Albert Ramos · Biography

On 17 July 2016, Albert Ramos-Viñolas won the first ATP title of his career in Båstad, Sweden. He beat Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 6-4 in the final on the clay of the Swedish Open. Born on 17 January 1988 in Barcelona, the Spaniard is left-handed, plays a two-handed backhand and stands 1.88 metres tall. He played professionally from 2007 to 2025. Over that span he won four ATP singles titles and reached the final of the 2017 Monte-Carlo Masters.

Building a career on the tour (2007-2015)

He turned professional in 2007 and developed his game on the Challenger circuit before establishing himself on the main tour. His first ATP final came in 2012 at the Grand Prix Hassan II in Casablanca, where he lost to fellow Spaniard Pablo Andújar. In February 2013 he made his Davis Cup debut in Vancouver, in a World Group first-round tie against Canada. Spain were without Rafael Nadal, David Ferrer and Nicolás Almagro. Ramos lost to Milos Raonic 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, then won the dead rubber against Frank Dancevic 7-5, 6-4, and Canada took the tie 3-2. On 13 October 2015, at the Shanghai Masters, he beat second seed Roger Federer as a qualifier, 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-3, in the second round. He lost to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the third round.

Quarter-finals at Roland Garros (2016)

Until 2016 he had never gone beyond the second round of a Grand Slam. That year he reached the Roland Garros quarter-finals. On 29 May, in the fourth round, he knocked out eighth seed Milos Raonic 6-2, 6-4, 6-4: he broke the Canadian five times and saved six of the seven break points he faced. In the quarter-finals he met defending champion Stan Wawrinka and lost. That summer he reached the third round at Wimbledon, won in Båstad and played at the Rio Olympics, where he lost in the first round. In the autumn he contested the Chengdu final, won by Karen Khachanov.

The Monte-Carlo final (2017)

In 2017 he lost the São Paulo final to Pablo Cuevas, and in April he had the best week of his career in Monte-Carlo. In the third round he beat world number one Andy Murray 2-6, 6-2, 7-5, recovering from 0-4 down in the deciding set. He then beat Marin Čilić in the quarter-finals and Lucas Pouille in the semi-finals. In the final, his only one at Masters 1000 level, he lost to Rafael Nadal 6-1, 6-3. On 8 May 2017 he reached No. 17 in the ATP rankings, the highest position of his career. He matched his Wimbledon third-round run that year, and in 2018 reached the third round of the Australian Open, his best result there.

Gstaad, Estoril and Córdoba (2018-2022)

In 2018 he lost the Quito final to Roberto Carballés Baena. On 28 July 2019 he won his second title in Gstaad, Switzerland, beating Cedrik-Marcel Stebe 6-3, 6-2. A week later he lost the Kitzbühel final to Dominic Thiem. On 2 May 2021 he won the Estoril Open, coming from a set down to beat Cameron Norrie 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(3). In February of that year he had lost the Córdoba final in Argentina to Juan Manuel Cerúndolo. He returned to that event in 2022 and on 6 February beat Alejandro Tabilo 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the final. It was his fourth ATP title.

Playing style

A left-hander with a two-handed backhand, he built his career on clay. All four of his ATP titles and his Monte-Carlo final came on that surface, where he made the most of the spin on his forehand and his stamina from the baseline. His best grass-court results were third-round runs at Wimbledon in 2016 and 2017. At the US Open he never went past the second round. He was coached by José María Díaz and Tiago Leivas.

Final seasons and retirement (2023-2025)

In 2023 he reached the Gstaad final again and lost to Argentina's Pedro Cachin. It was the last of his twelve ATP finals. On 31 March 2025 he announced that he would retire during that season. He played his final match on 9 October 2025, in the quarter-finals of the Valencia Challenger, losing to Britain's Jan Choinski 6-4, 7-5. He closed 18 years as a professional with 281 wins on the main tour, four ATP titles and six Challenger titles.