Roberto Bautista Agut

Bautista Agut's first tournament of 2013, in Chennai, saw him reach his first career ATP final. He defeated world No. 6 Tomáš Berdych in the quarterfinals in three sets and faced world No. 9 Janko Tipsarević in the final, to whom he eventually lost after winning the first set. This run saw Bautista Agut reach a career-high singles ranking of world No. 51 in March 2013.

2014 – Career breakthrough: First two titles and world no. 14 ranking

Bautista Agut began his 2014 campaign in Auckland, where he made the semifinals of the Heineken Open. He lost to third seed, and eventual champion, John Isner after winning the first set.

Bautista Agut then participated in the Australian Open. Roberto began his campaign with a first-round, straight-sets, victory over unseeded American Tim Smyczek. In the second round he would face an epic challenge against the world no. 5 Juan Martín del Potro. He recorded one of the 2014 Australian Open upsets, beating del Potro in a classic five-setter.^[3]^[4] Following this Herculean effort, he earned the nickname 'Aussie Agut' and enjoys a cult following in the Australian tennis community.^[5] He then took on Frenchmen Benoît Paire (whom he had beaten in Auckland) in the third round. Roberto convincingly beat Benoît in straight sets. His campaign ended in the fourth round against Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, losing in four sets. This was the best Grand Slam performance, of his career to date.

Bautista Agut at the US Open

Bautista Agut's surprising performances earned him a call-up to Spain for their clash with Germany in the Davis Cup. Agut lost both of his rubbers to Philipp Kohlschreiber and Daniel Brands. Germany would go on to win the tie 4–1.

After the disappointing Davis Cup ties, Roberto played in the Open 13 Tournament in Marseille. Roberto's tournament ended in the second round against Latvian and 2014 tournament champion Ernests Gulbis.

Roberto would then play in the Dubai Tennis Championships. Roberto's tournament ended in the second round against world no. 2 Novak Djoković.

Bautista Agut then participated in the first Masters 1000 event of the year, the Indian Wells Masters. In the second round, Agut faced a massive challenge against the tournaments fourth seed and big serving Czech Tomáš Berdych. Once again, he came up with a massive upset, winning in three sets after losing the first.^[6] His tournament ended in the fourth round with a defeat to Ernests Gulbis.

On the 17th of March, Agut rose to a new personal-best singles world ranking of no. 47.

Bautista Agut then played in the Miami Masters Tournament. He made it to the tournament's third round, where he lost in three tight sets to Fabio Fognini.

On the 31st of March, Agut rose to a new personal-best singles world ranking of no. 44.

Next, in April, he played at the Monte Carlo Masters. In the second round, Roberto took on Fognini (who beat Roberto in Miami). Again, just like in Miami, the Italian got the better of the Spaniard in two sets.

Roberto's next tournament was the Barcelona Open. Roberto's tournament ended with a second-round defeat to the eventual 2014 tournament champion, Kei Nishikori.

Next, in May, Roberto played in the next Masters 1000 tournament which was the Madrid Open. In the first round, Roberto took on fellow Spaniard and 16th seed Tommy Robredo and made headlines with an upset on the tournament's opening day, winning in straight sets.^[7] Roberto made it all the way to the tournament's semifinals after beating former top-10 players, Grand Slam semifinalists and current in-form players en route to this stage. In the semifinal, Agut took on world No. 1 Rafael Nadal. Nadal mentioned that Agut is "a really dangerous opponent," and Agut certainly gave Rafa a run for his money. In the end, the world no. 1 was the better player in two sets.^[8] This was Roberto Bautista-Agut's best ever Masters tournament performance.

On the 12th of May, Agut rose 17 places in the ATP singles rankings to a personal-best world no. 28.

The next tournament was the Italian Open. Roberto lost in the first round to Dmitry Tursunov. Roberto's defeat was believed to be due to fatigue following his outstanding Madrid Open performance.

