Martin Verkerk
 | |
| Country (sports) |
 |
|---|---|
| Residence | Alphen a/d Rijn, Netherlands |
| Born |
31 October 1978 Leiderdorp, Netherlands |
| Height | 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) |
| Turned pro | 1996 |
| Retired | 9 December 2008 |
| Plays | Right-handed (one-handed backhand) |
| Prize money | $1,491,379 |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 59–66 (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup) |
| Career titles | 2 |
| Highest ranking | No. 14 (15 September 2003) |
| Grand Slam Singles results | |
| Australian Open | 1R (2003, 2004) |
| French Open | F (2003) |
| Wimbledon | 2R (2004) |
| US Open | 2R (2003) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 23–34 (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup) |
| Career titles | 0 |
| Highest ranking | No. 63 (3 November 2003) |
Martin Willem Verkerk (born 31 October 1978) is a retired professional Dutch tennis player. As a relatively unknown player, he reached the final of the French Open in 2003, which he lost to Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero. Along the way, he beat Željko Krajan, Luis Horna, Vince Spadea and Rainer Schüttler before beating experienced clay court players Carlos Moyá and Guillermo Coria.[1]
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, plagued by various injuries and mononucleosis, Verkerk did not reproduce similar results during the rest of his career, never advancing beyond the third round in 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 multiple matchpoints, 7–6(3), 6–7(12), 6–7(6).[1]
Grand Slam singles finals
Runners-up (1)
| Year | Championship | Opponent in final | Score in final |
| 2003 | French Open |  | 1–6, 3–6, 2–6 |
Early life
Martin Verkerk started his journey into the game of tennis at the young age of seven, playing in local tournaments and training with his father, Wim Verkerk, and mother, Bep Verkerk. He played in a tennis facility named "Nieuwe Sloot" in his home city of Alphen a/d Rijn, Netherlands, where his talent was discovered by local coaches, and he soon had the opportunity to train with many better players. Many years of practice lead Verkerk to win the "Indoor and Outdoor National Titles for players up to/including 18 years of age".[2] This big win was the beginning to his professional tennis carrier in the ATP.
Playing style
Verkerk's game was based on booming serves and big backhands. He uses a single-handed backhand and his favorite surface is the clay surface.[3]
Career singles finals
Singles: 4 (2 titles, 2 runners-up)
| Legend (Singles) |
| Grand Slam tournaments (0) |
| Tennis Masters Cup / ATP World Tour Finals (0) |
| ATP Masters Series / ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0) |
| ATP International Series Gold / ATP World Tour 500 Series (0) |
| ATP International Series / ATP World Tour 250 Series (2) |
| Outcome | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent in final | Score in final |
| Winner | 1. | 27 January 2003 | Milan, Italy | Carpet (i) |  |
6–4, 5–7, 7–5 |
| Runner-up | 1. | 27 May 2003 | French Open, France | Clay | |
1–6, 3–6, 2–6 |
| Runner-up | 2. | 1 May 2004 | Munich, Germany | Clay | |
4–6, 5–7 |
| Winner | 2. | 12 July 2004 | Amersfoort, Netherlands | Clay |  |
7–6(7–5), 4–6, 6–4 |
Singles performance timeline
| Tournament | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | SR | W-L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Slams | |||||||||||||
| Australian Open | A | A | A | A | Q1 | 1R | 1R | A | A | A | A | 0 / 2 | 0–2 |
| French Open | A | A | A | A | Q3 | F | 3R | A | A | 1R | A | 0 / 3 | 8–3 |
| Wimbledon | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | 2R | A | A | A | A | 0 / 2 | 1–2 |
| US Open | A | A | A | A | 1R | 2R | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 2 | 1–2 |
| Win–Loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 7–4 | 3–3 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0 / 9 | 10–9 |
| ATP Masters Series | |||||||||||||
| Indian Wells Masters | A | A | A | A | A | A | 2R | A | A | A | A | 0 / 1 | 0–1 |
| Miami Masters | A | A | A | A | 1R | 2R | 2R | A | A | 1R | A | 0 / 4 | 1–4 |
| Monte Carlo Masters | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | 2R | A | A | 1R | A | 0 / 3 | 1–3 |
| Rome Masters | A | A | A | A | A | QF | 2R | A | A | 1R | A | 0 / 3 | 4–3 |
| Hamburg Masters | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | A | A | 1R | A | 0 / 2 | 0–2 |
| Canada Masters | A | A | A | A | A | 2R | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 1 | 1–1 |
| Cincinnati Masters | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 1 | 0–1 |
| Madrid Masters | Not Held | A | 2R | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | |||
| Paris Masters | A | A | A | A | A | 3R | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 1 | 1–1 |
| Win–Loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 6–7 | 2–5 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–4 | 0–0 | 0 / 17 | 8–17 |
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||
| Titles / Finals | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 1 / 2 | 1 / 2 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 2 / 4 | |
| Overall Win–Loss | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 7–11 | 25–25 | 26–19 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–9 | 0–3 | 59–70 | |
| Year-end ranking | 416 | 253 | 233 | 161 | 86 | 19 | 55 | N/A | 1540 | 678 | 263 | ||
References
- 1 2 "Martin Verkerk | Overview | ATP World Tour | Tennis". ATP World Tour. Retrieved 2016-02-22.
- ↑ "Martin Verkerk". www.laurense.com. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
- ↑ "We Are Tennis - We Are Tennis: Get all the news of tennis, players & players, tournaments. ATP & WTA Ranking. Follow the games and the results of tennis live". www.wearetennis.com. Retrieved 2016-02-22.
External links
- Martin Verkerk at the Association of Tennis Professionals
- Martin Verkerk at the International Tennis Federation
- Martin Verkerk at the Davis Cup
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