Horacio Zeballos

Horacio Zeballos Jr. (locally [oˈɾasjo seˈβaʃos];[1] born 27 April 1985) is a professional tennis player from Argentina on the men's circuit. His career-high singles ranking is world no. 39. His highest doubles ranking to date has been world no. 3 in September 2019. He has played most of his tennis in Challenger events. He qualified for the US Open and defeated Michael Berrer in the first round for his first win at Grand Slam level, and then lost to Tomáš Berdych in four sets in the second round.

Horacio Zeballos Jr.
Country (sports) Argentina
ResidenceBuenos Aires, Argentina
Born (1985-04-27) 27 April 1985
Mar del Plata, Argentina
Height1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Turned pro2003
PlaysLeft-handed (one-handed backhand)
CoachAlejandro Lombardo
Prize money$5,208,249
Singles
Career record91–133
Career titles1
Highest rankingNo. 39 (4 March 2013)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open1R (2010, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018)
French Open4R (2017)
Wimbledon2R (2018)
US Open2R (2009, 2016)
Doubles
Career record211–137
Career titles15
Highest rankingNo. 3 (9 September 2019)
Current rankingNo. 4 (16 March 2020)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian OpenQF (2019)
French OpenSF (2013)
Wimbledon3R (2019)
US OpenF (2019)
Last updated on: 22 March 2020.

He reached the final in the St. Petersburg Open in Russia, losing to Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky. He also reached the doubles final at the Movistar Open in Santiago, Chile in 2010 with partner Potito Starace. They lost to top seeds Łukasz Kubot and Oliver Marach. He won the title in doubles at the Copa Telmex with Sebastián Prieto. Zeballos won the 2009 ATP Newcomer of the Year award on 17 February 2010.

Zeballos won his first pro title in 2013 at the VTR Open in Chile on 10 February. In the final, he beat Rafael Nadal, becoming one of only four players (with Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray) to beat Nadal in a clay-court final.[2]

Personal life

Zeballos is an Argentine of Spanish descent. He enjoys music, ping-pong, and swimming. His father is also named Horacio Zeballos, and his mother is named Carolina. He has one sister, Carolina Jr. His favorite surface is clay, and he is coached by Alejandro Lombardo.

Tennis career

Zeballos has competed primarily on the ATP Challenger Tour, where he has won five singles titles and six doubles titles.

2009: First ATP singles final

He reached his first ATP Tour final at the St. Petersburg Open, defeating Yuri Schukin, Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr., Ernests Gulbis and Igor Kunitsyn before falling in the final to Stakhovsky in a third-set tiebreak.

2010: First ATP doubles title

Zeballos started the singles season in a slump, falling in the first round four times, but had an excellent start to the doubles season. In his first tournament, the Heineken Open, Zeballos and Rogier Wassen defeated world no. 1 team Bob and Mike Bryan. Zeballos then reached the round of 16 at the Australian Open with countryman Leonardo Mayer, and reached the final at the Movistar Open with Italian Potito Starace. Zeballos then turned to the clay in the Copa Telmex in Argentina, where in the first round, he defeated countryman and former French Open champion Gastón Gaudio. It was Zeballos' first ATP singles win since he reached the final in St. Petersburg. Zeballos next defeated former world no. 1 Carlos Moyá and reached his first ATP quarterfinal since October, where he then lost to countryman Juan Mónaco. In doubles, Zeballos and countryman Sebastián Prieto were the fourth seeds and won the title against Simon Greul and Peter Luczak. It was Zeballos' first career ATP title. The next week, at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel, Zeballos lost in the first round to Łukasz Kubot. He made it to the doubles semifinals, with partner Mónaco.

Zeballos was selected for the Argentine Davis Cup team for the first time. He played doubles with David Nalbandian against the Swedish pair of Robert Lindstedt and Robin Söderling. They won in straight sets. Zeballos reached a career milestone as he defeated his first-ever top-25 player, 24th ranked Gilles Simon, in the second roun at the Sony Ericsson Open. He then lost in the third round to eventual finalist Tomáš Berdych.

