# Rubén Ramírez Hidalgo

Rubén Ramírez Hidalgo (Spanish pronunciation:; born 6 January 1978 in Alicante, Spain) is a former professional male tennis player from Spain. His career-high ATP singles ranking is world No. 50, achieved on 2 October 2006. His favourite surface is clay, where he has won numerous ATP Challenger Tour events, and has reached the final in three events of the ATP tour, all in 2007, finishing runner-up in all three finals.

## Career

Ramírez Hidalgo turned pro in 1998.
In 2001, Ramírez Hidalgo won his first ATP tour match in Bucharest, defeating Attila Sávolt.
In 2003, he suffered the ignominy of becoming the only player to ever lose a tour level match to French journeyman Éric Prodon, losing 7–6 6–2 in Casablanca. However, he was able to bounce back later in the year at Sopot, where he reached his first ever tour level semi-final, bravely losing in three sets to David Ferrer.
After dropping down the rankings, early 2006 saw a return to good form. A semi-final run at Viña del Mar saw Ramírez Hidalgo climb back into the top 100. This tournament included his first ever win over a top 10 player, a defeat of former French Open champion Gastón Gaudio. Ramírez Hidalgo was eventually defeated by José Acasuso.
At the 2006 French Open, Ramírez Hidalgo won a Grand Slam match for the first time, eventually reaching the 4th round in a Grand Slam event for the first time in his career, defeating Thierry Ascione, Christophe Rochus and future finalist David Ferrer. Before the tournament, he had lost four consecutive times in the first round of a Grand Slam, a pattern he proceeded to return to for a further 9 appearances.
Ramírez Hidalgo's strong form continued into the latter half of 2006, where he reached the semi-final in Amersfoort (l. Nicolás Massú.) and included rare success on hard courts, where he defeated world no. 5 and home favourite James Blake. Further success came in Palermo, where his run to the semi-final was halted by Nicolás Lapentti. In October 2006, his ranking peaked at no. 50.
2007 started strongly for Ramírez Hidalgo, with another semi-final run, this time in Casablanca. An impressive showing was halted by Albert Montañés.
In his later career, Ramírez Hidalgo became a stalwart of the ATP Challenger tour, whilst still enjoying occasional success on the main tour. 2012 marked his last Grand Slam match win, at the US Open, where he defeated Somdev Devvarman, before losing to big serving Sam Querrey. At Houston in 2013, he recorded what was to be his last ever main tour victory, defeating compatriot Fernando Verdasco,before losing to Rhyne Williams in the quarter-final.
On 4 August 2016, after defeating Ante Pavić in the 2nd round of the Chengdu Challenger, Ramírez Hidalgo became the first player ever to win 400 matches in the ATP Challenger Tour tournaments.
Ramírez Hidalgo retired from professional tennis after the end of the 2017 season.

## ATP career finals
### Doubles: 3 (3 runner-ups)

* Legend
* Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
* ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
* ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0)
* ATP World Tour 500 Series (0–0)
* ATP World Tour 250 Series (0–3)
* Titles by surface
* Hard (0–0)
* Clay (0–3)
* Grass (0–0)
* Carpet (0–0)
* Titles by setting
* Outdoor (0–3)
* Indoor (0–0)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
| Loss | 0–1 | Feb 2007 | Chile Open, Chile | International | Clay | Albert Montañés | Paul Capdeville Óscar Hernández | 6–4, 4–6, [6–10] |
| Loss | 0–2 | Feb 2007 | Brasil Open, Brasil | International | Clay | Albert Montañés | Lukáš Dlouhý Pavel Vízner | 2–6, 6–7$^{(4–7)}$ |
| Loss | 0–3 | Feb 2007 | Argentina Open, Argentina | International | Clay | Albert Montañés | Martín García Sebastián Prieto | 4–6, 2–6 |

