Martin Willem Verkerk (; born 31 October 1978) is a retired professional Dutch tennis player. He reached the final of the French Open in 2003 and achieved a career-high singles ranking of No. 14 in September 2003. During his career, he won two ATP singles titles.
Early life Verkerk began playing tennis at the age of seven, playing in local tournaments and training with his parents. He played in a tennis facility in his hometown of Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands, where his talent was recognized by local coaches, and he soon had the opportunity to train with many better players. He later won the 18 and Under Dutch title in 1995.
Career In 2003, playing in only his third Grand Slam event and ranked 46, Verkerk reached the final of the French Open. Along the way, he beat Željko Krajan, Luis Horna, Vince Spadea and Rainer Schüttler before overcoming experienced clay court players Carlos Moyá (seeded 4th) and Guillermo Coria (seeded 7th). In the final, he lost to Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero in straight sets.
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, hampered by various injuries and mononucleosis, Verkerk was unable to reproduce similar results during the rest of his career, never advancing beyond the third round in any 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 four match points.
Playing style
Verkerk's game was based on powerful serves and backhands. He used a single-handed backhand and his favorite surface was clay.
Grand Slam finals
Singles (1 runner-up) ResultYearChampionshipSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss 2003 French Open Clay Juan Carlos Ferrero 1–6, 3–6, 2–6
ATP career finals
Singles: 4 (2 titles, 2 runner-ups) LegendGrand Slam Tournaments (0–1)ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)ATP Masters Series (0–0)ATP Championship Series (0–0)ATP World Series (2–1)Finals by surfaceHard (0–0)Clay (1–2)Grass (0–0)Carpet (1–0)Finals by settingOutdoors (1–2)Indoors (1–0)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScoreWin1–0Milan, ItalyWorld SeriesCarpet Yevgeny Kafelnikov6–4, 5–7, 7–5Loss1–1Paris, FranceGrand SlamClay Juan Carlos Ferrero1–6, 3–6, 2–6Loss1–2Munich, GermanyInternational SeriesClay Nikolay Davydenko4–6, 5–7Win2–2Amersfoort, NetherlandsInternational SeriesClay Fernando González7–6(7–5), 4–6, 6–4
Doubles: 2 (2 runner-ups) LegendGrand Slam Tournaments (0–0)ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)ATP Masters Series (0–0)ATP Championship Series (0–0)ATP World Series (0–2)Finals by surfaceHard (0–2)Clay (0–0)Grass (0–0)Carpet (0–0)Finals by settingOutdoors (0–2)Indoors (0–0)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss0–1Tashkent, UzbekistanInternational SeriesHard Raemon Sluiter David Adams Robbie Koenig2–6, 5–7Loss0–2Delray Beach, United StatesInternational SeriesHard Raemon Sluiter Nenad Zimonjić Leander Paes5–7, 6–3, 5–7
ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals
Singles: 20 (10–10) LegendATP Challenger (4–7)ITF Futures (6–3)Finals by surfaceHard (3–4)Clay (6–5)Grass (0–0)Carpet (1–1)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScoreWin1-0France F3, MelunFuturesCarpet Gregory Girault7–6, 6–4Win2-0Germany F5, AugsburgFuturesClay Diego Moyano6–3, 6–4Win3-0Germany F6, TrierFuturesClay Diego Moyano6–2, 6–0Loss3-1Scheveningen, NetherlandsChallengerClay Emilio Benfele Álvarez3–6, 6–3, 2–3 ret.Win4-1USA F23, wacoFuturesHard Simon Larose6–1, 6–2Loss4-2USA F7, MobileFuturesHard Michael Russell6–4, 1–6, 4–6Loss4-3USA F8, Little RockFuturesHard Fredrik Jonsson3–6, 4–6Loss4-4Germany F5, TrierFuturesClay Christian Kordasz4–6, 2–6Loss4-5Eisenach, GermanyChallengerClay Oliver Gross7–5, 2–6, 1–6Loss4-6Aschaffenburg, GermanyChallengerClay Simon Greul6–7(5–7), 2–6Loss4-7Waikoloa, United StatesChallengerHard James Blake2–6, 3–6Loss4-8Dallas, United StatesChallengerHard Jeff Morrison4–6, 4–6Win5-8Turin, ItalyChallengerClay Vadim Kutsenko4–6, 6–4, 6–3Loss5-9Ulm, GermanyChallengerClay Oliver Gross6–7(5–7), 6–4, 3–6Win6-9Knoxville, United StatesChallengerHard Mardy Fish6–3, 6–4Loss6-10Lübeck, GermanyChallengerCarpet Alexander Waske6–7(3–7), 3–6Win7-10Hilversum, NetherlandsChallengerClay John Van Lottum6–3, 6–1Win8-10Canada F2, MontrealFuturesHard Florin Mergea6–7(8–10), 7–6(11–9), 6–4Win9-10Athens, GreeceChallengerClay Adrian Cruciat6–3, 6–3Win10-10Germany F9, KasselFuturesClay Felipe Parada6–4, 7–6(13–11)
Doubles: 7 (3–4) LegendATP Challenger (3–1)ITF Futures (0–3)Finals by surfaceHard (1–1)Clay (2–2)Grass (0–0)Carpet (0–1)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss0–1Great Britain F2, ChigwellFuturesCarpet Martijn Belgraver Barry Cowan Tom Spinks4–6, 4–6Loss0–2Germany F7, AugsburgFuturesClay Martijn Belgraver Sascha Bandermann James Greenhalgh3–6, 7–6, 1–6Loss0–3Italy F6, ViterboFuturesClay Kepler Orellana Daniele Bracciali Filippo Messori1–6, 7–5, 4–6Win1–3Eisenach, GermanyChallengerClay Edwin Kempes Marcos Daniel Adrián García6–3, 6–4Win2–3Scheveningen, NetherlandsChallengerClay Edwin Kempes Mariano Hood Sebastián Prieto6–4, 6–4Win3–3Knoxville, United StatesChallengerHard Dmitry Tursunov Hugo Armando Sergio Roitman6–3, 6–4Loss3–4Champaign-Urbana, United StatesChallengerHard Eric Taino Gabriel Trifu Glenn Weiner3–6, 2–6
Performance timelines
Singles Tournament200220032004200520062007SRW–LWin%Grand Slam tournamentsAustralian OpenQ11R1RAAA0 / 20–2French OpenQ3F3RAA1R0 / 38–3WimbledonA1R2RAAA0 / 21–2US Open1R2RAAAA0 / 21–2Win–loss0–17–43–30–00–00–10 / 910–9ATP World Tour Masters 1000Indian WellsAA2RAAA0 / 10–1Miami1R2R2RAA1R0 / 41–4Monte CarloA1R2RAA1R0 / 31–3HamburgAA1RAA1R0 / 20–2RomeAQF2RAA1R0 / 34–3MadridA2RAAAA0 / 10–1CanadaA2RAAAA0 / 11–1CincinnatiQ21RAAAA0 / 10–1ParisA3RAAAA0 / 11–1Win–loss0–16–72–50–00–00–40 / 178–17
Doubles Tournament20032004200520062007SRW–LWin%Grand Slam tournamentsAustralian OpenA1RAAA0 / 10–1French Open2R2RAA2R0 / 33–3Wimbledon1R2RAA1R0 / 31–3US Open2RAAAA0 / 11–1Win–loss2–32–30–00–01–20 / 85–8ATP World Tour Masters 1000Indian WellsA1RAAA0 / 10–1MiamiA1RAAA0 / 10–1MadridSFAAAA0 / 12–1Cincinnati1RAAAA0 / 10–1Win–loss2–20–20–00–00–00 / 42–4
References
External links