At the US Men's Clay Court Championships, he defeated Taylor Dent, Dudi Sela, and world no. 11 Fernando González for his first top-15 win and the biggest one of his career. He then faced eventual champion Juan Ignacio Chela in the semifinals, where he lost in straight sets.

At the US Open, Zeballos with partner Eduardo Schwank reached the semifinals in doubles.

2011-2012

Zeballos played mostly on the Challenger circuit in singles. He did not make it past the second round in any ATP events. He had more success in doubles. In 2012, he made it to the semifinals in Viña de Mar and Buenos Aires. At Roland Garros, he and partner Oliver Marach made it to the quarterfinals, where they were beaten by the Bryan brothers.

2013: First ATP singles title

Zeballos won his first ATP singles title at Viña del Mar, where he defeated Rafael Nadal in three sets in his comeback tournament.[2] This victory made Zeballos one of the only four players who have beaten Nadal in a final on clay (the others are Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray).

2017

Zeballos' first match in the 2017 Australian Open was a 5-hour and 15 minute loss to Ivo Karlović, the second longest match by time at the Australian Open in the Open Era.

At Roland Garros, he had his best performance at a Grand Slam, reaching the fourth round. He was beaten by 6th seed Dominic Thiem in straight sets.

2019: First ATP Masters 1000 doubles title

Zeballos won his first ATP Masters 1000 Doubles Title at the 2019 BNP Paribas Open with Nikola Mektić. They defeated sixth-seeded Łukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo in the final. Zeballos became the first ATP Masters doubles champion from Argentina since 1997 after Luis Lobo at the Hamburg Masters.

Significant finals

Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)

Outcome Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 2019 US Open Hard Marcel Granollers Juan Sebastián Cabal
Robert Farah
4–6, 5–7

Masters 1000 finals

Doubles: 2 (2 titles)

Outcome Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win2019Indian Wells MastersHard Nikola Mektić Łukasz Kubot
Marcelo Melo
4–6, 6–4, [10–3]
Win2019Canadian OpenHard Marcel Granollers Robin Haase
Wesley Koolhof
7–5, 7–5

ATP career finals

Singles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)

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 (1–1)
Titles by surface
Hard (0–1)
Clay (1–0)
Grass (0–0)
Titles by setting
Outdoor (1–0)
Indoor (0–1)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Loss 0–1 Nov 2009 St. Petersburg Open, Russia 250 Series Hard (i) Sergiy Stakhovsky 6–2, 6–7(8–10), 6–7(7–9)
Win 1–1 Feb 2013 Chile Open, Chile 250 Series Clay Rafael Nadal 6–7(2–7), 7–6(8–6), 6–4

Doubles: 26 (15 titles, 11 runner-ups)

Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (0–1)
ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (2–0)
ATP World Tour 500 Series (2–0)
ATP World Tour 250 Series (11–10)
Titles by surface
Hard (4–5)
Clay (11–5)
Grass (0–1)
Titles by setting
Outdoor (14–9)
Indoor (1–2)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1–0 Feb 2010 Argentina Open, Argentina 250 Series Clay Sebastián Prieto Simon Greul
Peter Luczak
7–6(7–4), 6–3
Loss 1–1 Feb 2010 Chile Open, Chile 250 Series Clay Potito Starace Łukasz Kubot
Oliver Marach
4–6, 0–6
Win 2–1 May 2011 Bavarian Championships, Germany 250 Series Clay Simone Bolelli Andreas Beck
Christopher Kas
7–6(7–3), 6–4
Loss 2–2 Sep 2013 Malaysian Open, Malaysia 250 Series Hard (i) Pablo Cuevas Eric Butorac
Raven Klaasen
2–6, 4–6
Loss 2–3 Feb 2014 Argentina Open, Argentina 250 Series Clay Pablo Cuevas Marcel Granollers
Marc López
5–7, 4–6
Win 3–3 Feb 2016 Brasil Open, Brazil 250 Series Clay Julio Peralta Pablo Carreño Busta
David Marrero
4–6, 6–1, [10–5]
Win 4–3 Jul 2016 Swiss Open, Switzerland 250 Series Clay Julio Peralta Mate Pavić
Michael Venus
7–6(7–2), 6–2
Win 5–3 Aug 2016 Atlanta Open, United States 250 Series Hard Andrés Molteni Johan Brunström
Andreas Siljeström
7–6(7–2), 6–4
Win 6–3 Sep 2016 Moselle Open, France 250 Series Hard (i) Julio Peralta Mate Pavić
Michael Venus
6–3, 7–6(7–4)
Loss 6–4 Feb 2017 Ecuador Open, Ecuador 250 Series Clay Julio Peralta James Cerretani
Philipp Oswald
3–6, 1–2 ret.
Win 7–4 Apr 2017 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships, United States 250 Series Clay Julio Peralta Dustin Brown
Frances Tiafoe
4–6, 7–5, [10–6]
Loss 7–5 Aug 2017 Winston-Salem Open, United States 250 Series Hard Julio Peralta Jean-Julien Rojer
Horia Tecău
3–6, 4–6
Loss 7–6 Sep 2017 St. Petersburg Open, Russia 250 Series Hard (i) Julio Peralta Roman Jebavý
Matwé Middelkoop
4–6, 4–6
Loss 7–7 Jan 2018 Brisbane International, Australia 250 Series Hard Leonardo Mayer Henri Kontinen
John Peers
6–3, 3–6, [2–10]
Win 8–7 Feb 2018 Argentina Open (2), Argentina 250 Series Clay Andrés Molteni Juan Sebastián Cabal
Robert Farah
6–3, 5–7, [10–3]
Win 9–7 Jul 2018 Swedish Open, Sweden 250 Series Clay Julio Peralta Simone Bolelli
Fabio Fognini
6–3, 6–4
Win 10–7 Jul 2018 German Open, Germany 500 Series Clay Julio Peralta Oliver Marach
Mate Pavić
6–1, 4–6, [10–6]
Loss 10–8 Feb 2019 Córdoba Open, Argentina 250 Series Clay Máximo González Roman Jebavý
Andrés Molteni
4–6, 6–7(4–7)
Win 11–8 Feb 2019 Argentina Open (3), Argentina 250 Series Clay Máximo González Diego Schwartzman
Dominic Thiem
6–1, 6–1
Win 12–8 Mar 2019 Indian Wells Masters, United States Masters 1000 Hard Nikola Mektić Łukasz Kubot
Marcelo Melo
4–6, 6–4, [10–3]
Loss 12–9 Jun 2019 Eastbourne International, United Kingdom 250 Series Grass Máximo González Juan Sebastián Cabal
Robert Farah
6–3, 6–7(4–7), [6–10]
Loss 12–10 Jul 2019 Swedish Open, Sweden 250 Series Clay Federico Delbonis Sander Gillé
Joran Vliegen
7–5(7–5), 5–7, [5–10]
Win 13–10 Aug 2019 Canadian Open, Canada Masters 1000 Hard Marcel Granollers Robin Haase
Wesley Koolhof
7–5, 7–5
Loss 13–11 Sep 2019 US Open, United States Grand Slam Hard Marcel Granollers Juan Sebastián Cabal
Robert Farah
4–6, 5–7
Win 14–11 Feb 2020 Argentina Open (4), Argentina 250 Series Clay Marcel Granollers Guillermo Durán
Juan Ignacio Londero
6–4, 5–7, [18–16]
Win 15–11 Feb 2020 Rio Open, Brazil 500 Series Clay Marcel Granollers Salvatore Caruso
Federico Gaio
6–4, 5–7, [10–7]

Challenger finals: 21 (12–9)