## ATP Challenger Tour
### Singles finals (11–13)

| Result | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| Win | 3 September 2002 | Brașov, Romania | Clay | Lovro Zovko | 2–6, 6–1, 7–5 |
| Win | 7 October 2002 | Barcelona, Spain | Clay | Albert Portas | 4–6, 6–4, 6–1 |
| Loss | 12 May 2003 | Zagreb, Croatia | Clay | Kristof Vliegen | 1–6, 6–4, 0–6 |
| Win | 1 July 2003 | Košice, Slovakia | Clay | Tomáš Zíb | 6–3, 4–6, 6–4 |
| Loss | 10 May 2004 | Zagreb, Croatia | Clay | Adrián García | 3–6, 5–7 |
| Win | 24 May 2005 | Ljubljana, Slovenia | Clay | Massimo Dell'Acqua | 6–7$^{(2–7)}$, 5–2 ret. |
| Loss | 24 October 2005 | Santiago, Chile | Clay | Júlio Silva | 2–6, 3–6 |
| Win | 14 January 2008 | La Serena, Chile | Clay | David Marrero | 6–3, 6–1 |
| Loss | 18 August 2008 | San Sebastián, Spain | Clay | Pablo Andújar | 4–6, 1–6 |
| Loss | 15 September 2008 | Todi, Italy | Clay | Tomas Tenconi | 6–4, 3–6, 0–6 |
| Loss | 20 October 2008 | Buenos Aires, Argentina | Clay | Martín Vassallo Argüello | 3–6, 6–4, 5–7 |
| Win | 14 March 2010 | Rabat, Morocco | Clay | Marcel Granollers | 6–4, 6–4 |
| Win | 12 June 2010 | Košice, Slovakia | Clay | Filip Krajinović | 6–3, 6–2 |
| Win | 5 July 2010 | Pozoblanco, Spain | Hard | Roberto Bautista Agut | 7–6$^{(8–6)}$, 6–4 |
| Loss | 12 September 2010 | Rijeka, Croatia | Clay | Blaž Kavčič | 4–6, 6–3, 6–7$^{(5–7)}$ |
| Loss | 11 September 2011 | Sevilla, Spain | Clay | Daniel Gimeno Traver | 3–6, 3–6 |
| Win | 7 April 2012 | San Luis Potosí, Mexico | Clay | Paolo Lorenzi | 3–6, 6–3, 6–4 |
| Loss | 15 April 2012 | Pereira, Colombia | Clay | Carlos Salamanca | 7–5, 2–6, 1–6 |
| Win | 6 May 2012 | Tunis, Tunisia | Clay | Jérémy Chardy | 6–1, 6–4 |
| Win | 15 April 2013 | Panama City, Panama | Clay | Alejandro González | 6–4, 5–7, 7–6$^{(7–4)}$ |
| Loss | 7 July 2013 | Timișoara, Romania | Clay | Andreas Haider-Maurer | 4–6, 6–3, 4–6 |
| Loss | 14 May 2016 | Samarkand, Uzbekistan | Clay | Karen Khachanov | 1–6, 7–6$^{(8–6)}$, 1–6 |
| Loss | 7 August 2016 | Chengdu, China | Clay | Jason Jung | 4–6, 2–6 |
| Loss | 14 August 2016 | Qingdao, China | Clay | Janko Tipsarević | 6–1, 5–7, 1–6 |

### Doubles titles (21)

| Date | Tournament | Surface | Partnering | Opponents | Score |
| 7 September 2004 | Brașov, Romania | Clay | Salvador Navarro | Juan Pablo Brzezicki Juan Pablo Guzmán | 6–3, 6–2 |
| 4 July 2005 | Geneva, Switzerland | Clay | Santiago Ventura | Stéphane Bohli Roman Valent | 6–3, 7–5 |
| 3 April 2006 | Monza, Italy | Clay | Tomas Tenconi | Leonardo Azzaro Christopher Kas | 4–6, 6–4, [13–11] |
| 28 July 2008 | Timişoara, Romania | Clay | Daniel Munoz-de la Nava | Adrian Cruciat Florin Mergea | 3–6, 6–4, [11–9] |
| 22 September 2008 | Bucharest, Romania | Clay | Santiago Ventura | Andrea Arnaboldi Máximo González | 6–3, 5–7, [10–6] |
| 14 March 2009 | Rabat, Morocco | Clay | Santiago Ventura | Michael Kohlmann Philipp Marx | 6–4, 7–6$^{(7–5)}$ |
| 21 March 2009 | Marrakech, Morocco | Clay | Santiago Ventura | Alberto Martín Daniel Munoz-de la Nava | 6–3, 7–6$^{(7–5)}$ |
| 29 March 2009 | Barletta, Italy | Clay | Santiago Ventura | Pablo Cuevas Luis Horna | 7–6$^{(7–1)}$, 6–2 |
| 31 May 2009 | Alessandria, Italy | Clay | José Antonio Sánchez de Luna | Martín Alund Guillermo Hormazábal | 6–4, 6–2 |
| 7 June 2009 | Furth, Germany | Clay | Santiago Ventura | Simon Greul Alessandro Motti | 4–6, 6–1, [10–6] |
| 14 June 2009 | Košice, Slovakia | Clay | Santiago Ventura | Dominik Hrbatý Martin Kližan | 6–2, 7–6$^{(7–5)}$ |
| 18 October 2009 | Asunción, Paraguay | Clay | Santiago Ventura | Máximo González Eduardo Schwank | 6–3, 7–6$^{(7–5)}$ |
| 20 June 2010 | Milan, Italy | Clay | Daniele Bracciali | Jeff Coetzee James Cerretani | 6–4, 7–5 |
| 22 August 2010 | San Sebastián, Spain | Clay | Santiago Ventura | Brian Battistone Andreas Siljeström | 6–4, 7–6$^{(7–3)}$ |
| 24 October 2010 | Santiago, Chile | Clay | Daniel Munoz de la Nava | Nikola Ćirić Goran Tošić | 6–4, 6–2 |
| 15 May 2011 | Zagreb, Croatia | Clay | Daniel Muñoz de la Nava | Mate Pavić Franko Škugor | 6–2, 7–6$^{(12–10)}$ |
| 11 September 2011 | Seville, Spain | Clay | Daniel Muñoz de la Nava | Gerard Granollers Adrián Menéndez | 6–4, 6–7$^{(4–7)}$, [13–11] |
| 17 September 2011 | Banja Luka, Bosnia-Herzegovina | Clay | Marco Crugnola | Jan Mertl Matwé Middelkoop | 7–6$^{(7–3)}$, 3–6, [10–8] |
| 1 October 2011 | Madrid, Spain | Clay | David Marrero | Daniel Gimeno Traver Morgan Phillips | 6–4, 6–7$^{(8–10)}$, [11–9] |
| 5 November 2011 | São Leopoldo, Brazil | Clay | Franco Ferreiro | Gastão Elias Frederico Gil | 6–7$^{(4–7)}$, 6–3, [11–9] |
| 4 September 2016 | Curitiba, Brazil | Clay | Pere Riba | André Ghem Fabrício Neis | 6–7$^{(3–7)}$, 6–4, [10–7] |

