Martin Verkerk

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Martin Verkerk
Country (sports) Netherlands
ResidenceAlphen a/d Rijn, Netherlands
Born (1978-10-31) 31 October 1978 (age 45)
Leiderdorp, Netherlands
Height1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)
Turned pro1996
Retired2008
PlaysRight-handed (one-handed backhand)
Prize money$1,564,520
Singles
Career record59–70
Career titles2
Highest rankingNo. 14 (15 September 2003)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open1R (2003, 2004)
French OpenF (2003)
Wimbledon2R (2004)
US Open2R (2003)
Doubles
Career record24–37
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 63 (3 November 2003)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open1R (2004)
French Open2R (2003, 2004, 2007)
Wimbledon2R (2004)
US Open2R (2003)
Last updated on: 28 January 2022.

Martin Willem Verkerk (born 31 October 1978) is a retired professional Dutch tennis player. He reached the final of the French Open in 2003 and achieved a career-high singles ranking of No. 14 in September 2003. During his career he won two ATP singles titles.

Early life[edit]

Verkerk began playing tennis at the age of seven, playing in local tournaments and training with his parents. He played in a tennis facility in his hometown of Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands, where his talent was recognized by local coaches, and he soon had the opportunity to train with many better players. He later won the 18 and Under Dutch title in 1995.[1]

Career[edit]

In 2003, playing in only his third Grand Slam event and ranked 46, Verkerk reached the final of the French Open. Along the way, he beat Željko Krajan, Luis Horna, Vince Spadea and Rainer Schüttler before overcoming experienced clay court players Carlos Moyá (seeded 4th) and Guillermo Coria (seeded 7th). In the final, he lost to Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero in straight sets.[2]

His unexpected run at the French Open as an underdog and his expressive on-court antics made him popular in the Netherlands. The final was watched by even more households in the Netherlands than when his countryman Richard Krajicek won Wimbledon in 1996.[citation needed] However, hampered by various injuries and mononucleosis, Verkerk was unable to reproduce similar results during the rest of his career, never advancing beyond the third round in any subsequent Grand Slams.

During his career, he won two titles and reached the quarter-finals of the 2003 Rome Masters. Verkerk played a close match against Roger Federer at the 2003 Paris Masters, losing in three tiebreak sets after holding four match points.[2]

Playing style[edit]

Verkerk's game was based on powerful serves and backhands. He used a single-handed backhand and his favorite surface was clay.[3]

Grand Slam finals[edit]

Singles (1 runner-up)[edit]

Result Year Championship Surface Opponent Score
Loss 2003 French Open Clay Spain Juan Carlos Ferrero 1–6, 3–6, 2–6

ATP career finals[edit]

Singles: 4 (2 titles, 2 runner-ups)[edit]

Legend
Grand Slam Tournaments (0–1)
ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
ATP Masters Series (0–0)
ATP Championship Series (0–0)
ATP World Series (2–1)
Finals by surface
Hard (0–0)
Clay (1–2)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (1–0)
Finals by setting
Outdoors (1–2)
Indoors (1–0)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Win 1–0 Feb 2003 Milan, Italy World Series Carpet Russia Yevgeny Kafelnikov 6–4, 5–7, 7–5
Loss 1–1 May 2003 Paris, France Grand Slam Clay Spain Juan Carlos Ferrero 1–6, 3–6, 2–6
Loss 1–2 May 2004 Munich, Germany International Series Clay Russia Nikolay Davydenko 4–6, 5–7
Win 2–2 Jul 2004 Amersfoort, Netherlands International Series Clay Chile Fernando González 7–6(7–5), 4–6, 6–4

Doubles: 2 (2 runner-ups)[edit]

Legend
Grand Slam Tournaments (0–0)
ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
ATP Masters Series (0–0)
ATP Championship Series (0–0)
ATP World Series (0–2)
Finals by surface
Hard (0–2)
Clay (0–0)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Finals by setting
Outdoors (0–2)
Indoors (0–0)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 0–1 Sep 2002 Tashkent, Uzbekistan International Series Hard Netherlands Raemon Sluiter South Africa David Adams
South Africa Robbie Koenig
2–6, 5–7
Loss 0–2 Mar 2003 Delray Beach, United States International Series Hard Netherlands Raemon Sluiter Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Nenad Zimonjić
India Leander Paes
5–7, 6–3, 5–7

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals[edit]

Singles: 20 (10–10)[edit]