Roberto then played in the French Open. This was Roberto's first Grand Slam where he was one of the top 32 seeded players, seeded 27th. In the first round, Roberto took on Italian qualifier Paolo Lorenzi and beat him in straight sets. In the second round, he took on Frenchman Benoît Paire (for the third time that year). Roberto extended his 2014 head-to-head record to 3–0 against Benoît with a three-set victory. In the third round, he took on world no. 6 Tomáš Berdych. Roberto beat the Czech earlier this year at Indian Wells and he led their career head-to-head record 2–1. Roberto showed his true grit and determination, but he failed to manage a third victory over the big-serving Czech, losing in four sets.

In preparation for Wimbledon, Agut played in the Topshelf Open. He was the tournament's third seed and won the title, his first ATP title, defeating former champion Benjamin Becker in the final in three sets.^[9]

On the 23rd of June, Agut rose to a new personal-best singles world ranking of no. 23.

Roberto then played in the Wimbledon Championships, where he was seeded 27th. In the first round, he took on American Steve Johnson. This was the third time they met in 2014, with all of their meetings coming in the first round of their tournaments. Agut won the match in a tight four-setter. In the second round, he took on Czech qualifier Jan Hernych and again won in four sets, after dropping the second. He then took on the defending champion, Andy Murray, in the third round. Agut put up a great fight, but Murray's class on grass was just too difficult to beat.^[10] Murray mentioned how “Roberto has won a lot of matches lately, winning (his first Tournament) on grass last week in Holland. He has made a lot of improvements and fights very hard. I hung in some of the games..." Agut lost the match in straight sets. This was his best Wimbledon result.

After Wimbledon, Roberto went back to playing on the clay surface in Germany. Roberto was the third seed in the Mercedes Cup based in Stuttgart. Since Roberto was seeded, he was given a first-round bye and automatically qualified for the second round. In the semifinal, Agut recorded an upset, beating defending champion Fabio Fognini for only the second time in his career.^[11] This result led Agut to take on Lukáš Rosol in the final. This was Roberto's third professional ATP tournament final. Agut won the final in three sets, claiming his second 250-level title.^[12]

On the 14th of July, Agut made the top 20 for the first time, rising to a new personal-best singles world ranking of no. 18.

Roberto continued playing on clay surfaced tennis courts in Germany. This time he played in an ATP 500 tournament in Hamburg. Roberto was the sixth seed in the International German Open and was therefore given a first-round bye. However, Agut would withdraw from the tournament due to fatigue caused from playing too much tennis.

On the 21st of July, Agut rose to a new personal-best singles world ranking of no. 16.

After his Stuttgart victory, Agut pulled out of two tournaments and rested for three weeks to prepare for the next Masters 1000 event in Toronto. This was Roberto's first Masters tournament where he was seeded. He was the 14th seed in the Rogers Cup. Unfortunately, Roberto was eliminated in the opening round, suffering a defeat at the hands of fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez.

After the Toronto disappointment, Agut traveled to the United States, where he would play, as the 13th seed, in the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati. Roberto's tournament ended in the second round with a straight-sets defeat to the entertaining Frenchman Gaël Monfils.

Roberto would then go on to play in the US Open. Agut was the 17th seed in the U.S. Open. In the first round he took on Austrian Andreas Haider-Maurer. Roberto struggled in beating his opponent in a tight five-set affair. He then took on American wildcard Tim Smyczek in the second round. He cruised past the American in an easy straight-sets victory. In the third round, he took on Frenchman Adrian Mannarino, defeating him in straight sets, advancing to his first round of 16 at the US Open. Roberto then took on the no. 2 seed Roger Federer for the first time. Despite Agut's hard efforts, he could not stop Federer winning points at the net, and he therefore lost in straight sets.^[13] This was Agut's best ever US Open campaign and he equaled his best career Grand Slam result (2014 Australian Open).

After the successful US Open campaign, Agut rose to a new personal-best singles world ranking of no. 15.

After a couple of weeks rest, Agut was the 6th seed in the Rakuten Tennis Championships. Agut's tournament ended in the first round, as an injury forced him to retire from his encounter with Gilles Simon.

