Rubén Ramírez Hidalgo (; born 6 January 1978 in Alicante, Spain) is a former professional male tennis player from Spain. His career-high ATP singles ranking is world No. 50, achieved on 2 October 2006. His favourite surface is clay, where he has won numerous ATP Challenger Tour events, and has reached the final in three events of the ATP tour, all in 2007, finishing runner-up in all three finals.

Career Ramírez Hidalgo turned pro in 1998.

In 2001, Ramírez Hidalgo won his first ATP tour match in Bucharest, defeating Attila Sávolt.

In 2003, he suffered the ignominy of becoming the only player to ever lose a tour level match to French journeyman Éric Prodon, losing 7–6 6–2 in Casablanca. However, he was able to bounce back later in the year at Sopot, where he reached his first ever tour level semi-final, bravely losing in three sets to David Ferrer.

After dropping down the rankings, early 2006 saw a return to good form. A semi-final run at Viña del Mar saw Ramírez Hidalgo climb back into the top 100. This tournament included his first ever win over a top 10 player, a defeat of former French Open champion Gastón Gaudio. Ramírez Hidalgo was eventually defeated by José Acasuso.

At the 2006 French Open, Ramírez Hidalgo won a Grand Slam match for the first time, eventually reaching the 4th round in a Grand Slam event for the first time in his career, defeating Thierry Ascione, Christophe Rochus and future finalist David Ferrer. Before the tournament, he had lost four consecutive times in the first round of a Grand Slam, a pattern he proceeded to return to for a further 9 appearances.

Ramírez Hidalgo's strong form continued into the latter half of 2006, where he reached the semi-final in Amersfoort (l. Nicolás Massú.) and included rare success on hard courts, where he defeated world no. 5 and home favourite James Blake. Further success came in Palermo, where his run to the semi-final was halted by Nicolás Lapentti. In October 2006, his ranking peaked at no. 50.

2007 started strongly for Ramírez Hidalgo, with another semi-final run, this time in Casablanca. An impressive showing was halted by Albert Montañés.

In his later career, Ramírez Hidalgo became a stalwart of the ATP Challenger tour, whilst still enjoying occasional success on the main tour. 2012 marked his last Grand Slam match win, at the US Open, where he defeated Somdev Devvarman, before losing to big serving Sam Querrey. At Houston in 2013, he recorded what was to be his last ever main tour victory, defeating compatriot Fernando Verdasco, before losing to Rhyne Williams in the quarter-final.

On 4 August 2016, after defeating Ante Pavić in the 2nd round of the Chengdu Challenger, Ramírez Hidalgo became the first player ever to win 400 matches in the ATP Challenger Tour tournaments.

Ramírez Hidalgo retired from professional tennis after the end of the 2017 season.

ATP career finals

Doubles: 3 (3 runner-ups) LegendGrand 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 (0–3)Titles by surfaceHard (0–0)Clay (0–3)Grass (0–0)Carpet (0–0)Titles by settingOutdoor (0–3)Indoor (0–0)

ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss0–1Chile Open, ChileInternationalClay Albert Montañés Paul Capdeville Óscar Hernández6–4, 4–6, [6–10]Loss0–2Brasil Open, BrasilInternationalClay Albert Montañés Lukáš Dlouhý Pavel Vízner2–6, 6–7(4–7)Loss0–3Argentina Open, ArgentinaInternationalClay Albert Montañés Martín García Sebastián Prieto4–6, 2–6

ATP Challenger Tour

Singles finals (11–13)

ResultDateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScoreWin3 September 2002Brașov, RomaniaClay Lovro Zovko2–6, 6–1, 7–5Win7 October 2002Barcelona, SpainClay Albert Portas4–6, 6–4, 6–1Loss12 May 2003Zagreb, CroatiaClay Kristof Vliegen1–6, 6–4, 0–6Win1 July 2003 Košice, SlovakiaClay Tomáš Zíb6–3, 4–6, 6–4Loss10 May 2004Zagreb, CroatiaClay Adrián García3–6, 5–7Win24 May 2005Ljubljana, SloveniaClay Massimo Dell'Acqua6–7(2–7), 5–2 ret.Loss24 October 2005Santiago, ChileClay Júlio Silva2–6, 3–6Win14 January 2008La Serena, ChileClay David Marrero6–3, 6–1Loss18 August 2008San Sebastián, SpainClay Pablo Andújar4–6, 1–6Loss15 September 2008Todi, ItalyClay Tomas Tenconi6–4, 3–6, 0–6Loss20 October 2008Buenos Aires, ArgentinaClay Martín Vassallo Argüello3–6, 6–4, 5–7Win14 March 2010Rabat, MoroccoClay Marcel Granollers6–4, 6–4Win12 June 2010 Košice, SlovakiaClay Filip Krajinović6–3, 6–2Win5 July 2010Pozoblanco, SpainHard Roberto Bautista Agut7–6(8–6), 6–4Loss12 September 2010Rijeka, CroatiaClay Blaž Kavčič4–6, 6–3, 6–7(5–7)Loss11 September 2011Sevilla, SpainClay Daniel Gimeno Traver3–6, 3–6Win7 April 2012San Luis Potosí, MexicoClay Paolo Lorenzi3–6, 6–3, 6–4Loss15 April 2012Pereira, ColombiaClay Carlos Salamanca7–5, 2–6, 1–6Win6 May 2012Tunis, TunisiaClay Jérémy Chardy6–1, 6–4Win15 April 2013Panama City, PanamaClay Alejandro González6–4, 5–7, 7–6(7–4)Loss7 July 2013Timișoara, Romania Clay Andreas Haider-Maurer4–6, 6–3, 4–6Loss14 May 2016Samarkand, UzbekistanClay Karen Khachanov1–6, 7–6(8–6), 1–6Loss7 August 2016Chengdu, China Clay Jason Jung4–6, 2–6Loss14 August 2016Qingdao, China Clay Janko Tipsarević6–1, 5–7, 1–6

Doubles titles (21)

DateTournamentSurfacePartneringOpponentsScore7 September 2004Brașov, RomaniaClay Salvador Navarro Juan Pablo Brzezicki Juan Pablo Guzmán6–3, 6–24 July 2005Geneva, SwitzerlandClay Santiago Ventura Stéphane Bohli Roman Valent6–3, 7–53 April 2006Monza, ItalyClay Tomas Tenconi Leonardo Azzaro Christopher Kas4–6, 6–4, [13–11]28 July 2008Timişoara, RomaniaClay Daniel Munoz-de la Nava Adrian Cruciat Florin Mergea3–6, 6–4, [11–9]22 September 2008Bucharest, RomaniaClay Santiago Ventura Andrea Arnaboldi Máximo González6–3, 5–7, [10–6]14 March 2009Rabat, MoroccoClay Santiago Ventura Michael Kohlmann Philipp Marx6–4, 7–6(7–5)21 March 2009Marrakech, MoroccoClay Santiago Ventura Alberto Martín Daniel Munoz-de la Nava6–3, 7–6(7–5)29 March 2009Barletta, ItalyClay Santiago Ventura Pablo Cuevas Luis Horna7–6(7–1), 6–231 May 2009Alessandria, Italy Clay José Antonio Sánchez de Luna Martín Alund Guillermo Hormazábal6–4, 6–27 June 2009Furth, GermanyClay Santiago Ventura Simon Greul Alessandro Motti4–6, 6–1, [10–6]14 June 2009Košice, SlovakiaClay Santiago Ventura Dominik Hrbatý Martin Kližan6–2, 7–6(7–5)18 October 2009Asunción, ParaguayClay Santiago Ventura Máximo González Eduardo Schwank6–3, 7–6(7–5)20 June 2010Milan, ItalyClay Daniele Bracciali Jeff Coetzee James Cerretani6–4, 7–522 August 2010San Sebastián, SpainClay Santiago Ventura Brian Battistone Andreas Siljeström6–4, 7–6(7–3)24 October 2010Santiago, ChileClay Daniel Munoz de la Nava Nikola Ćirić Goran Tošić6–4, 6–215 May 2011Zagreb, CroatiaClay Daniel Muñoz de la Nava Mate Pavić Franko Škugor6–2, 7–6(12–10)11 September 2011Seville, SpainClay Daniel Muñoz de la Nava Gerard Granollers Adrián Menéndez6–4, 6–7(4–7), [13–11]17 September 2011Banja Luka, Bosnia-HerzegovinaClay Marco Crugnola Jan Mertl Matwé Middelkoop7–6(7–3), 3–6, [10–8]1 October 2011Madrid, SpainClay David Marrero Daniel Gimeno Traver Morgan Phillips6–4, 6–7(8–10), [11–9]5 November 2011São Leopoldo, BrazilClay Franco Ferreiro Gastão Elias Frederico Gil6–7(4–7), 6–3, [11–9]4 September 2016Curitiba, Brazil Clay Pere Riba André Ghem Fabrício Neis6–7(3–7), 6–4, [10–7]

