Rubén Ramírez Hidalgo

Rubén Ramírez Hidalgo (Spanish pronunciation: [ruˈβen raˈmiɾeθ iˈðalɣo]; born 6 January 1978 in Alicante, Spain) is a former professional male tennis player from Spain. His career-high ATP singles ranking is world No. 50, achieved on 2 October 2006.[1] His favourite surface is clay, where he has won numerous ATP Challenger Tour events, and has reached the final in three events of the ATP tour, all in 2007, finishing runner-up in all three finals.

Rubén Ramírez Hidalgo
Country (sports) Spain
ResidenceAlicante, Spain
Born (1978-01-06) 6 January 1978 (age 46)
Alicante, Spain
Height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Turned pro1998
Retired2017
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize moneyUS$2,346,155
Singles
Career record68–133
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 50 (2 October 2006)
Current rankingNo. 800 (2 July 2018)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open1R (2004, 2007, 2011, 2013)
French Open4R (2006)
Wimbledon1R (2004, 2006, 2007, 2011, 2012)
US Open2R (2012)
Doubles
Career record43–91
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 54 (16 January 2012)
Current rankingNo. 921 (2 July 2018)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open3R (2011)
French Open2R (2011)
Wimbledon1R (2004, 2006, 2007, 2011, 2012)
US Open2R (2009, 2010)
Last updated on: 2 July 2018.

Career edit

Ramírez Hidalgo turned pro in 1998.

In 2001, Ramírez Hidalgo won his first ATP tour match in Bucharest, defeating Attila Sávolt.

In 2003, he suffered the ignominy of becoming the only player to ever lose a tour level match to French journeyman Éric Prodon, losing 7–6 6–2 in Casablanca. However, he was able to bounce back later in the year at Sopot, where he reached his first ever tour level semi-final, bravely losing in three sets to David Ferrer.

After dropping down the rankings, early 2006 saw a return to good form. A semi-final run at Viña del Mar saw Ramírez Hidalgo climb back into the top 100. This tournament included his first ever win over a top 10 player, a defeat of former French Open champion Gastón Gaudio. Ramírez Hidalgo was eventually defeated by José Acasuso.

At the 2006 French Open, Ramírez Hidalgo won a Grand Slam match for the first time, eventually reaching the 4th round in a Grand Slam event for the first time in his career, defeating Thierry Ascione, Christophe Rochus and future finalist David Ferrer. Before the tournament, he had lost four consecutive times in the first round of a Grand Slam, a pattern he proceeded to return to for a further 9 appearances.

Ramírez Hidalgo's strong form continued into the latter half of 2006, where he reached the semi-final in Amersfoort (l. Nicolás Massú.) and included rare success on hard courts, where he defeated world no. 5 and home favourite James Blake. Further success came in Palermo, where his run to the semi-final was halted by Nicolás Lapentti. In October 2006, his ranking peaked at no. 50.

2007 started strongly for Ramírez Hidalgo, with another semi-final run, this time in Casablanca. An impressive showing was halted by Albert Montañés.

In his later career, Ramírez Hidalgo became a stalwart of the ATP Challenger tour, whilst still enjoying occasional success on the main tour. 2012 marked his last Grand Slam match win, at the US Open, where he defeated Somdev Devvarman, before losing to big serving Sam Querrey. At Houston in 2013, he recorded what was to be his last ever main tour victory, defeating compatriot Fernando Verdasco,before losing to Rhyne Williams in the quarter-final.

On 4 August 2016, after defeating Ante Pavić in the 2nd round of the Chengdu Challenger, Ramírez Hidalgo became the first player ever to win 400 matches in the ATP Challenger Tour tournaments.[2]

Ramírez Hidalgo retired from professional tennis after the end of the 2017 season.[3]

ATP career finals edit

Doubles: 3 (3 runner-ups) edit

Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0)
ATP World Tour 500 Series (0–0)
ATP World Tour 250 Series (0–3)
Titles by surface
Hard (0–0)
Clay (0–3)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Titles by setting
Outdoor (0–3)
Indoor (0–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 0–1 Feb 2007 Chile Open, Chile International Clay   Albert Montañés   Paul Capdeville
  Óscar Hernández
6–4, 4–6, [6–10]
Loss 0–2 Feb 2007 Brasil Open, Brasil International Clay   Albert Montañés   Lukáš Dlouhý
  Pavel Vízner
2–6, 6–7(4–7)
Loss 0–3 Feb 2007 Argentina Open, Argentina International Clay   Albert Montañés   Martín García
  Sebastián Prieto
4–6, 2–6

