# Martin Verkerk

Martin Willem Verkerk (born 31 October 1978) is a retired professional Dutch tennis player. He reached the final of the French Open in 2003 and achieved a career-high singles ranking of No. 14 in September 2003. During his career, he won two ATP singles titles.

## Early life

Verkerk began playing tennis at the age of seven, playing in local tournaments and training with his parents. He played in a tennis facility in his hometown of Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands, where his talent was recognized by local coaches, and he soon had the opportunity to train with many better players. He later won the 18 and Under Dutch title in 1995.

## Career

In 2003, playing in only his third Grand Slam event and ranked 46, Verkerk reached the final of the French Open. Along the way, he beat Željko Krajan, Luis Horna, Vince Spadea and Rainer Schüttler before overcoming experienced clay court players Carlos Moyá (seeded 4th) and Guillermo Coria (seeded 7th). In the final, he lost to Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero in straight sets.
His unexpected run at the French Open as an underdog and his expressive on-court antics made him popular in the Netherlands. The final was watched by even more households in the Netherlands than when his countryman Richard Krajicek won Wimbledon in 1996. However, hampered by various injuries and mononucleosis, Verkerk was unable to reproduce similar results during the rest of his career, never advancing beyond the third round in any subsequent Grand Slams.
During his career, he won two titles and reached the quarter-finals of the 2003 Rome Masters. Verkerk played a close match against Roger Federer at the 2003 Paris Masters, losing in three tiebreak sets after holding four match points.

## Playing style

Verkerk's game was based on powerful serves and backhands. He used a single-handed backhand and his favorite surface was clay.

## Grand Slam finals
### Singles (1 runner-up)

| Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| Loss | 2003 | French Open | Clay | Juan Carlos Ferrero | 1–6, 3–6, 2–6 |

## ATP career finals
### Singles: 4 (2 titles, 2 runner-ups)

* Legend
* Grand Slam Tournaments (0–1)
* ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
* ATP Masters Series (0–0)
* ATP Championship Series (0–0)
* ATP World Series (2–1)
* Finals by surface
* Hard (0–0)
* Clay (1–2)
* Grass (0–0)
* Carpet (1–0)
* Finals by setting
* Outdoors (1–2)
* Indoors (1–0)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| Win | 1–0 | Feb 2003 | Milan, Italy | World Series | Carpet | Yevgeny Kafelnikov | 6–4, 5–7, 7–5 |
| Loss | 1–1 | May 2003 | Paris, France | Grand Slam | Clay | Juan Carlos Ferrero | 1–6, 3–6, 2–6 |
| Loss | 1–2 | May 2004 | Munich, Germany | International Series | Clay | Nikolay Davydenko | 4–6, 5–7 |
| Win | 2–2 | Jul 2004 | Amersfoort, Netherlands | International Series | Clay | Fernando González | 7–6$^{(7–5)}$, 4–6, 6–4 |

### Doubles: 2 (2 runner-ups)

* Legend
* Grand Slam Tournaments (0–0)
* ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
* ATP Masters Series (0–0)
* ATP Championship Series (0–0)
* ATP World Series (0–2)
* Finals by surface
* Hard (0–2)
* Clay (0–0)
* Grass (0–0)
* Carpet (0–0)
* Finals by setting
* Outdoors (0–2)
* Indoors (0–0)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
| Loss | 0–1 | Sep 2002 | Tashkent, Uzbekistan | International Series | Hard | Raemon Sluiter | David Adams Robbie Koenig | 2–6, 5–7 |
| Loss | 0–2 | Mar 2003 | Delray Beach, United States | International Series | Hard | Raemon Sluiter | Nenad Zimonjić Leander Paes | 5–7, 6–3, 5–7 |

## ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals
### Singles: 20 (10–10)

* Legend
* ATP Challenger (4–7)
* ITF Futures (6–3)
* Finals by surface
* Hard (3–4)
* Clay (6–5)
* Grass (0–0)
* Carpet (1–1)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| Win | 1-0 | Apr 1999 | France F3, Melun | Futures | Carpet | Gregory Girault | 7–6, 6–4 |
| Win | 2-0 | Jun 1999 | Germany F5, Augsburg | Futures | Clay | Diego Moyano | 6–3, 6–4 |
| Win | 3-0 | Jun 1999 | Germany F6, Trier | Futures | Clay | Diego Moyano | 6–2, 6–0 |
| Loss | 3-1 | Jul 1999 | Scheveningen, Netherlands | Challenger | Clay | Emilio Benfele Álvarez | 3–6, 6–3, 2–3 ret. |
| Win | 4-1 | Oct 2000 | USA F23, waco | Futures | Hard | Simon Larose | 6–1, 6–2 |
| Loss | 4-2 | Apr 2001 | USA F7, Mobile | Futures | Hard | Michael Russell | 6–4, 1–6, 4–6 |
| Loss | 4-3 | Apr 2001 | USA F8, Little Rock | Futures | Hard | Fredrik Jonsson | 3–6, 4–6 |
| Loss | 4-4 | Jun 2001 | Germany F5, Trier | Futures | Clay | Christian Kordasz | 4–6, 2–6 |
| Loss | 4-5 | Jul 2001 | Eisenach, Germany | Challenger | Clay | Oliver Gross | 7–5, 2–6, 1–6 |
| Loss | 4-6 | Sep 2001 | Aschaffenburg, Germany | Challenger | Clay | Simon Greul | 6–7$^{(5–7)}$, 2–6 |
| Loss | 4-7 | Jan 2002 | Waikoloa, United States | Challenger | Hard | James Blake | 2–6, 3–6 |
| Loss | 4-8 | Feb 2002 | Dallas, United States | Challenger | Hard | Jeff Morrison | 4–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 5-8 | Jun 2002 | Turin, Italy | Challenger | Clay | Vadim Kutsenko | 4–6, 6–4, 6–3 |
| Loss | 5-9 | Jul 2002 | Ulm, Germany | Challenger | Clay | Oliver Gross | 6–7$^{(5–7)}$, 6–4, 3–6 |
| Win | 6-9 | Nov 2002 | Knoxville, United States | Challenger | Hard | Mardy Fish | 6–3, 6–4 |
| Loss | 6-10 | Feb 2003 | Lübeck, Germany | Challenger | Carpet | Alexander Waske | 6–7$^{(3–7)}$, 3–6 |
| Win | 7-10 | Jul 2003 | Hilversum, Netherlands | Challenger | Clay | John Van Lottum | 6–3, 6–1 |
| Win | 8-10 | Mar 2008 | Canada F2, Montreal | Futures | Hard | Florin Mergea | 6–7$^{(8–10)}$, 7–6$^{(11–9)}$, 6–4 |
| Win | 9-10 | Apr 2008 | Athens, Greece | Challenger | Clay | Adrian Cruciat | 6–3, 6–3 |
| Win | 10-10 | Jul 2008 | Germany F9, Kassel | Futures | Clay | Felipe Parada | 6–4, 7–6$^{(13–11)}$ |