Performance timelines

Singles Tournament19981999200020012002200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017SRW–LGrand Slam tournamentsAustralian OpenAAQ1AQ2A1RAA1RAAA1RA1RAAAA0 / 40–4French OpenAAAAQ3Q21RQ14R1RQ3AQ22R1RAQ1Q1AQ10 / 54–5WimbledonAAAAAA1RQ11R1RAAA1R1RAAAQ2Q10 / 50–5US OpenAAAAA1RAA1R1RA1R1RA2RAAAAA0 / 61–6Win–loss0–00–00–00–00–00–10–30–03–30–40–00–10–11–31–30–10–00–00–00–00 / 205–20ATP Masters SeriesIndian WellsAAAAAA1RAAAAAA1RAAAAAA0 / 20–2MiamiAAAAAA2RAA1RAAA2RAAAAAA0 / 31–3Monte CarloAAAAAAAAQ2A2RQ2AQ1AAAAAA0 / 11–1MadridNot HeldAQ1AAQ1Q1AQ1AQ2AQ2AAAA0 / 00–0RomeAAAAAA1RA3RQ2AQ1AAAAAAAA0 / 22–2Win–loss0–00–00–00–00–00–00–30–02–10–11–10–00–01–20–00–00–00–00–00–00 / 84–8Career statisticsOverall win–loss0–00–00–01–10–35–117–195–525–209–181–64–101–45–153–122–60–30–00–00–068–133Year-end ranking6203813331541418013012057133121156771309116622425314843034%

Doubles Tournament19981999200020012002200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017SRW–LGrand Slam tournamentsAustralian OpenAAAAAA1RAA2RAAA3RAAAAAA0 / 33–3French OpenAAAAAA1RAA1RAAA2R1RAAAAA0 / 41–4WimbledonAAAAAA1RA1R1RAAA1R1RAAAAA0 / 50–5US OpenAAAAAAAA1R1RA2R2RA1RAAAAA0 / 52–5Win–loss0–00–00–00–00–00–00–30–00–21–40–01–11–13–30–30–00–00–00–00–00 / 176–17ATP Masters SeriesMadridNot HeldAAAAAAA2RA2RAAAAAA0 / 22–2Career statisticsTitles / Finals0 / 00 / 00 / 00 / 00 / 00 / 00 / 00 / 00 / 00 / 30 / 00 / 00 / 00 / 00 / 00 / 00 / 00 / 00 / 00 / 00 / 3Overall win–loss0–00–00–00–00–01–43–130–01–1112–186–42–103–410–132–103–30–00–00–00–143–91Year-end ranking –127147546531019916721830373105811205617727829673534166332%

Top 10 wins Season19981999200020012002200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017TotalWins000000003000000000003

#PlayerRankEventSurfaceRdScoreRRH Rank20061. Gastón Gaudio8Viña del Mar, ChileClay2R6–7(6–8), 6–1, 6–41062. Guillermo Coria7Buenos Aires, ArgentinaClay2R7–5, 6–2933. James Blake5New Haven, United StatesHard2R2–6, 7–6(8–6), 7–6(7–4)57

References

External links

Highlights of Hidalgo's match against Federer at the 2008 Monte Carlo Masters