ATP Challenger Tour edit

Singles finals (11–13) edit

Result Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Win 3 September 2002 Brașov, Romania Clay   Lovro Zovko 2–6, 6–1, 7–5
Win 7 October 2002 Barcelona, Spain Clay   Albert Portas 4–6, 6–4, 6–1
Loss 12 May 2003 Zagreb, Croatia Clay   Kristof Vliegen 1–6, 6–4, 0–6
Win 1 July 2003 Košice, Slovakia Clay   Tomáš Zíb 6–3, 4–6, 6–4
Loss 10 May 2004 Zagreb, Croatia Clay   Adrián García 3–6, 5–7
Win 24 May 2005 Ljubljana, Slovenia Clay   Massimo Dell'Acqua 6–7(2–7), 5–2 ret.
Loss 24 October 2005 Santiago, Chile Clay   Júlio Silva 2–6, 3–6
Win 14 January 2008 La Serena, Chile Clay   David Marrero 6–3, 6–1
Loss 18 August 2008 San Sebastián, Spain Clay   Pablo Andújar 4–6, 1–6
Loss 15 September 2008 Todi, Italy Clay   Tomas Tenconi 6–4, 3–6, 0–6
Loss 20 October 2008 Buenos Aires, Argentina Clay   Martín Vassallo Argüello 3–6, 6–4, 5–7
Win 14 March 2010 Rabat, Morocco Clay   Marcel Granollers 6–4, 6–4
Win 12 June 2010 Košice, Slovakia Clay   Filip Krajinović 6–3, 6–2
Win 5 July 2010 Pozoblanco, Spain Hard   Roberto Bautista Agut 7–6(8–6), 6–4
Loss 12 September 2010 Rijeka, Croatia Clay   Blaž Kavčič 4–6, 6–3, 6–7(5–7)
Loss 11 September 2011 Sevilla, Spain Clay   Daniel Gimeno Traver 3–6, 3–6
Win 7 April 2012 San Luis Potosí, Mexico Clay   Paolo Lorenzi 3–6, 6–3, 6–4
Loss 15 April 2012 Pereira, Colombia Clay   Carlos Salamanca 7–5, 2–6, 1–6
Win 6 May 2012 Tunis, Tunisia Clay   Jérémy Chardy 6–1, 6–4
Win 15 April 2013 Panama City, Panama Clay   Alejandro González 6–4, 5–7, 7–6(7–4)
Loss 7 July 2013 Timișoara, Romania Clay   Andreas Haider-Maurer 4–6, 6–3, 4–6
Loss 14 May 2016 Samarkand, Uzbekistan Clay   Karen Khachanov 1–6, 7–6(8–6), 1–6
Loss 7 August 2016 Chengdu, China Clay   Jason Jung 4–6, 2–6
Loss 14 August 2016 Qingdao, China Clay   Janko Tipsarević 6–1, 5–7, 1–6

Doubles titles (21) edit

Date Tournament Surface Partnering Opponents Score
7 September 2004 Brașov, Romania Clay   Salvador Navarro   Juan Pablo Brzezicki
  Juan Pablo Guzmán
6–3, 6–2
4 July 2005 Geneva, Switzerland Clay   Santiago Ventura   Stéphane Bohli
  Roman Valent
6–3, 7–5
3 April 2006 Monza, Italy Clay   Tomas Tenconi   Leonardo Azzaro
  Christopher Kas
4–6, 6–4, [13–11]
28 July 2008 Timişoara, Romania Clay   Daniel Munoz-de la Nava   Adrian Cruciat
  Florin Mergea
3–6, 6–4, [11–9]
22 September 2008 Bucharest, Romania Clay   Santiago Ventura   Andrea Arnaboldi
  Máximo González
6–3, 5–7, [10–6]
14 March 2009 Rabat, Morocco Clay   Santiago Ventura   Michael Kohlmann
  Philipp Marx
6–4, 7–6(7–5)
21 March 2009 Marrakech, Morocco Clay   Santiago Ventura   Alberto Martín
  Daniel Munoz-de la Nava
6–3, 7–6(7–5)
29 March 2009 Barletta, Italy Clay   Santiago Ventura   Pablo Cuevas
  Luis Horna
7–6(7–1), 6–2
31 May 2009 Alessandria, Italy Clay   José Antonio Sánchez de Luna   Martín Alund
  Guillermo Hormazábal
6–4, 6–2
7 June 2009 Furth, Germany Clay   Santiago Ventura   Simon Greul
  Alessandro Motti
4–6, 6–1, [10–6]
14 June 2009 Košice, Slovakia Clay   Santiago Ventura   Dominik Hrbatý
  Martin Kližan
6–2, 7–6(7–5)
18 October 2009 Asunción, Paraguay Clay   Santiago Ventura   Máximo González
  Eduardo Schwank
6–3, 7–6(7–5)
20 June 2010 Milan, Italy Clay   Daniele Bracciali   Jeff Coetzee
  James Cerretani
6–4, 7–5
22 August 2010 San Sebastián, Spain Clay   Santiago Ventura   Brian Battistone
  Andreas Siljeström
6–4, 7–6(7–3)
24 October 2010 Santiago, Chile Clay   Daniel Munoz de la Nava   Nikola Ćirić
  Goran Tošić
6–4, 6–2
15 May 2011 Zagreb, Croatia Clay   Daniel Muñoz de la Nava   Mate Pavić
  Franko Škugor
6–2, 7–6(12–10)
11 September 2011 Seville, Spain Clay   Daniel Muñoz de la Nava   Gerard Granollers
  Adrián Menéndez
6–4, 6–7(4–7), [13–11]
17 September 2011 Banja Luka, Bosnia-Herzegovina Clay   Marco Crugnola   Jan Mertl
  Matwé Middelkoop
7–6(7–3), 3–6, [10–8]
1 October 2011 Madrid, Spain Clay   David Marrero   Daniel Gimeno Traver
  Morgan Phillips
6–4, 6–7(8–10), [11–9]
5 November 2011 São Leopoldo, Brazil Clay   Franco Ferreiro   Gastão Elias
  Frederico Gil
6–7(4–7), 6–3, [11–9]
4 September 2016 Curitiba, Brazil Clay   Pere Riba   André Ghem
  Fabrício Neis
6–7(3–7), 6–4, [10–7]

