Tommy Robredo Professional tennis player from Spain Date of Birth: 01.05.1982 Country: Spain

1. Biography of Tommy Robredo
2. Breakthrough Season: 2001
3. Continued Success: 2002-2006
4. Later Years

Biography of Tommy Robredo

Tommy Robredo began playing tennis regularly at the age of five when his family moved to Olot, Spain. His father, Ángel, became the director of the local tennis club "Club Natació Olot" and trained him until 1996. In that year, Robredo joined the Spanish Tennis Federation at the Center d'Alt Rendiment in Sant Cugat del Vallès, a renowned center for professional sports training. He turned professional in 1998.

As a junior player, Robredo won the Junior Orange Bowl for players under 16 in both singles and doubles categories in 1998, partnering with Marc López. As a professional, he reached the final in singles and doubles categories of Futures tournaments, winning the doubles title with Pedro Canovas. In 1999, he reached the semifinals of the Junior French Open and won singles and doubles titles in Futures tournaments. He made his ATP Tour debut in his hometown Barcelona, defeating Marat Safin before losing to Todd Martin, a top-10 player at that time.

In 2000, Robredo reached the final in singles and doubles categories of the Junior French Open, losing in singles to Paul-Henri Mathieu but winning the doubles title with Lopez. He also won the doubles title (with Nicolas Mahut) at the Australian Open and won two ATP tournaments, reaching the final in the third and winning the doubles category in the fourth event with Michael Russell.

Breakthrough Season: 2001

2001 was a breakthrough season for Robredo. He reached the final of an ATP tournament in Casablanca and won his first title at the Orange Warsaw Open. He also reached the fourth round of two Grand Slam tournaments, losing to Yevgeny Kafelnikov at the French Open and winning a thrilling five-set match against Juan Carlos Ferrero, the world's fifth-ranked player, at the US Open before losing to Andy Roddick. He reached the semifinals of three other ATP tournaments and finished the season as the youngest player, after Roddick, to finish in the top 30.

Continued Success: 2002-2006

In 2002, Robredo reached his first quarterfinal at the Italian Open and his first semifinal at the Hamburg Masters. He also reached three other semifinals and finished the season in the top 30.

The highlight of the 2003 season for Robredo was reaching the quarterfinals of the French Open. He defeated world number one Lleyton Hewitt in a five-set match and three-time French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten before losing to defending champion Albert Costa in another five-set match. Robredo famously said before the match with Costa, "I beat the ace, I beat the king," referring to his victories over Hewitt and Kuerten. "Now I have to beat the joker. If I beat Costa, I'll have beaten the whole deck." He also had decent results in other tournaments, including reaching the quarterfinals in three events, three semifinals (one of which was his second semifinal in Sweden), and finishing as the runner-up in Stuttgart, which allowed him to break into the top 20.

2006 was the best season for Robredo. After breaking into the top 10, he climbed to the 7th position by winning his first ATP Masters title in Hamburg, defeating Radek Stepanek in the final. He won his second title of the year by defeating Nikolay Davydenko in the final in Bastad. He reached the fourth round of all Grand Slam tournaments except Wimbledon, the final in Barcelona, three semifinals (including two Masters tournaments), and three quarterfinals (one of which was a Masters tournament). He qualified for the year-end Tennis Masters Cup for the first time in his career after reaching the fifth position in the world rankings. Although he didn't achieve much in the tournament, he won a three-set match against James Blake, the second-place finisher.

Later Years

In 2007, Robredo reached his first quarterfinal at the Australian Open, losing to world number one Roger Federer. He also reached the quarterfinals at the French Open, becoming the first player since Andy Roddick in 2006 to take a set off Federer in a Grand Slam match, ending Federer's streak of 36 consecutive set wins at Grand Slam tournaments. He won his first title of the year in Costa Do Sauipe, Brazil, in both singles and doubles categories. He also won the title in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Throughout the season, Robredo reached the semifinals of Estoril Open and six quarterfinals (including three Masters tournaments), finishing the season ranked 10th in the world.

Robredo continued to experience success in 2008, pairing with countryman Rafael Nadal to win his first doubles title in four years at the Monte Carlo Masters. He also reached the semifinals of the Hamburg Masters with Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, and Mark Knowles, all former world number ones in doubles. He finished the season ranked 21st in the world.

In the following seasons, Robredo had mixed success, winning titles in Brazil, reaching the finals in China and Moselle, and achieving decent results in other tournaments. However, he struggled to maintain consistent performances and faced multiple defeats against lower-ranked players. He ended the 2014 season ranked 21st in the world.

Despite facing various injuries and setbacks, Robredo continued to compete on the professional circuit, striving to regain his form and achieve further success in his tennis career.