Tommy Robredo: A Career Timeline of the Spanish Tennis Player
Born on 1st June, 1982, in Hostalric, Spain, Tommy Robredo Garcés first became interested in tennis at the age of five and he steadily rose through the ranks to become Spain’s top ranked junior player in 2000. Robredo began by testing his skills on hard surfaces at Club Natació Olot (Olot Swimming Club) near Barcelona, and first turned to clay at the Spanish Federation Tennis Centre in the Catalonian capital. Robredo’s background was perfect for a career in tennis; his father, Ángel, was a tennis instructor and mother, Dolores, was also involved in tennis coaching. Until 1996, the Spaniard’s development in the sport was overseen by his father and subsequently he sought to secure the services of the Spanish Tennis Federation. In 1998, Robredo inaugurated his professional career at the age of 16. That year, he landed himself both the singles and doubles Junior Orange Bowl 16-Under titles. The following year, Robredo reached the boys’ event semifinals at the 1999 French Open in Roland Garros and also clinched a singles Futures trophy in addition to seizing another doubles title. At that year’s Barcelona event, Robredo debuted at his first ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Tour level game in style by overcoming the well established Marat Safin. Yet the Spaniard’s further progress at the home event was thwarted by Todd Martin, who was then ranked amongst the top ten players in the world.
In 2000, Robredo consolidated his doubles standing after making it to the finals of the boys’ event at the French Open, where he took the title together with Marc Lopez. On the Australian Open front also, Robredo took the boys’ doubles trophy, this time paired alongside Nicolas Mahut. The Spaniard then went on to take two Challenger-level victories and won the series doubles trophy paired with Michael Russell. In 2001, Robredo truly came into his own after making it to his first ATP Tour-standard event final in Casablanca and landing his initial main tour title in Sopot. Robredo also managed to advance to the fourth rounds at both the French Open and U.S. Open. His Roland Garros run was terminated by Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Robredo memorably overcame countryman Juan Carlos Ferrero in a five-set thriller in the U.S. Open before falling to Andy Roddick. At the conclusion of the 2001 run, Robredo was one of the youngest players to have made it into ATP Tour world top thirty ranked professionals.
Robredo inaugurated the 2002 campaign by grabbing the Hopman Cup for his country together with Arantxa Sanchez Vicario. The duo then proceeded to take the Mixed Doubles title in straight sets. Although his Grand Slam successes that year were limited, Robredo nevertheless managed to put on solid performances at the season’s ATP Masters Series events in Rome and Hamburg. 2002 also marked the Spaniard’s first Davis Cup appearance. In 2003, Robredo reached the quarterfinals of the French Open in a run that saw him topple the likes of Lleyton Hewitt (then ranked world number one) and Gustavo Kuerten (three time French Open Champion). The following year, Robredo took the second ATP tour title of his career after demolishing Gaston Gaudio in Barcelona. 2006 marked a highly successful year for the Spaniard, as he achieved his highest ever ranking (No. 5) in singles. In May that season, Robredo took his first ATP Masters series title at the Hamburg event, where he got the better of Radek Stepanek before proceeding to destroy Nikolay Davydenko at the Swedish Open final to seal his second title of the season. The following year, Robredo took the Sopot and Metz titles in addition to battling his way to the quarterfinals of both the Australian and French Open events, where he lost out to Roger Federer on both occasions. In 2008, the Spaniard took the Swedish Open title and the doubles title at the Monte Carlo Masters paired alongside countryman Rafael Nadal. The following season, Robredo added the 2009 Brasil Open and Copa Telmex Open trophies to his name. Robredo ushered in the 2010 campaign after winning the Hopman Cup for Spain, emulating his 2002 feat. The currently 36th seed has recently contested the year’s Swedish Open event, where he bowed out to Nicolas Almagro in the semifinals.
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