Tennis in Argentina

Tennis in Argentina is regulated by the Asociación Argentina de Tenis (Argentine Tennis Association), which also selects the coaches of the Argentine teams for the Davis Cup and Federation Cup. There are many tennis courts in Argentina, and the sport, even though still considered middle- to upper-class, is practiced by regardless of age.

## History

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Although British immigrants brought the sport to Argentina, it was not until late in the 1970s that Guillermo Vilas' success made the sport popular, reaching second place in the 1975 ATP ranking. He was internationally recognised and was later included in the International Tennis Hall of Fame. During the 1980s, José Luis Clerc (4th), Alberto Mancini (8th) and Martín Jaite (10th) followed Vilas and kept interest in the sport alive. Argentina won the 1980 World Team Cup beating Italy 3–0, and reached the final of the 1980 Davis Cup, losing to United States 3–1. In the 1990s it was Gabriela Sabatini who best represented Argentine tennis, becoming an international figure on and off the court.

The boom of Argentine tennis players came in the 2000s, when many players became important in the circuit reaching high ranks. Paola Suárez won eight Grand Slam doubles between 2001 and 2005 and was, together with Spaniard Virginia Ruano Pascual, the top women's couple for three years in a row. In 2002, José Acasuso, Guillermo Cañas, Lucas Arnold and Gastón Etlis won again the World Team Cup for Argentina, this time 3–0 against Russia. Five years later, Acasuso, Juan Ignacio Chela, Agustín Calleri and Sebastián Prieto won it again, this time 2–1 against the Czech Republic. David Nalbandian lost in the final of Wimbledon in 2002. The 2004 French Open saw an Argentine final between Gastón Gaudio and Guillermo Coria. The following year's French Open saw Mariano Puerta reach the final.

Another example of the importance of the Argentine presence on the circuit was the August 2005 male rankings that counted five Argentine players among the top 12 (from 8th to 12th) of the ATP ranking, and three in the top ten of the Champions Race (5th, 8th and 9th). The 2005 Tennis Masters Cup, due to a series of last-minute resignations, had 4 Argentine players of the total of 8, with Gaudio reaching semi-finals, and Nalbandian winning the competition against #1 Roger Federer.

In 2009 Juan Martín del Potro became the first Argentinian to win the US Open since Guillermo Vilas did in 1977. Del Potro defeated world number 2 Rafael Nadal in straight sets in semifinals to reach the final and eventually beat world number 1 Roger Federer in five sets. That year Del Potro reached the final of the ATP World Tour Championship. In 2016, the Argentine Copa Davis team were crowned world champions. Juan Martín del Potro, Federico Delbonis, Leonardo Mayer and Guido Pella earned the country their first title in the sport's most important inter-country competition.

## Highest-ranked players

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### Singles

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#### Men

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| #  | Player  | Highest rank  | ATP Tour  | ATP  | Ref.

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No.  | Date  | First  | Last  | Titles  | Wins
1\.  | Guillermo Vilas | 2  | Apr 1975  | 1969 | 1992  | 62  | 951  | [1]
2\.  | Juan Martín del Potro | 3  | Aug 2018  | 2005 | 2019  | 22  | 439  | [2]
3\.  | David Nalbandian | 3  | Mar 2006  | 2000 | 2013  | 11  | 383  | [3]
4\.  | Guillermo Coria | 3  | May 2004  | 2000 | 2009  | 9  | 218  | [4]
5\.  | José Luis Clerc | 4  | Aug 1981  | 1977 | 1995  | 25  | 378  | [5]
6\.  | Gastón Gaudio | 5  | Apr 2005  | 1996 | 2011  | 8  | 270  | [6]
7\.  | Guillermo Cañas | 8  | Jun 2005  | 1995 | 2010  | 7  | 252  | [7]
8\.  | Diego Schwartzman | 8  | Oct 2020  | 2010 | 2020  | 3  | 158  | [8]
9\.  | Alberto Mancini | 8  | Oct 1989  | 1987 | 1994  | 3  | 148  | [9]
10\.  | Mariano Puerta | 9  | Aug 2005  | 1998 | 2009  | 3  | 128  | [10]
11\.  | Martín Jaite | 10  | Jul 1990  | 1983 | 1993  | 12  | 301  | [11]
12\.  | Juan Mónaco | 10  | Jul 2012  | 2002 | 2017  | 9  | 342  | [12]

#### Women

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| #  | Player  | Highest rank  | WTA Tour  | WTA  | Ref.

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No.  | Date  | First  | Last  | Titles  | Wins
1\.  | Gabriela Sabatini | 3  | Feb 1989  | 1985 | 1996  | 27  | 632  | [13]
2\.  | Paola Suárez | 9  | Jun 2004  | 1991 | 2012  | 4  | 371  | [14]

### Doubles

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#### Men

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| #  | Player  | Highest rank  | ATP Tour  | ATP  | Ref.

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No.  | Date  | First  | Last  | Titles  | Wins
1\.  | Horacio Zeballos | 3  | Sep 2019  | 2003 | 2020  | 17  | 221  | [15]

#### Women

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| #  | Player  | Highest rank  | WTA Tour  | WTA  | Ref.