Agut was the 16th seed in the Shanghai Rolex Masters. Agut's tournament ended in the third round with a defeat to the Roger Federer.

Agut would then head off to Russia to play in the Kremlin Cup tournament held in Moscow. In the semifinals, he took on the tournaments third seed, Ernests Gulbis, for the third time this year without winning any game. In fact the head-to-head read that Gulbis led 3–0 and this would be an easy match for the Latvian. But the head-to-head was no distraction for Agut as he breezed into the final with a score of 6–4, 6–4.^[14] He then took on the Croatian 2014 US Open champion, Marin Čilić, in the final. His brilliant tournament ended with a tight straight-set defeat.^[15]

On the 20th of October, Agut rose to a new personal-best singles world ranking of no. 14.

After a successful campaign in Russia, Agut headed off to the country of his birth to play in an ATP 500 tournament. Agut was the sixth seed in the Valencia Open. In the second round, Agut pulled out from playing against Thomaz Bellucci due to injury.

Roberto would then travel to France to play in the final Masters 1000 event of the year. Agut was the 11th seed in the BNP Paribas Masters. Since he was a seeded player he was given a first-round bye. Agut's tournament ended in the third round with a defeat to Canadian, and seventh seed, Miloš Raonić. This defeat ended Agut's chance to qualify for the World Tour Finals in London.

After his outstanding season, Agut won the ATP's Most Improved Player award.^[16]

At the end of the best season in his career so far, Agut finished 2014 with a singles ranking of world no. 15, and a doubles ranking of world no. 255.

2015 – Drops out of top 20

Agut began his new season, as the third seed, in the 2015 Aircel Chennai Open. Agut progressed to the semi-final where he would lose to British qualifier Aljaž Bedene.

Bautista Agut then played in the first slam of the year in Melbourne. Roberto was the 13th seed in the 2015 Australian Open. Roberto began his campaign against Dominic Thiem. Agut won in four sets after dropping the first. His next opponent was Luxembourg's Gilles Müller. His tournament ended in a four setter.

In February, Agut travelled to France to play in the 2015 Open 13 tournament in Marseille. Agut's tournament ended in the semi-final against the entertaining local star, Gaël Monfils.

In April, Agut travelled to the clay surfaced courts of Barcelona to play in the Barcelona Open. Agut made it to the finals stage but lost in the quarter-final in a tight 3-setter against defending champion Kei Nishikori.

Later that month he travelled to Germany to play in the 2015 BMW Open in Munich. Agut made it all the way to the semi-final where he eventually lost to top seed Andy Murray.

In late May, Agut travelled to Paris to play in the year's second major. Agut was the 19th seed in the French Open. In the opening round he was drawn to take on Florian Mayer. He ousted the German in straight sets. He then took on Lukáš Rosol in the Second Round. His tournament ended with a straight-sets defeat.

One month later, Agut travelled to England to play in the year's third major. Agut was the 20th seed in the Wimbledon Championships. Agut began his campaign with a straight-sets victory over Belgian, Ruben Bemelmans. He then took on Benoît Paire in the second round. Agut experienced a scare after being down 2 sets to love against the Frenchman he loves to beat, but the Spaniard did manage to win convincingly in the final three sets. He would then go on to take on Georgian qualifier Nikoloz Basilashvili in the third round. After a tiebreak in the first set, Agut easily won the next two to advance to the round of 16 in straight sets. His 4th Round opponent was 7-time Wimbledon Champion, tournament second seed and tennis legend Roger Federer. Unfortunately Agut's tournament ended to the Swiss maestro in straight-sets. Despite the defeat this was Agut's best Wimbledon result and equal best Grand Slam result as he also reached the 4th round in the 2014 US and Australian Opens.

In July, Agut played as the second seed in the 2015 Croatia Open. Agut advanced to the semi-final where he would be defeated by Portuguese player João Sousa.