### Doubles: 7 (3–4)

* Legend
* ATP Challenger (3–1)
* ITF Futures (0–3)
* Finals by surface
* Hard (1–1)
* Clay (2–2)
* Grass (0–0)
* Carpet (0–1)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
| Loss | 0–1 | Feb 1998 | Great Britain F2, Chigwell | Futures | Carpet | Martijn Belgraver | Barry Cowan Tom Spinks | 4–6, 4–6 |
| Loss | 0–2 | May 1998 | Germany F7, Augsburg | Futures | Clay | Martijn Belgraver | Sascha Bandermann James Greenhalgh | 3–6, 7–6, 1–6 |
| Loss | 0–3 | May 1999 | Italy F6, Viterbo | Futures | Clay | Kepler Orellana | Daniele Bracciali Filippo Messori | 1–6, 7–5, 4–6 |
| Win | 1–3 | Jun 2002 | Eisenach, Germany | Challenger | Clay | Edwin Kempes | Marcos Daniel Adrián García | 6–3, 6–4 |
| Win | 2–3 | Jul 2002 | Scheveningen, Netherlands | Challenger | Clay | Edwin Kempes | Mariano Hood Sebastián Prieto | 6–4, 6–4 |
| Win | 3–3 | Nov 2002 | Knoxville, United States | Challenger | Hard | Dmitry Tursunov | Hugo Armando Sergio Roitman | 6–3, 6–4 |
| Loss | 3–4 | Nov 2002 | Champaign-Urbana, United States | Challenger | Hard | Eric Taino | Gabriel Trifu Glenn Weiner | 3–6, 2–6 |

## Performance timelines

Key :
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | DNQ | A | NH |

### Singles

| Tournament | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | SR | W–L | Win% |
| Grand Slam tournaments ||||||||||
| Australian Open | Q1 | 1R | 1R | A | A | A | 0 / 2 | 0–2 | 0% |
| French Open | Q3 | F | 3R | A | A | 1R | 0 / 3 | 8–3 | 73% |
| Wimbledon | A | 1R | 2R | A | A | A | 0 / 2 | 1–2 | 33% |
| US Open | 1R | 2R | A | A | A | A | 0 / 2 | 1–2 | 33% |
| Win–loss | 0–1 | 7–4 | 3–3 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0 / 9 | 10–9 | 53% |
| ATP World Tour Masters 1000 ||||||||||
| Indian Wells | A | A | 2R | A | A | A | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| Miami | 1R | 2R | 2R | A | A | 1R | 0 / 4 | 1–4 | 20% |
| Monte Carlo | A | 1R | 2R | A | A | 1R | 0 / 3 | 1–3 | 25% |
| Hamburg | A | A | 1R | A | A | 1R | 0 / 2 | 0–2 | 0% |
| Rome | A | QF | 2R | A | A | 1R | 0 / 3 | 4–3 | 57% |
| Madrid | A | 2R | A | A | A | A | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| Canada | A | 2R | A | A | A | A | 0 / 1 | 1–1 | 50% |
| Cincinnati | Q2 | 1R | A | A | A | A | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| Paris | A | 3R | A | A | A | A | 0 / 1 | 1–1 | 50% |
| Win–loss | 0–1 | 6–7 | 2–5 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–4 | 0 / 17 | 8–17 | 32% |

### Doubles

| Tournament | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | SR | W–L | Win% |
| Grand Slam tournaments |||||||||
| Australian Open | A | 1R | A | A | A | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| French Open | 2R | 2R | A | A | 2R | 0 / 3 | 3–3 | 50% |
| Wimbledon | 1R | 2R | A | A | 1R | 0 / 3 | 1–3 | 25% |
| US Open | 2R | A | A | A | A | 0 / 1 | 1–1 | 50% |
| Win–loss | 2–3 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0 / 8 | 5–8 | 38% |
| ATP World Tour Masters 1000 |||||||||
| Indian Wells | A | 1R | A | A | A | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| Miami | A | 1R | A | A | A | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| Madrid | SF | A | A | A | A | 0 / 1 | 2–1 | 67% |
| Cincinnati | 1R | A | A | A | A | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| Win–loss | 2–2 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0 / 4 | 2–4 | 33% |