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No.  | Date  | First  | Last  | Titles  | Wins
1\.  | Paola Suárez  | 1  | Sep 2002  | 1991 | 2012  | 44  | 513  | [14]
2\.  | Gisela Dulko | 1  | Nov 2010  | 2001 | 2012  | 17  | 305  | [16]
3\.  | Gabriela Sabatini  | 3  | Nov 1988  | 1985 | 1996  | 13  | 252  | [13]

## Best results at major tournaments

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As of the 2020 French Open.

### Singles

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#### Men

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Player  | Australian Open | French Open | Wimbledon | US Open | ATP Finals | Other

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Guillermo Vilas  | Win (2)  | Win | Quarterfinal  | Win | Win | Won 2 Monte-Carlo Masters, 2 Washington Masters, a Hamburg Masters and a Rome Masters.
Juan Martín del Potro  | Quarterfinal  | Semifinal  | Semifinal  | Win | Final  | Won an Indian Wells Masters, a Silver medal and a Bronze medal at the Olympics.
David Nalbandian  | Semifinal  | Semifinal  | Final  | Semifinal  | Win | Won a Madrid Masters and a Paris Masters.
Gastón Gaudio  | 3rd round  | Win | 2nd round  | 3rd round  | Semifinal  |
Guillermo Coria  | 4th round  | Final  | 4th round  | Quarterfinal  | Round robin  | Won a Hamburg Masters and a Monte-Carlo Masters.
Mariano Puerta  | 2nd round  | Final  | 1st round  | 2nd round  | Round robin  |
José Luis Clerc  | 2nd round  | Semifinal  | 4th round  | 4th round  | Quarterfinal  | Won a Rome Masters.
Diego Schwartzman | 4th round  | Semifinal  | 3rd round  | Quarterfinal  | Round robin  |
Guillermo Cañas  | 4th round  | Quarterfinal  | 4th round  | 3rd round  | Did not play  | Won a Canada Masters.
Martín Jaite  | 3rd round  | Quarterfinal  | 2nd round  | 3rd round  | Quarterfinal  |
Alberto Mancini  | 2nd round  | Quarterfinal  | Did not play  | 4th round  | Did not play  | Won a Monte-Carlo Masters and a Rome Masters.

## Most wins against top 10 players

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#  | Player  | Wins  | Loss  | Notes

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1\.  | Juan Martín del Potro  | 53 | 78  | Second player with most wins against the "Big Three"[a] (17).[18]
2\.  | Guillermo Vilas  | 51 | 82  |
3\.  | David Nalbandian  | 35 | 60  | Only player to defeat the "Big Three" in the same tournament.[19]
4\.  | José Luis Clerc  | 24 | 45  |
5\.  | Guillermo Cañas  | 20 | 30  |
Juan Mónaco  | 20 | 56  |
7\.  | Juan Ignacio Chela  | 17 | 52  |
8\.  | Mariano Zabaleta | 16 | 27  |
9\.  | Gastón Gaudio  | 12 | 33  |
10\.  | Agustín Calleri | 11 | 28  |
Martín Jaite  | 11 | 34  |

## Team competitions

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### Finals

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Competition  | Titles  | Runner-ups  | Ref.

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Davis Cup | 1  | 2016 | 4  | 1981, 2006, 2008, 2011 | [20]
Hopman Cup | –  | 1  | 2005 | [21]

## Notes

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1. ^ "Big Three" refers to number-one players and multiple Grand Slam winners Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.[17]

## References

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1. ^ "Guillermo Vilas – Overview". Association of Tennis Professionals. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
2. ^ "Juan Martin del Potro – Overview". Association of Tennis Professionals. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
3. ^ "David Nalbandian – Overview". Association of Tennis Professionals. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
4. ^ "Guillermo Coria – Overview". Association of Tennis Professionals. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
5. ^ "José Luis Clerc – Overview". Association of Tennis Professionals. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
6. ^ "Gastón Gaudio – Overview". Association of Tennis Professionals. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
7. ^ "Guillermo Cañas – Overview". Association of Tennis Professionals. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
8. ^ "Diego Schwartzman – Overview". Association of Tennis Professionals. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
9. ^ "Alberto Mancini – Overview". Association of Tennis Professionals. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
10. ^ "Mariano Puerta – Overview". Association of Tennis Professionals. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
11. ^ "Martín Jaite – Overview". Association of Tennis Professionals. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
12. ^ "Juan Mónaco – Overview". Association of Tennis Professionals. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
13. ^ a b "Gabriela Sabatini – Overview". Women's Tennis Association. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
14. ^ a b "Paola Suárez – Overview". Women's Tennis Association. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
15. ^ "Horacio Zeballos – Overview". Association of Tennis Professionals. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
16. ^ "Gisela Dulko – Overview". Women's Tennis Association. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
17. ^ Zagoria, Adam (August 25, 2019). "How The 'Big Three' Of Men's Tennis Has Taken Grand Slam Titles From A Generation Of Players". Forbes. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
18. ^ "Which players have beaten Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Rafael Nadal the most times?". Tennis Head. February 5, 2020. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
19. ^ "When Nalbandian Beat Nadal, Djokovic & Federer Consecutively". Association of Tennis Professionals. May 6, 2020. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
20. ^ "Davis Cup – Argentina". Davis Cup. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
21. ^ "History Timeline". Hopman Cup. Retrieved October 9, 2020.

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