In September the fourth and final major of the year was held in "the Big Apple". Agut was the 23rd seed in the 2015 US Open. In the first round he took on French wildcard Pierre-Hugues Herbert. He defeated the Frenchman in straight sets. In the Second round he took on fellow Spaniard Pablo Carreño Busta. The Spanish Davis Cup teammates knew each-others style of play well resulting in a 5-setter where Agut would come out on top. In the Third Round he took on 14th seeded Belgian David Goffin. Goffin led by 2 sets to love with Agut getting one back in the third. In the fourth set Agut was up a break leading 3–1 before Goffin had to retire due to illness. In the Fourth Round Roberto took on the World number 1, from Serbia, Novak Djoković. Although he lost, Agut still shocked the World no.1 after taking a set off the Serb which was Djoković's first set in New York since the 2011 Majour.^[17] Despite losing, Agut did manage to repeat his equal best performance in New York for a second consecutive year.

He then played in the St. Petersburg Open where he was the fourth seed. He'd would go on to lose in the semi-finals to second seed Milos Raonić.

He was the second seed in the Kremlin Cup in Moscow. Her made the final again and took on the exact opponent from Croatia Marin Čilić and still had no luck this time around around losing ironically by the exact same scoreline - 4–6, 4–6.

He was the seventh seed in the 2015 Valencia Open. With top seeds falling it was a shock draw with Agut being the only seeded player remaining in the draw. Agut made it all the way to the final and in the final Agut was up a set and a break but failed to consolidate, going on to lose the match, which was the story of his 2015 season in tournament decisive matches.^[18]

At the end of 2015, Agut finished outside the top 20 with a ranking of 25.

2016: Two more ATP titles, back into the top 20 and first Masters final

In the 2016 ASB Classic Agut knocked out defending Champion Jiri Vesely, third seeded American John Isner and second seeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, his first top ten scalp in two years, on his way to the final where he took on talented American Jack Sock. Roberto was crowned champion after the American retired in the second set.

In the 2016 Australian Open Agut was seeded 24th. Only 2 days after his ASB Classic final win he took on Martin Kližan from Slovakia in the first round. He suffered a scare as he was down two sets to love but eventually prevailed in five sets. He also won in five sets against his second round opponent Dušan Lajović which set him up with a third round clash with twelfth seed Marin Čilić. He went on to beat Čilić for the first time in his career in a shock straight-sets result setting up a match-up with the sixth seed, Tomáš Berdych. Agut didn't come on the right side of the five-setter this time around as he lost a thriller and ended his chances to reach his first ever Grand-Slam Quarter-Final.

After the Australian Open, Agut's first tournament was based in Bulgaria. Agut entered the 2016 Garanti Koza Sofia Open as the number one seed. Agut made it all the way to the final where he took on Serbian second seed Viktor Troicki. Agut would go on to win the inaugural Garanti Koza Sofia Open to win his fourth career title and second in 2016.

In the second Masters 1000 event of the year, Agut was seeded 17th in the 2016 Miami Open. He took on Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, for the second time this year, in the third round. Agut scalped his second win over the top-10 Tsonga and ironically his second top 10 victory of 2016 with a 3-setter. His tournament ended in the following round against sixth seed Kei Nishikori.

In the penultimate Masters 1000 event of the year at the 2016 Shanghai Masters, Bautista Agut made it all the way to his first masters 1000 final, defeating Bernard Tomic, who had to retire because of abdominal pain,^[19] qualifier Taylor Fritz, Viktor Troicki, 2015 finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarterfinals, and top seed and defending champion Novak Djokovic in the semifinals. This is the first time he had defeated a world no.1 and the first time he had beaten Djokovic in his career. In the final, he lost to Andy Murray in straight sets.

Career Statistics

Head-to-head statistics

Head-to-head record against top 20 players

Agut's win-loss record (28–52, 35%) against players who were ranked world no. 20 or higher at the time is as follows:

*Statistics correct as of October 16, 2016.

