Daniel Vallverdú

Daniel "Dani" Vallverdú (born March 17, 1986) is the tennis coach of the Swiss tennis player Stan Wawrinka, together with Magnus Norman. Since the beginning of 2020 he also coaches Karolína Plíšková, the current world number 3 female player on the WTA Tour.

Daniel Vallverdú
Daniel Vallverdú (left) in 2011
Country (sports) Venezuela
ResidenceZurich, Switzerland
Born (1986-03-17) March 17, 1986
Valencia, Venezuela
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Turned pro2004
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
Singles
Career record2-5
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 727 (August 8, 2005)
Doubles
Career record4-2
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 746 (August 15, 2005)
Team competitions
Davis CupSFAm (2005)

Vallverdú has formerly coached Andy Murray [1] (2010–2014), Tomáš Berdych (2014–2016), Grigor Dimitrov (2016–2019)[2] and Juan Martin Del Potro.

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, Czech player Tomáš Berdych reached his highest career singles ranking of No. 4 in the ATP Rankings.

He became the coach of Grigor Dimitrov [4] in July 2016. At the time the Bulgarian was No. 40 in the ATP Rankings.[5] Vallverdú guided him to his first Masters 1000 win beating Nick Kyrgios in the Final at the Cincinnati Masters 2017,[6] followed by the ATP Finals title in November 2017,[7] resulting in Dimitrov's career high ranking of No. 3 by the end of 2017. On 7 May 2019, after 3 years, Dimitrov and Vallverdú ended their working relationship.

In June, 2018 Vallverdú was voted by the body of ATP coaches to act as the Coaches representative in the ATP Player Council.[8]

Vallverdú joined Stan Wawrinka in July 2019 as his coach, together with Magnus Norman. Wawrinka ended 2019 back in the top 20 of the ATP Rankings ranked 16 in the world.

In Dec 2019 Vallverdú agreed to work also with Karolina Pliskova, ranked then number 2 in the WTA Rankings. She successfully went on to defend her Premier Brisbane International title in January 2020 beating Naomi Osaka in the semifinal and Madison Keys in the final.

In June 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Vallverdú with members of the ATP Coach Programme in collaboration with ATP launched the fan experience initiative to help coaches during the pandemic.[9]

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."[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]

With Andy Murray, Vallverdú worked actively alongside Ivan Lendl,[12] who joined Murray's team in 2012.[13]

Other memorable highlights of his coaching work with Murray and Lendl included when Murray won two Grand Slam titles, Wimbledon 2013[14] 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 Tomáš Berdych

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

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

It was an immediate success as Tomáš Berdych reached his second Australian Open semifinal 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 ATP Rankings and entered the Roland Garros grand slam event as the number 4 seed.

On 16 May 2016, Berdych and Vallverdú parted their 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 ATP Rankings.[4] Vallverdu guided him to his first Masters 1000 Win, as he beat Nick Kyrgios in the final of the Western and Southern Open, Cincinnati Masters 2017. This success was followed by the ATP Finals title for Dimitrov in November 2017, resulting in a career high ranking of No. 3 by the end of 2017. On 7 May 2019, after three years, Dimitrov and Vallverdú ended their working relationship.[15]

Coaching history with Stan Wawrinka

After parting ways with Grigor Dimitrov, Vallverdú joined Stan Wawrinka's coaching team before the grass court season 2019 started. He coaches Wawrinka alongside Magnus Norman.

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.[16]

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. Harman, Neil. "Joy of Dani Vallverdu who became Andy Murray's closest confidant".
  2. "Dani Vallverdu Explains Why He Opted to Coach Grigor Dimitrov Instead of del Potro". 18 August 2016.
  3. Harman, Neil. "Joy of Dani Vallverdu who became Andy Murray's closest confidant".
  4. "Dani Vallverdu Explains Why He Opted to Coach Grigor Dimitrov Instead of del Potro". 18 August 2016.
  5. "Hear Him Roar, Nitto ATP Finals Title Belongs to Grigor Dimitrov! | ATP Tour | Tennis".
  6. "Formerly Baby Fed, Grigor Dimitrov won Cincy with an all-grown-up game".
  7. "Hear Him Roar, Nitto ATP Finals Title Belongs to Grigor Dimitrov! | ATP Tour | Tennis".
  8. "New ATP Player Council Elected in London | ATP Tour | Tennis".
  9. "ATP Coaches Launch Fan Experience". ATP Tour. ATP Tour, Inc. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  10. "Wimbledon 2011: The men who make Murray tick". BBC Sport. 30 June 2011.
  11. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-10-16. Retrieved 2013-01-18.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  12. "Dani Vallverdu Photos Photos: 2012 French Open - Day Nine".
  13. Hodgkinson, Mark (24 March 2011). "Andy Murray hoping old pals' act with new coach Dani Vallverdu will rekindle his form".
  14. Harman, Neil. "Joy of Dani Vallverdu who became Andy Murray's closest confidant".
  15. Dimitrov, Grigor (2019-05-07). "pic.twitter.com/FKzimMLkzg". @GrigorDimitrov. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
  16. "Wimbledon 2011: The men who make Murray tick". BBC Sport. 30 June 2011.

[1]

  1. Dimitrov, Grigor (2019-05-07). "pic.twitter.com/FKzimMLkzg". @GrigorDimitrov. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
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