## Performance timelines

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

### Singles

| Tournament | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | SR | W–L |
| Grand Slam tournaments |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Australian Open | A | A | Q1 | A | Q2 | A | 1R | A | A | 1R | A | A | A | 1R | A | 1R | A | A | A | A | 0 / 4 | 0–4 |
| French Open | A | A | A | A | Q3 | Q2 | 1R | Q1 | 4R | 1R | Q3 | A | Q2 | 2R | 1R | A | Q1 | Q1 | A | Q1 | 0 / 5 | 4–5 |
| Wimbledon | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | Q1 | 1R | 1R | A | A | A | 1R | 1R | A | A | A | Q2 | Q1 | 0 / 5 | 0–5 |
| US Open | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | A | A | 1R | 1R | A | 1R | 1R | A | 2R | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 6 | 1–6 |
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 3–3 | 0–4 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0 / 20 | 5–20 |
| ATP Masters Series |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Indian Wells | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 2 | 0–2 |
| Miami | A | A | A | A | A | A | 2R | A | A | 1R | A | A | A | 2R | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 3 | 1–3 |
| Monte Carlo | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | Q2 | A | 2R | Q2 | A | Q1 | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 1 | 1–1 |
| Madrid | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | A | Q1 | A | A | Q1 | Q1 | A | Q1 | A | Q2 | A | Q2 | A | A | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 |
| Rome | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | A | 3R | Q2 | A | Q1 | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 2 | 2–2 |
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0 / 8 | 4–8 |
| Career statistics |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Overall win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 5–11 | 7–19 | 5–5 | 25–20 | 9–18 | 1–6 | 4–10 | 1–4 | 5–15 | 3–12 | 2–6 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 68–133 | 68–133 |
| Year-end ranking | 620 | 381 | 333 | 154 | 141 | 80 | 130 | 120 | 57 | 133 | 121 | 156 | 77 | 130 | 91 | 166 | 224 | 253 | 148 | 430 | 34% | 34% |

### Doubles

| Tournament | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | SR | W–L |
| Grand Slam tournaments |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Australian Open | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | A | A | 2R | A | A | A | 3R | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 3 | 3–3 |
| French Open | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | A | A | 1R | A | A | A | 2R | 1R | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 4 | 1–4 |
| Wimbledon | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | A | 1R | 1R | A | A | A | 1R | 1R | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 5 | 0–5 |
| US Open | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | 1R | A | 2R | 2R | A | 1R | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 5 | 2–5 |
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–4 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0 / 17 | 6–17 |
| ATP Masters Series |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Madrid | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 2R | A | 2R | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 2 | 2–2 |
| Career statistics |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Titles / Finals | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 3 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 3 | 0 / 3 |
| Overall win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–4 | 3–13 | 0–0 | 1–11 | 12–18 | 6–4 | 2–10 | 3–4 | 10–13 | 2–10 | 3–3 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 43–91 | 43–91 |
| Year-end ranking | – | 1271 | 475 | 465 | 310 | 199 | 167 | 218 | 303 | 73 | 105 | 81 | 120 | 56 | 177 | 278 | 296 | 735 | 341 | 663 | 32% | 32% |

## Top 10 wins

| Season | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | Total |
| Wins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| # | Player | Rank | Event | Surface | Rd | Score | RRH Rank |
| 2006 ||||||||
| 1. | Gastón Gaudio | 8 | Viña del Mar, Chile | Clay | 2R | 6–7$^{(6–8)}$, 6–1, 6–4 | 106 |
| 2. | Guillermo Coria | 7 | Buenos Aires, Argentina | Clay | 2R | 7–5, 6–2 | 93 |
| 3. | James Blake | 5 | New Haven, United States | Hard | 2R | 2–6, 7–6$^{(8–6)}$, 7–6$^{(7–4)}$ | 57 |