Wins over top 10 players

#	Player	Rank	Event	Surface	Rd	Score
2013
1.	Tomáš Berdych	6	Chennai Open, Chennai, India	Hard	QF	7–5, 2–6, 6–3
2014
2.	Juan Martín del Potro	5	Australian Open, Melbourne, Australia	Hard	2R	4–6, 6–3, 5–7, 6–4, 7–5
3.	Tomáš Berdych	5	Indian Wells Masters, United States	Hard	2R	4–6, 6–2, 6–4
2016
4.	Jo-Wilfried Tsonga	10	ASB Classic, Auckland, New Zealand	Hard	SF	3–6, 7–6^(7–3), 6–4
5.	Jo-Wilfried Tsonga	9	Miami Masters, United States	Hard	3R	2–6, 6–3, 7–6^(7–3)
6.	Novak Djokovic	1	Shanghai Masters, China	Hard	SF	6−4, 6−4

ATP career finals

Singles: 10 (4 titles, 6 runners-up)

Legend
Grand Slam Tournaments (0–0)
ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–1)
ATP World Tour 500 Series (0–0)
ATP World Tour 250 Series (4–5)

Titles by surface
Hard (2–5)
Clay (1–0)
Grass (1–0)
Carpet (0–0)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	1.	6 January 2013	Chennai Open, Chennai, India	Hard	Janko Tipsarević	6–3, 1–6, 3–6
Winner	1.	21 June 2014	Topshelf Open, 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands	Grass	Benjamin Becker	2–6, 7–6^(7–2), 6–4
Winner	2.	13 July 2014	MercedesCup, Stuttgart, Germany	Clay	Lukáš Rosol	6–3, 4–6, 6–2
Runner-up	2.	19 October 2014	Kremlin Cup, Moscow, Russia	Hard (i)	Marin Čilić	4–6, 4–6
Runner-up	3.	25 October 2015	Kremlin Cup, Moscow, Russia	Hard (i)	Marin Čilić	4–6, 4–6
Runner-up	4.	000000002015-11-01-00001 November 2015	Valencia Open, Valencia, Spain	Hard (i)	João Sousa	6–3, 3–6, 4–6
Winner	3.	000000002016-01-16-000016 January 2016	ASB Classic, Auckland, New Zealand	Hard	Jack Sock	6–1, 1–0 Ret.
Winner	4.	000000002016-02-07-00007 February 2016	Sofia Open, Sofia, Bulgaria	Hard (i)	Viktor Troicki	6–3, 6–4
Runner-up	5.	000000002016-08-27-000027 August 2016	Winston-Salem Open, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA	Hard	Pablo Carreno Busta	7–6^(8–6), 6–7^(1–7), 4–6
Runner-up	6.	000000002016-10-16-000016 October 2016	Shanghai Masters, Shanghai, China	Hard	Andy Murray	6−7⁽¹⁻⁷⁾, 1−6

Challenger and Futures finals

Singles: 19 (12–7)