Legend
ATP Challenger Tour (12–9)
Finals by Surface
Hard (3–1)
Clay (9–8)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Winner 1. 22 June 2008 Recanati, Italy Hard Grega Žemlja 6–3, 6–4
Runner-up 1. 28 September 2008 Bogotá, Colombia Clay Marcos Daniel 4–6, 6–4, 4–6
Winner 2. 1 February 2009 Bucaramanga, Colombia Clay Carlos Salamanca 7–5, 6–2
Winner 3. 22 March 2009 Bogotá, Colombia Clay Santiago González 7–6(7–3), 6–0
Runner-up 2. 3 May 2009 Pereira, Colombia Clay Alejandro Falla 4–6, 6–4, 2–6
Runner-up 3. 19 July 2009 Bogotá, Colombia Clay Marcos Daniel 6–4, 6–7(5–7), 4–6
Winner 4. 26 July 2009 Manta, Ecuador Hard Vincent Millot 3–6, 7–5, 6–3
Winner 5. 9 August 2009 Campos do Jordão, Brazil Clay Thiago Alves 6–7(7–4), 6–4, 6–3
Runner-up 4. 20 September 2009 Cali, Colombia Clay Alejandro Falla 4–6, 3–6
Winner 6. 4 October 2009 Buenos Aires, Argentina Clay Gastón Gaudio 6–2, 3–6, 6–3
Runner-up 5. 6 March 2011 Salinas, Ecuador Hard Andrés Molteni 5–7, 6–7(4–7)
Runner-up 6. 15 May 2011 Bordeaux, France Clay Marc Gicquel 2–6, 4–6
Runner-up 7. 1 April 2012 Barranquilla, Colombia Clay Alejandro Falla 4–6, 1–6
Winner 7. 13 May 2012 Prague, Czech Republic Clay Martin Kližan 1–6, 6–4, 7–6(8–6)
Winner 8. 4 November 2012 Montevideo, Uruguay Clay Julian Reister 6–3, 6–2
Winner 9. 11 November 2012 São Leopoldo, Brazil Clay Paul Capdeville 3–6, 7–5, 7–6(7–2)
Winner 10. 6 January 2013 São Paulo, Brazil Hard Rogério Dutra da Silva 7–6(7–5), 6–2>
Runner-up 8. 15 July 2014 Svijany, Czech Republic Clay Andrej Martin 6–1, 1–6, 4–6
Runner-up 9. 22 May 2016 Mestre, Italy Clay Gastao Elias 6–7, 2–6
Winner 11. 19 June 2016 Poprad, Slovakia Clay Gerald Melzer 6–3, 6–4
Winner 12. 9 July 2016 Båstad, Sweden Clay Roberto Carballés Baena 6–3, 6–4

Singles performance timeline

Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# A P Z# PO G F-S SF-B NMS NH
(W) Won; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (A) absent; (P) postponed; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (F-S) silver or (SF-B) bronze Olympic medal; a (NMS) downgraded Masters Series/1000 tournament; (NH) not held. SR=strike rate (events won/competed)
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

Current through 2018 Shanghai Masters.

Tournament20092010201120122013201420152016 20172018W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A 1R A A 1R 1R Q1 A 1R 1R 0–5
French Open A 2R A 2R 2R Q2 Q1 1R 4R 2R 7–6
Wimbledon A 1R A A 1R A 1R 1R 1R 2R 1–6
US Open 2R 1R 1R Q1 1R Q1 Q1 2R 1R A 2–6
Win–Loss 1–1 1–4 0–1 1–1 1–4 0–1 0–1 1–3 3–4 2–3 10–23
Year-End Ranking 45 110 109 85 56 123 124 71 66 173

Doubles performance timeline

Current through the 2019 US Open.

Tournament2009201020112012201320142015201620172018 2019W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A 3R A A 1R 1R 2R A 1R 1R QF 6–7
French Open 1R 2R A QF SF 2R 1R 1R QF 2R 1R 13–10
Wimbledon A 2R A A 2R A A 1R 2R 2R 3R 6–6
US Open A SF 2R 1R 3R 1R 1R 1R 2R 2R F 14–10
Win–Loss 0–1 8–4 1–1 3–2 7–4 1–3 1–3 0–3 5–4 3–4 10–4 39–33
Year-End Ranking 79 33 88 63 40 79 72 45 38 29

References

  1. "The pronunciation by Horacio Zeballos himself". ATP World Tour. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
  2. "Tennis: Nadal denied title in comeback tournament", Global Post, 10 February 2013.
Awards
Preceded by
Kei Nishikori
ATP Newcomer of the Year
2009
Succeeded by
Tobias Kamke
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