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.
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
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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 |