Legend (Singles)
Challengers (3–2)
Futures (9–5)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Winner	1.	1 July 2007	Spain F24	Clay	Pedro Clar-Rosselló	7–5, 6–3
Winner	2.	5 August 2007	Spain F29	Clay	Pedro Clar-Rosselló	6–3, 6–4
Runner-up	1.	12 August 2007	Spain F30	Hard	Tony Holzinger	6–1, 4–6, 2–6
Runner-up	2.	20 July 2008	Spain F27	Hard	Iñigo Cervantes Huegun	6–4, 5–7, 1–6
Winner	3.	3 August 2008	Spain F29	Clay	Gerard Granollers	6–4, 6–4
Winner	4.	28 September 2008	Spain F36	Hard	James Ward	3–6, 6–3, 6–2
Winner	5.	5 October 2008	Spain F37	Hard	Jean-Noël Insausti	6–7^(5–7), 6–3, 6–4
Runner-up	3.	15 March 2009	Spain F9	Clay	Albert Ramos	4–6, 4–6
Winner	6.	22 March 2009	Spain F10	Clay	Marc Fornell-Mestres	6–4, 6–4
Runner-up	4.	7 June 2009	Spain F19	Clay	José Checa-Calvo	1–6, 4–6
Winner	7.	27 September 2009	Spain F32	Hard	Thomas Schoorel	6–4, 6–3
Runner-up	5.	4 October 2009	Spain F33	Hard	Uladzimir Ignatik	1–6, 6–3, 6–7^(3–7)
Winner	8.	31 January 2010	Spain F3	Hard	Sergio Gutiérrez-Ferrol	7–5, 6–2
Winner	9.	14 March 2010	Great Britain F3	Hard (i)	Daniel Smethurst	7–5, 6–4
Runner-up	6.	11 July 2010	Pozoblanco Challenger, Spain	Hard	Rubén Ramírez Hidalgo	6–7 ^(6–8), 4–6
Runner-up	7.	29 May 2011	Alessandria Challenger, Italy	Clay	Pablo Carreño-Busta	6–3, 3–6, 5–7
Winner	10.	22 April 2012	Rome Challenger, Italy	Clay	Rui Machado	6–7 ^(7–9), 6–4, 6–3
Winner	11.	29 July 2012	Orbetello Challenger, Italy	Clay	Dušan Lajović	6–3, 6–1
Winner	12.	12 August 2012	Pozoblanco Challenger, Spain	Hard	Arnau Brugués-Davi	6–3, 6–4

Singles performance timeline

Bautista Agut at 2013 Valencia Open 500.

Tournament	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	W–L
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open	Q3	Q1	1R	2R	4R	2R	4R	8–5
French Open	Q2	Q2	Q1	2R	3R	2R	4R	7–4
Wimbledon	Q2	Q3	Q3	2R	3R	4R	3R	7–4
US Open	A	Q1	Q3	2R	4R	4R	3R	9–4
Win–Loss	0–0	0–0	0–1	4–4	10–4	8–4	9–4	31–17
ATP World Tour Masters 1000
Indian Wells Masters	A	A	Q1	1R	4R	3R	3R	4–3
Miami Masters	A	A	2R	1R	3R	2R	4R	5–5
Monte-Carlo Masters	A	A	A	2R	2R	3R	3R	6–4
Madrid Masters	A	Q1	Q2	A	SF	3R	3R	8–3
Rome Masters	A	A	A	A	1R	2R	2R	2–3
Canada Masters	A	A	A	A	1R	2R	A	1–2
Cincinnati Masters	A	A	A	A	2R	2R	1R	2–3
Shanghai Masters	A	A	A	Q1	3R	2R	F	3–2
Paris Masters	Q1	A	1R	Q2	3R	2R	2R	3–4
Win–Loss	0–0	0–0	1–2	1–3	14–9	10–9	13–8	34–30
Career statistics
Titles–Finals	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–1	2–1	0–2	2–2	4–6
Year End Ranking	170	178	80	58	15	25	14

Personal life

Roberto's nickname is “Bati”. His father, Joaquín, is a former football player and a current banker; mother, Ester, owns a clothing store. Bautista-Agut started playing tennis at the age of five when his mother signed him up to play on the weekends. His favourite shot is his forehand. His idols growing up were Juan Carlos Ferrero and David Ferrer.

Beyond tennis, he enjoys horseback riding (he owns two horses) and playing various sports, mainly football. He supports Villarreal C.F. and CD Castellón. He played football for Villarreal C.F. until he was 14 when he decided to focus on his tennis career.

References

External links

Awards
Preceded by Pablo Carreño Busta	ATP Most Improved Player 2014	Succeeded by Chung Hyeon

Association of Tennis Professionals: Top ten Spanish male singles tennis players as 12 December 2016

1. Rafael Nadal (9 ) 2. Roberto Bautista Agut (14 ) 3. David Ferrer (21 ) 4. Albert Ramos-Viñolas (27 ) 5. Feliciano López (28 )

6. Pablo Carreño Busta (30 ) 7. Marcel Granollers (37 ) 8. Fernando Verdasco (42 ) 9. Nicolás Almagro (44 ) 10. Guillermo García-López (70 )

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