Horacio Zeballos

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Horacio Zeballos Jr.

Country (sports)	Argentina
Residence	Buenos Aires, Argentina
Born	(1985-04-27) 27 April 1985 (age 36) Mar del Plata, Argentina
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Turned pro	2003
Plays	Left-handed (one-handed backhand)
Coach	Alejandro Lombardo
Prize money	$5,674,791
Singles
Career record	91–133
Career titles	1
Highest ranking	No. 39 (4 March 2013)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	1R (2010, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018)
French Open	4R (2017)
Wimbledon	2R (2018)
US Open	2R (2009, 2016)
Doubles
Career record	244–153
Career titles	17
Highest ranking	No. 3 (9 September 2019)
Current ranking	No. 4 (12 July 2021)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	QF (2019)
French Open	SF (2013)
Wimbledon	F (2021)
US Open	F (2019)
Other doubles tournaments
Tour Finals	SF (2020)
Olympic Games	1R (2021)
show Medal record Men's tennis Representing  Argentina Pan American Games 2007 Rio de Janeiro Men's doubles
Last updated on: 12 July 2021.

Horacio Zeballos Jr. (locally [oˈɾasjo seˈβaʃos];^[1] born 27 April 1985) is an Argentine professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is world No. 39, and his career-high doubles ranking is world No. 3 (first reached in September 2019). In doubles, he has reached the men's doubles finals at the 2019 US Open and Wimbledon 2021 alongside Marcel Granollers. In singles, he has reached the fourth round at the French Open, doing so in 2017.

Zeballos won his first ATP title at the 2013 VTR Open in Chile on 10 February. In the final, he beat Rafael Nadal, becoming one of only four players (with Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray) to beat Nadal in a clay-court final.^[2]

He has also reached the final in the St. Petersburg Open in Russia, losing to Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky. He reached the doubles final at the Movistar Open in Santiago, Chile in 2010 with partner Potito Starace. They lost to top seeds Łukasz Kubot and Oliver Marach. He won the title in doubles at the Copa Telmex with Sebastián Prieto. Zeballos won the 2009 ATP Newcomer of the Year award.

Personal life[]

Zeballos is an Argentine of Spanish descent. He enjoys music, ping-pong, and swimming. His father is also named Horacio Zeballos, and his mother is named Carolina. He has one sister, Carolina Jr. His favorite surface is clay, and he is coached by Alejandro Lombardo.

Tennis career[]

Zeballos has competed primarily on the ATP Challenger Tour, where he has won five singles titles and six doubles titles.

2009: First ATP singles final[]

He reached his first ATP Tour final at the St. Petersburg Open, defeating Yuri Schukin, Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr., Ernests Gulbis and Igor Kunitsyn before falling in the final to Stakhovsky in a third-set tiebreak.

2010: First ATP doubles title[]

Zeballos started the singles season in a slump, falling in the first round four times, but had an excellent start to the doubles season. In his first tournament, the Heineken Open, Zeballos and Rogier Wassen defeated world no. 1 team Bob and Mike Bryan. Zeballos then reached the round of 16 at the Australian Open with countryman Leonardo Mayer, and reached the final at the Movistar Open with Italian Potito Starace. Zeballos then turned to the clay in the Copa Telmex in Argentina, where in the first round, he defeated countryman and former French Open champion Gastón Gaudio. It was Zeballos' first ATP singles win since he reached the final in St. Petersburg. Zeballos next defeated former world no. 1 Carlos Moyá and reached his first ATP quarterfinal since October, where he then lost to countryman Juan Mónaco. In doubles, Zeballos and countryman Sebastián Prieto were the fourth seeds and won the title against Simon Greul and Peter Luczak. It was Zeballos' first career ATP title. The next week, at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel, Zeballos lost in the first round to Łukasz Kubot. He made it to the doubles semifinals, with partner Mónaco.

Zeballos was selected for the Argentine Davis Cup team for the first time. He played doubles with David Nalbandian against the Swedish pair of Robert Lindstedt and Robin Söderling. They won in straight sets. Zeballos reached a career milestone as he defeated his first-ever top-25 player, 24th ranked Gilles Simon, in the second round at the Sony Ericsson Open. He then lost in the third round to eventual finalist Tomáš Berdych.

At the US Men's Clay Court Championships, he defeated Taylor Dent, Dudi Sela, and world no. 11 Fernando González for his first top-15 win and the biggest one of his career. He then faced eventual champion Juan Ignacio Chela in the semifinals, where he lost in straight sets.