Legend
ATP Challenger (4–7)
ITF Futures (6–3)
Finals by surface
Hard (3–4)
Clay (6–5)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (1–1)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Win 1-0 Apr 1999 France F3, Melun Futures Carpet France Gregory Girault 7–6, 6–4
Win 2-0 Jun 1999 Germany F5, Augsburg Futures Clay Argentina Diego Moyano 6–3, 6–4
Win 3-0 Jun 1999 Germany F6, Trier Futures Clay Argentina Diego Moyano 6–2, 6–0
Loss 3-1 Jul 1999 Scheveningen, Netherlands Challenger Clay Spain Emilio Benfele Álvarez 3–6, 6–3, 2–3 ret.
Win 4-1 Oct 2000 USA F23, waco Futures Hard Canada Simon Larose 6–1, 6–2
Loss 4-2 Apr 2001 USA F7, Mobile Futures Hard United States Michael Russell 6–4, 1–6, 4–6
Loss 4-3 Apr 2001 USA F8, Little Rock Futures Hard Sweden Fredrik Jonsson 3–6, 4–6
Loss 4-4 Jun 2001 Germany F5, Trier Futures Clay Argentina Christian Kordasz 4–6, 2–6
Loss 4-5 Jul 2001 Eisenach, Germany Challenger Clay Germany Oliver Gross 7–5, 2–6, 1–6
Loss 4-6 Sep 2001 Aschaffenburg, Germany Challenger Clay Germany Simon Greul 6–7(5–7), 2–6
Loss 4-7 Jan 2002 Waikoloa, United States Challenger Hard United States James Blake 2–6, 3–6
Loss 4-8 Feb 2002 Dallas, United States Challenger Hard United States Jeff Morrison 4–6, 4–6
Win 5-8 Jun 2002 Turin, Italy Challenger Clay Uzbekistan Vadim Kutsenko 4–6, 6–4, 6–3
Loss 5-9 Jul 2002 Ulm, Germany Challenger Clay Germany Oliver Gross 6–7(5–7), 6–4, 3–6
Win 6-9 Nov 2002 Knoxville, United States Challenger Hard United States Mardy Fish 6–3, 6–4
Loss 6-10 Feb 2003 Lübeck, Germany Challenger Carpet Germany Alexander Waske 6–7(3–7), 3–6
Win 7-10 Jul 2003 Hilversum, Netherlands Challenger Clay Netherlands John Van Lottum 6–3, 6–1
Win 8-10 Mar 2008 Canada F2, Montreal Futures Hard Romania Florin Mergea 6–7(8–10), 7–6(11–9), 6–4
Win 9-10 Apr 2008 Athens, Greece Challenger Clay Romania Adrian Cruciat 6–3, 6–3
Win 10-10 Jul 2008 Germany F9, Kassel Futures Clay Chile Felipe Parada 6–4, 7–6(13–11)

Doubles: 7 (3–4)[edit]

Legend
ATP Challenger (3–1)
ITF Futures (0–3)
Finals by surface
Hard (1–1)
Clay (2–2)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–1)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 0–1 Feb 1998 Great Britain F2, Chigwell Futures Carpet Netherlands Martijn Belgraver United Kingdom Barry Cowan
United Kingdom Tom Spinks
4–6, 4–6
Loss 0–2 May 1998 Germany F7, Augsburg Futures Clay Netherlands Martijn Belgraver Germany Sascha Bandermann
New Zealand James Greenhalgh
3–6, 7–6, 1–6
Loss 0–3 May 1999 Italy F6, Viterbo Futures Clay Venezuela Kepler Orellana Italy Daniele Bracciali
Italy Filippo Messori
1–6, 7–5, 4–6
Win 1–3 Jun 2002 Eisenach, Germany Challenger Clay Netherlands Edwin Kempes Brazil Marcos Daniel
Chile Adrián García
6–3, 6–4
Win 2–3 Jul 2002 Scheveningen, Netherlands Challenger Clay Netherlands Edwin Kempes Argentina Mariano Hood
Argentina Sebastián Prieto
6–4, 6–4
Win 3–3 Nov 2002 Knoxville, United States Challenger Hard Russia Dmitry Tursunov United States Hugo Armando
Argentina Sergio Roitman
6–3, 6–4
Loss 3–4 Nov 2002 Champaign-Urbana, United States Challenger Hard United States Eric Taino Romania Gabriel Trifu
United States Glenn Weiner
3–6, 2–6

Performance timelines[edit]

Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# DNQ A NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

Singles[edit]

Tournament 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 SR W–L Win%
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open Q1 1R 1R A A A 0 / 2 0–2 0%
French Open Q3 F 3R A A 1R 0 / 3 8–3 73%
Wimbledon A 1R 2R A A A 0 / 2 1–2 33%
US Open 1R 2R A A A A 0 / 2 1–2 33%
Win–loss 0–1 7–4 3–3 0–0 0–0 0–1 0 / 9 10–9 53%
ATP World Tour Masters 1000
Indian Wells A A 2R A A A 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Miami 1R 2R 2R A A 1R 0 / 4 1–4 20%
Monte Carlo A 1R 2R A A 1R 0 / 3 1–3 25%
Hamburg A A 1R A A 1R 0 / 2 0–2 0%
Rome A QF 2R A A 1R 0 / 3 4–3 57%
Madrid A 2R A A A A 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Canada A 2R A A A A 0 / 1 1–1 50%
Cincinnati Q2 1R A A A A 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Paris A 3R A A A A 0 / 1 1–1 50%
Win–loss 0–1 6–7 2–5 0–0 0–0 0–4 0 / 17 8–17 32%

Doubles[edit]

Tournament 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 SR W–L Win%
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A 1R A A A 0 / 1 0–1 0%
French Open 2R 2R A A 2R 0 / 3 3–3 50%
Wimbledon 1R 2R A A 1R 0 / 3 1–3 25%
US Open 2R A A A A 0 / 1 1–1 50%
Win–loss 2–3 2–3 0–0 0–0 1–2 0 / 8 5–8 38%
ATP World Tour Masters 1000
Indian Wells A 1R A A A 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Miami A 1R A A A 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Madrid SF A A A A 0 / 1 2–1 67%
Cincinnati 1R A A A A 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Win–loss 2–2 0–2 0–0 0–0 0–0 0 / 4 2–4 33%

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Martin Verkerk". www.laurense.com. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
  2. ^ a b "Martin Verkerk | Overview | ATP World Tour | Tennis". ATP World Tour. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
  3. ^ "We Are Tennis – We Are Tennis: Get all the news of tennis, players & players, tournaments. ATP & WTA ranking. Follow the games and the results of tennis live". www.wearetennis.com. Retrieved 22 February 2016.

External links[edit]