Performance timelines edit

Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# DNQ A NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

Singles edit

Tournament 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 SR W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A Q1 A Q2 A 1R A A 1R A A A 1R A 1R A A A A 0 / 4 0–4
French Open A A A A Q3 Q2 1R Q1 4R 1R Q3 A Q2 2R 1R A Q1 Q1 A Q1 0 / 5 4–5
Wimbledon A A A A A A 1R Q1 1R 1R A A A 1R 1R A A A Q2 Q1 0 / 5 0–5
US Open A A A A A 1R A A 1R 1R A 1R 1R A 2R A A A A A 0 / 6 1–6
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–1 0–3 0–0 3–3 0–4 0–0 0–1 0–1 1–3 1–3 0–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0 / 20 5–20
ATP Masters Series
Indian Wells A A A A A A 1R A A A A A A 1R A A A A A A 0 / 2 0–2
Miami A A A A A A 2R A A 1R A A A 2R A A A A A A 0 / 3 1–3
Monte Carlo A A A A A A A A Q2 A 2R Q2 A Q1 A A A A A A 0 / 1 1–1
Madrid Not Held A Q1 A A Q1 Q1 A Q1 A Q2 A Q2 A A A A 0 / 0 0–0
Rome A A A A A A 1R A 3R Q2 A Q1 A A A A A A A A 0 / 2 2–2
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–3 0–0 2–1 0–1 1–1 0–0 0–0 1–2 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0 / 8 4–8
Career statistics
Overall win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 1–1 0–3 5–11 7–19 5–5 25–20 9–18 1–6 4–10 1–4 5–15 3–12 2–6 0–3 0–0 0–0 0–0 68–133
Year-end ranking 620 381 333 154 141 80 130 120 57 133 121 156 77 130 91 166 224 253 148 430 34%

Doubles edit

Tournament 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 SR W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A A A A A 1R A A 2R A A A 3R A A A A A A 0 / 3 3–3
French Open A A A A A A 1R A A 1R A A A 2R 1R A A A A A 0 / 4 1–4
Wimbledon A A A A A A 1R A 1R 1R A A A 1R 1R A A A A A 0 / 5 0–5
US Open A A A A A A A A 1R 1R A 2R 2R A 1R A A A A A 0 / 5 2–5
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–3 0–0 0–2 1–4 0–0 1–1 1–1 3–3 0–3 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0 / 17 6–17
ATP Masters Series
Madrid Not Held A A A A A A A 2R A 2R A A A A A A 0 / 2 2–2
Career statistics
Titles / Finals 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 3 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 3
Overall win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 1–4 3–13 0–0 1–11 12–18 6–4 2–10 3–4 10–13 2–10 3–3 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–1 43–91
Year-end ranking 1271 475 465 310 199 167 218 303 73 105 81 120 56 177 278 296 735 341 663 32%

Top 10 wins edit

Season 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Total
Wins 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
# Player Rank Event Surface Rd Score RRH Rank
2006
1.   Gastón Gaudio 8 Viña del Mar, Chile Clay 2R 6–7(6–8), 6–1, 6–4 106
2.   Guillermo Coria 7 Buenos Aires, Argentina Clay 2R 7–5, 6–2 93
3.   James Blake 5 New Haven, United States Hard 2R 2–6, 7–6(8–6), 7–6(7–4) 57

References edit

  1. ^ "Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo | Overview". ATP Tour. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  2. ^ "Ramirez Hidalgo Hits 400 Challenger Wins In Chengdu". ATP World Tour. 4 August 2016. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  3. ^ Arroyo, Alejandro (24 October 2018). "El silencioso adiós de Rubén Ramírez Hidalgo" (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 December 2023.

External links edit