At the US Open, Zeballos with partner Eduardo Schwank reached the semifinals in doubles.

2011-2012[]

Zeballos played mostly on the Challenger circuit in singles. He did not make it past the second round in any ATP events. He had more success in doubles. In 2012, he made it to the semifinals in Viña de Mar and Buenos Aires. At Roland Garros, he and partner Oliver Marach made it to the quarterfinals, where they were beaten by the Bryan brothers.

2013: First ATP singles title[]

Zeballos won his first ATP singles title at Viña del Mar, where he defeated Rafael Nadal in three sets in his comeback tournament.^[2] This victory made Zeballos one of the only four players who have beaten Nadal in a final on clay (the others are Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray).

2017: French Open fourth round in singles[]

Zeballos' first match in the 2017 Australian Open was a 5-hour and 15 minute loss to Ivo Karlović, the second longest match by time at the Australian Open in the Open Era.^[3]

At Roland Garros, he had his best performance at a Grand Slam, reaching the fourth round. He was beaten by 6th seed Dominic Thiem in straight sets.

2019-2021: New partnership & Doubles success: US Open final, Top 3 debut, Four ATP Masters titles, Wimbledon final[]

Zeballos won his first ATP Masters 1000 Doubles Title at the 2019 BNP Paribas Open with Nikola Mektić. They defeated sixth-seeded Łukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo in the final. Zeballos became the first ATP Masters doubles champion from Argentina since 1997 after Luis Lobo at the Hamburg Masters.

With his new partner Marcel Granollers he has won 6 titles thus far, starting in August 2019, and also made his first Grand Slam doubles final at the 2019 US Open, losing to the World No. 1 and top seeded pair Farah/Cabal. As a result he reached a career-high ranking of World No. 3 in doubles on 9 September 2019.

The pair won 3 Masters 1000: the 2019 Canadian Open, the 2020 Italian Open and the 2021 Mutua Madrid Open.^[4] They also reached the 2021 Wimbledon Championships final losing to World No. 1 and top seeds Mektic/Pavic.^[5]

In August 2021, they reached a second Masters 1000 final for 2021 and fourth overall at the 2021 Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati defeating Arévalo/Fognini.^[6] They defeated Austin Krajicek and Steve Johnson in the final to win their fourth Masters.^[7]

Significant finals[]

Grand Slam tournament finals[]

Doubles: 2 (2 runner-ups)[]

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	2019	US Open	Hard	Marcel Granollers	Juan Sebastián Cabal Robert Farah	4–6, 5–7
Loss	2021	Wimbledon	Grass	Marcel Granollers	Nikola Mektić Mate Pavić	4–6, 6–7(5–7), 6–2, 5–7

Masters 1000 finals[]

Doubles: 5 (5 titles)[]

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	2019	Indian Wells Masters	Hard	Nikola Mektić	Łukasz Kubot Marcelo Melo	4–6, 6–4, [10–3]
Win	2019	Canadian Open	Hard	Marcel Granollers	Robin Haase Wesley Koolhof	7–5, 7–5
Win	2020	Italian Open	Clay	Marcel Granollers	Jérémy Chardy Fabrice Martin	6–4, 5–7, [10–8]
Win	2021	Madrid Open	Clay	Marcel Granollers	Nikola Mektić Mate Pavić	1–6, 6–3, [10–8]
Win	2021	Cincinnati Masters	Hard	Marcel Granollers	Steve Johnson Austin Krajicek	7–6(7–5), 7–6(7–5)

ATP career finals[]

Singles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)[]

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	0–1	Nov 2009	St. Petersburg Open, Russia	250 Series	Hard (i)	Sergiy Stakhovsky	6–2, 6–7(8–10), 6–7(7–9)
Win	1–1	Feb 2013	Chile Open, Chile	250 Series	Clay	Rafael Nadal	6–7(2–7), 7–6(8–6), 6–4

Doubles: 32 (18 titles, 14 runner-ups)[]

