Andrés Gimeno (1972 French Open), Manuel Orantes (1975 US Open), Conchita Martínez (1994 Wimbledon), Albert Costa (2002 French Open) and Garbiñe Muguruza (2016 French Open and 2017 Wimbledon).

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

Grand Slam performances of Spanish tennis players

Only includes players who have reached at least a Grand Slam quarterfinal

Player Australian Open Roland Garros Wimbledon US Open Total titles
Rafael Nadal Winner Winner (13) Winner (2) Winner (4) 20
Manuel Santana DNP Winner (2) Winner Winner 4
Arantxa Sánchez Vicario Runner up Winner (3) Runner up Winner 4
Sergi Bruguera 4R Winner (2) 4R 4R 2
Garbiñe Muguruza Runner Up Winner Winner 4R 2
Conchita Martínez Runner up Runner up Winner SF 1
Juan Carlos Ferrero SF Winner QF Runner up 1
Manuel Orantes QF Runner up SF Winner 1
Andrés Gimeno Runner up Winner SF 4R 1
Carlos Moyá Runner up Winner 4R SF 1
Albert Costa QF Winner 2R 4R 1
Manuel Alonso DNP SF Runner up QF 0
Lili Álvarez DNP SF Runner up DNP 0
Àlex Corretja 3R Runner up 2R QF 0
Alberto Berasategui QF Runner up 1R 2R 0
David Ferrer SF Runner up QF SF 0
Fernando Verdasco SF 4R 4R QF 0
Félix Mantilla QF SF 3R 4R 0
Pablo Carreño Busta 3R QF 1R SF 0
José Higueras DNP SF 2R 4R 0
Emilio Sánchez 4R QF 4R QF 0
Tommy Robredo QF QF 4R QF 0
Virginia Ruano Pascual QF QF 4R 3R 0
Carla Suárez Navarro QF QF 4R QF 0
Feliciano López 3R 4R QF QF 0
Nicolás Almagro QF QF 3R 4R 0
Javier Sánchez 3R 4R 2R QF 0
Marta Marrero 4R QF 2R 1R 0
Albert Ramos Viñolas 2R QF 3R 2R 0

Spanish Tennis achievements timeline

Year Grand Slam

titles

Total titles (ATP + WTA) Team competitions Olympics Special achievements
1988 0 4 (2 ATP + 2 WTA) - 1 silver
1989 1 8 (3 ATP + 5 WTA) - - Arantxa Sánchez Vicario becomes first Spanish woman to win a Grand Slam
1990 0 12 (7 ATP + 5 WTA) Hopman Cup champions (1/4) -
1991 0 12 (8 ATP + 4 WTA) Fed Cup champions (1/5) -
1992 0 11 (8 ATP + 3 WTA) - 2 silvers, 1 bronze
1993 1 19 (10 ATP + 9 WTA) Fed Cup champions (2/5) -
1994 4 26 (14 ATP + 12 WTA) Fed Cup champions (3/5) - Sergi Bruguera and Alberto Berasategui play first all-Spanish Grand Slam final

Conchita Martínez becomes first Spanish woman to win Wimbledon

1995 0 12 (4 ATP + 8 WTA) Fed Cup champions (4/5) - Arantxa Sánchez Vicario reaches #1 in both singles and doubles rankings
1996 0 16 (12 ATP + 4 WTA) 2 silvers, 1 bronze
1997 0 16 (15 ATP + 1 WTA) - -
1998 2 17 (12 ATP + 5 WTA) Fed Cup champions (5/5) Àlex Corretja wins Tennis Masters Cup
1999 0 13 (9 ATP + 4 WTA) - Carlos Moyá reaches #1
2000 0 11 (9 ATP + 2 WTA) Davis Cup champions (1/5) 1 bronze
2001 0 18 (12 ATP + 6 WTA) -
2002 1 12 (10 ATP + 2 WTA) Hopman Cup champions (2/4) -
2003 1 13 (10 ATP + 3 WTA) - Juan Carlos Ferrero reaches #1
2004 0 9 (8 ATP + 1 WTA) Davis Cup champions (2/5) 1 silver
2005 1 16 (12 ATP + 4 WTA) -
2006 1 13 (10 ATP + 3 WTA) -
2007 1 13 (12 ATP + 1 WTA) -
2008 2 18 (16 ATP + 2 WTA) Davis Cup champions (3/5) 1 gold, 1 silver Rafael Nadal wins olympic gold medal and ends first year as #1
2009 1 16 (13 ATP + 3 WTA) Davis Cup champions (4/5) - Rafael Nadal becomes first Spanish player to win the Australian Open
2010 3 20 (19 ATP + 1 WTA) Hopman Cup champions (3/4) - Rafael Nadal completes career golden slam after winning the US Open
2011 1 18 (13 ATP + 5 WTA) Davis Cup champions (5/5) -
2012 1 15 (14 ATP + 1 WTA)
2013 2 17 (17 ATP + 0 WTA) Hopman Cup champions (4/4) -
2014 1 14 (11 ATP + 3 WTA) -
2015 0 11 (10 ATP + 1 WTA) -
2016 1 13 (10 ATP + 3 WTA) 1 gold Garbiñe Muguruza wins first grand slam
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