Daniel Vallverdú

Daniel Vallverdú
Daniel Vallverdú (left) in 2011
Country (sports)  Venezuela
Residence Monaco, Monaco
Born (1986-03-17) March 17, 1986
Valencia, Venezuela
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Turned pro 2004
Plays Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Singles
Career record 2-5
Career titles 0
Highest ranking No. 727 (August 8, 2005)
Doubles
Career record 4-2
Career titles 0
Highest ranking No. 746 (August 15, 2005)
Team competitions
Davis Cup SFAm (2005)

Daniel "Dani" Vallverdú (born March 17, 1986 in Valencia, Venezuela) is currently coaching Grigor Dimitrov [1] and is a former coach of Andy Murray [2] (2010–2014) and Tomáš Berdych (2014–2016).


Vallverdú and Murray had a longstanding and successful partnership which led to many tournament wins, including Murray's first Olympic Gold medal in 2012 (Vallverdú was head coach for the British Olympic tennis team), and two Grand Slam wins: the 2012 US Open (Tennis) and 2013 Wimbledon[3] (Vallverdú was working alongside Ivan Lendl).

Under Vallverdú's guidance in May 2015, at the age of 29, Berdych reached his highest career singles ranking of No. 4 in the Emirates ATP Rankings.

He became the coach of Grigor Dimitrov in July 2016. At the time the Bulgarian was No. 40 in the Emirates ATP Rankings.[4] Vallverdu guided him to his first Masters 1000 win beating Nick Kyrigos in the Final at the Western and Southern Open, Cincinnati Open 2017, [5] followed by the ATP World Tour Finals title in November [6] resulting in a career high ranking of No. 3 by the end of 2017.

In June, 2018 Vallverdu was voted as the Coach representative in the ATP Player Council. The new ATP Player Council, as voted by players, was announced on Friday evening 30th June at the general player meeting at Wimbledon. [7]

Coaching history with Andy Murray

Vallverdú met Andy Murray in the Sánchez-Casal Barcelona Tennis Academy when he was 15, where they were both training to become professional tennis players. The two quickly became best friends.

In June 2008, he became British tennis player Andy Murray's doubles partner for the 2008 Queen's Club Championships in London.

Vallverdú started working with Murray following his split with Miles Maclagan in 2010 and became Murray's de facto coach after he parted company with Alex Corretja in March. He coached Murray, organised practice sessions and served as liaison with Darren Cahill and Sven Groeneveld. "Quiet and unassuming, Vallverdú scouts opponents and helps devise tactical plans. Despite his relative youth, he is known for his professionalism and in-depth knowledge of the game."[8]

Vallverdú worked actively alongside Ivan Lendl,[9] since Lendl joined Murray's team in 2012.[10] Vallverdú was also selected to be the head coach of the British men's tennis team for the London Olympics 2012, in which Murray won the Gold medal.[11]

Other memorable highlights of his coaching work with Murray and Lendl included when Murray won two Grand Slam titles, Wimbledon 2013[12] and the US Open in 2012.

Following a mutual split with Murray in November 2014, Vallverdú took on the head coaching job for Tomáš Berdych.

Coaching history with Tomas Berdych

Vallverdu started working with Tomas Berdych following the mutual split from Andy Murray in November 2014.

At the time Tomas Berdych was ranked World no. 7.

It was an immediate success as Tomas Berdych reached his second Australian Open semi final after beating Rafael Nadal but then losing to Andy Murray in a tense match 6-7 (6-8) 6-0 6-3 7-5.

Under Vallverdú's guidance in May 2015, at the age of 29, Berdych reached his highest career singles ranking of No. 4 in the Emirates ATP Rankings and entered the Roland Garros grand slam event as the number 4 seed. He lost in the Quarter Final to Tsonga.

On May 16, 2016, Berdych and Vallverdú parted ways.

Coaching history with Grigor Dimitrov

He became the coach of Grigor Dimitrov in July 2016. At the time the Bulgarian was No. 40 in the Emirates ATP Rankings.[4] Vallverdu guided him to his first Masters 1000 Win beating Nick Kyrigos in the Final at the Western and Southern Open, Cincinnati Open 2017, [5] followed by the ATP World Tour Finals title in November [6] resulting in a career high ranking of No. 3 by the end of 2017.

Tour career

Doubles

In June 2008, he became British tennis player Andy Murray's doubles partner for the 2008 Queen's Club Championships at Queens Club in London.

Davis Cup

Vallverdú has played for Venezuela in eight matches over six ties, including a semifinal appearance in Group I of the Americas Zone in 2005.

Educational background

Vallverdú graduated from the University of Miami in 2009 with a BA in International Marketing and Finance.[13]

During his time at the University of Miami, Vallverdú was captain of the university tennis team.

He received five all-American honors, was no. 3 in the nation in singles and no. 1 in the nation in doubles with teammate Carl Mikael Sundberg.

References

  1. ↑ http://www.ubitennis.net/blog/2016/08/18/dani-vallverdu-explains-why-he-opted-to-coach-grigor-dimitrov-instead-of-del-potro/
  2. ↑ http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/sport/tennis/article3811623.ece
  3. ↑ http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/sport/tennis/article3811623.ece
  4. ↑ https://www.atpworldtour.com/en/news/dimitrov-nadal-emirates-atp-rankings-21-august-2017
  5. ↑ http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2017/08/dimitrov-was-all-about-substance-his-cincy-masters-run/68648/
  6. ↑ https://www.atpworldtour.com/en/news/dimitrov-goffin-nitto-atp-finals-2017-sunday-final-atp
  7. ↑ https://www.atpworldtour.com/en/news/atp-player-council-election-2018
  8. ↑ https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/tennis/13982353
  9. ↑ http://www.zimbio.com/photos/Dani+Vallverdu/2012+French+Open+Day+Nine/sIGSme7fd4G
  10. ↑ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/tennis/andymurray/8404551/Andy-Murray-hoping-old-pals-act-with-new-coach-Dani-Vallverdu-will-rekindle-his-form.html
  11. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-10-16. Retrieved 2013-01-18.
  12. ↑ http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/sport/tennis/article3811623.ece
  13. ↑ https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/tennis/13982353
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.