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1–0	Feb 2010	Argentina Open, Argentina	250 Series	Clay	Sebastián Prieto	Simon Greul Peter Luczak	7–6(7–4), 6–3
Loss	1–1	Feb 2010	Chile Open, Chile	250 Series	Clay	Potito Starace	Łukasz Kubot Oliver Marach	4–6, 0–6
Win	2–1	May 2011	Bavarian Championships, Germany	250 Series	Clay	Simone Bolelli	Andreas Beck Christopher Kas	7–6(7–3), 6–4
Loss	2–2	Sep 2013	Malaysian Open, Malaysia	250 Series	Hard (i)	Pablo Cuevas	Eric Butorac Raven Klaasen	2–6, 4–6
Loss	2–3	Feb 2014	Argentina Open, Argentina	250 Series	Clay	Pablo Cuevas	Marcel Granollers Marc López	5–7, 4–6
Win	3–3	Feb 2016	Brasil Open, Brazil	250 Series	Clay	Julio Peralta	Pablo Carreño Busta David Marrero	4–6, 6–1, [10–5]
Win	4–3	Jul 2016	Swiss Open, Switzerland	250 Series	Clay	Julio Peralta	Mate Pavić Michael Venus	7–6(7–2), 6–2
Win	5–3	Aug 2016	Atlanta Open, United States	250 Series	Hard	Andrés Molteni	Johan Brunström Andreas Siljeström	7–6(7–2), 6–4
Win	6–3	Sep 2016	Moselle Open, France	250 Series	Hard (i)	Julio Peralta	Mate Pavić Michael Venus	6–3, 7–6(7–4)
Loss	6–4	Feb 2017	Ecuador Open, Ecuador	250 Series	Clay	Julio Peralta	James Cerretani Philipp Oswald	3–6, 1–2 ret.
Win	7–4	Apr 2017	U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships, United States	250 Series	Clay	Julio Peralta	Dustin Brown Frances Tiafoe	4–6, 7–5, [10–6]
Loss	7–5	Aug 2017	Winston-Salem Open, United States	250 Series	Hard	Julio Peralta	Jean-Julien Rojer Horia Tecău	3–6, 4–6
Loss	7–6	Sep 2017	St. Petersburg Open, Russia	250 Series	Hard (i)	Julio Peralta	Roman Jebavý Matwé Middelkoop	4–6, 4–6
Loss	7–7	Jan 2018	Brisbane International, Australia	250 Series	Hard	Leonardo Mayer	Henri Kontinen John Peers	6–3, 3–6, [2–10]
Win	8–7	Feb 2018	Argentina Open (2), Argentina	250 Series	Clay	Andrés Molteni	Juan Sebastián Cabal Robert Farah	6–3, 5–7, [10–3]
Win	9–7	Jul 2018	Swedish Open, Sweden	250 Series	Clay	Julio Peralta	Simone Bolelli Fabio Fognini	6–3, 6–4
Win	10–7	Jul 2018	German Open, Germany	500 Series	Clay	Julio Peralta	Oliver Marach Mate Pavić	6–1, 4–6, [10–6]
Loss	10–8	Feb 2019	Córdoba Open, Argentina	250 Series	Clay	Máximo González	Roman Jebavý Andrés Molteni	4–6, 6–7(4–7)
Win	11–8	Feb 2019	Argentina Open (3), Argentina	250 Series	Clay	Máximo González	Diego Schwartzman Dominic Thiem	6–1, 6–1
Win	12–8	Mar 2019	Indian Wells Masters, United States	Masters 1000	Hard	Nikola Mektić	Łukasz Kubot Marcelo Melo	4–6, 6–4, [10–3]
Loss	12–9	Jun 2019	Eastbourne International, United Kingdom	250 Series	Grass	Máximo González	Juan Sebastián Cabal Robert Farah	6–3, 6–7(4–7), [6–10]
Loss	12–10	Jul 2019	Swedish Open, Sweden	250 Series	Clay	Federico Delbonis	Sander Gillé Joran Vliegen	7–5(7–5), 5–7, [5–10]
Win	13–10	Aug 2019	Canadian Open, Canada	Masters 1000	Hard	Marcel Granollers	Robin Haase Wesley Koolhof	7–5, 7–5
Loss	13–11	Sep 2019	US Open, United States	Grand Slam	Hard	Marcel Granollers	Juan Sebastián Cabal Robert Farah	4–6, 5–7
Win	14–11	Feb 2020	Argentina Open (4), Argentina	250 Series	Clay	Marcel Granollers	Guillermo Durán Juan Ignacio Londero	6–4, 5–7, [18–16]
Win	15–11	Feb 2020	Rio Open, Brazil	500 Series	Clay	Marcel Granollers	Salvatore Caruso Federico Gaio	6–4, 5–7, [10–7]
Loss	15-12	Sep 2020	Austrian Open Kitzbühel, Austria	250 Series	Clay	Marcel Granollers	Austin Krajicek Franko Škugor	6–7(5–7), 5–7
Win	16–12	Sep 2020	Italian Open, Italy	Masters 1000	Clay	Marcel Granollers	Jérémy Chardy Fabrice Martin	6–4, 5–7, [10–8]
Loss	16–13	Mar 2021	Mexican Open, Mexico	500 Series	Hard	Marcel Granollers	Ken Skupski Neal Skupski	6–7(3–7), 4–6
Win	17–13	May 2021	Madrid Open, Spain	Masters 1000	Clay	Marcel Granollers	Nikola Mektić Mate Pavić	1–6, 6–3, [10–8]
Loss	17–14	Jul 2021	Wimbledon Championships, United Kingdom	Grand Slam	Grass	Marcel Granollers	Nikola Mektić Mate Pavić	4–6, 6–7(5–7), 6–2, 5–7
Win	18–14	Aug 2021	Cincinnati Masters, United States	Masters 1000	Hard	Marcel Granollers	Steve Johnson Austin Krajicek	7–6(7–5), 7–6(7–5)

