Guillermo García López · Biography

In October 2010, in the semifinals in Bangkok, Guillermo García López beat Rafael Nadal, then the world No. 1, 2-6, 7-6(3), 6-3. The next day he defeated Jarkko Nieminen 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in the final for the second ATP title of his career. Born on 4 June 1983 in La Roda, in the Spanish province of Albacete, he was a right-hander with a one-handed backhand and reached a career-high ATP ranking of No. 23 on 21 February 2011. He won five singles and three doubles titles between 2009 and 2016 and retired at the end of the 2021 season.

Early years

He turned professional in 2002 and trained at Juan Carlos Ferrero’s Equelite academy in Villena. His first big result came at the 2005 Australian Open, where he knocked out world No. 5 Carlos Moyà in the first round. Years later he described that match as the moment his career “clicked”. From then on he became a regular on the main tour. Clay was his strongest surface, though he also won on hard courts.

First titles (2009-2011)

In May 2009 he won his first ATP title in Kitzbühel, coming from a set down to beat Julien Benneteau 3-6, 7-6(1), 6-3. He finished that year at No. 41. In January 2010 he won his first doubles title in Doha with Albert Montañés, beating František Čermák and Michal Mertiňák. That season he beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Madrid and lost the grass-court final at Eastbourne to Michaël Llodra before his week in Bangkok in the autumn. He ended 2010 at No. 33 and climbed to No. 23 in February 2011.

Indian Wells, Davis Cup and finals (2012-2013)

In March 2012, ranked 92nd, he beat fourth seed Andy Murray 6-4, 6-2 at Indian Wells. In February 2013 he made his Davis Cup debut in Vancouver in a first-round tie against Canada. Captain Àlex Corretja picked him for the deciding fifth rubber, and Milos Raonic won 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 to give Canada a 3-2 victory. He played two more finals that year, losing in April to Lukáš Rosol in Bucharest and in September to Ernests Gulbis in St. Petersburg.

Peak years (2014-2015)

In March 2014 he won the doubles title in São Paulo with Philipp Oswald. They beat Juan Sebastián Cabal and Robert Farah after a 15-13 match tiebreak. In April he beat Marcel Granollers 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 to win the singles title in Casablanca. In the first round of the 2014 French Open he eliminated Stan Wawrinka, the Australian Open champion that year, 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, 6-0, and went on to the last 16, where he lost to Gaël Monfils. He won two more titles in 2015: in February in Zagreb against Andreas Seppi, and in April in Bucharest against Jiří Veselý, 7-6(5), 7-6(11). He also reached the fourth round of the Australian Open and lost the Shenzhen final to Tomáš Berdych. He finished the year at No. 27.

Doubles

In August 2016 he won the doubles title in Winston-Salem with Henri Kontinen. A few weeks later he played in the 2016 US Open doubles final with Pablo Carreño, and they lost 6-2, 6-3 to Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares. The same pair reached the semifinals of the 2017 Australian Open. On 15 May that year García López hit No. 27 in the doubles rankings, his career high.

Final years and coaching

His last Grand Slam match win came at Wimbledon in 2018, against Portugal’s Gastão Elias. He barely competed in 2021 and retired at the end of that season. After two decades as a professional, his singles record stood at 297 wins and 354 losses. He then began coaching Lithuania’s Vilius Gaubas, who won the Menorca Challenger in April 2025 with him in his corner.