Challenger finals: 23 (12–11)[]

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Winner	1.	22 June 2008	Recanati, Italy	Hard	Grega Žemlja	6–3, 6–4
Runner-up	1.	28 September 2008	Bogotá, Colombia	Clay	Marcos Daniel	4–6, 6–4, 4–6
Winner	2.	1 February 2009	Bucaramanga, Colombia	Clay	Carlos Salamanca	7–5, 6–2
Winner	3.	22 March 2009	Bogotá, Colombia	Clay	Santiago González	7–6(7–3), 6–0
Runner-up	2.	3 May 2009	Pereira, Colombia	Clay	Alejandro Falla	4–6, 6–4, 2–6
Runner-up	3.	19 July 2009	Bogotá, Colombia	Clay	Marcos Daniel	6–4, 6–7(5–7), 4–6
Winner	4.	26 July 2009	Manta, Ecuador	Hard	Vincent Millot	3–6, 7–5, 6–3
Winner	5.	9 August 2009	Campos do Jordão, Brazil	Clay	Thiago Alves	6–7(7–4), 6–4, 6–3
Runner-up	4.	20 September 2009	Cali, Colombia	Clay	Alejandro Falla	4–6, 3–6
Winner	6.	4 October 2009	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Clay	Gastón Gaudio	6–2, 3–6, 6–3
Runner-up	5.	6 March 2011	Salinas, Ecuador	Hard	Andrés Molteni	5–7, 6–7(4–7)
Runner-up	6.	15 May 2011	Bordeaux, France	Clay	Marc Gicquel	2–6, 4–6
Runner-up	7.	1 April 2012	Barranquilla, Colombia	Clay	Alejandro Falla	4–6, 1–6
Winner	7.	13 May 2012	Prague, Czech Republic	Clay	Martin Kližan	1–6, 6–4, 7–6(8–6)
Winner	8.	4 November 2012	Montevideo, Uruguay	Clay	Julian Reister	6–3, 6–2
Winner	9.	11 November 2012	São Leopoldo, Brazil	Clay	Paul Capdeville	3–6, 7–5, 7–6(7–2)
Winner	10.	6 January 2013	São Paulo, Brazil	Hard	Rogério Dutra da Silva	7–6(7–5), 6–2>
Runner-up	8.	15 July 2014	Svijany, Czech Republic	Clay	Andrej Martin	6–1, 1–6, 4–6
Runner-up	9.	22 May 2016	Mestre, Italy	Clay	Gastao Elias	6–7, 2–6
Winner	11.	19 June 2016	Poprad, Slovakia	Clay	Gerald Melzer	6–3, 6–4
Winner	12.	9 July 2016	Båstad, Sweden	Clay	Roberto Carballés Baena	6–3, 6–4
Runner-up	10.	7 Nov 2016	Bogota, Colombia	Clay	Facundo Bagnis	6–3, 2–6, 6–7(4–7)
Runner-up	11.	9 Oct 2017	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Clay	Nicolás Kicker	7–6(7–5), 0–6, 5–7

Performance timelines[]

Singles[]

Current through 2018 Wimbledon.

Doubles[]

Current through the 2021 Western & Southern Open.

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Horacio Zeballos.

• Horacio Zeballos at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Horacio Zeballos at the International Tennis Federation
• Horacio Zeballos at the Davis Cup
• Horacio Zeballos at the International Olympic Committee