Roberto Carballés Baena Explained

Roberto Carballés Baena (pronounced as /es/;^[2] born 23 March 1993) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 49 on 10 April 2023 and a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 127 on 2 March 2020. He is currently the No. 4 Spanish player.^[3]

Carballés Baena's preferred surface is clay, on which he has won two ATP titles and 11 Challenger titles in singles, and one ATP title in doubles.^{[4] [5]}

Career

2014–2015: First ATP win

In a first-round contest between two qualifiers, Carballés Baena recorded his first ATP World Tour win at the 2014 Casablanca Open when he defeated David Goffin of Belgium in straight sets. He followed this up with a tightly fought win over João Sousa in the second round. He faced lucky loser Andrey Kuznetsov in the quarterfinals and won in straight sets. His run was stopped in the semifinals by eventual championGuillermo García-López, again in a close three-set match.

2016–2018: Major, Masters and top 100 debuts; first singles ATP title

In March 2016, Carballés Baena made his Masters 1000 debut as a wildcard at the Miami Open, losing to Aljaž Bedene in three sets in the first round.The following month, he made his debut at his home Masters, the Mutua Madrid Open, where he won two qualifying matches to reach the main draw. In May, he made his Major debut at the French Open after qualifying.

In February 2018, Carballés Baena won his first ATP title at the Ecuador Open Quito, defeating second seed Albert Ramos Viñolas in the final. He became the first Spanish qualifier to win a title since Nicolás Almagro at the 2006 Valencia Open. This victory resulted in him reaching a career-high singles ranking of world No. 72.

2020–21: First doubles title & French Open third round; Olympics debut

In February 2020, Carballés Baena won his first ATP doubles title at the Chile Open in Santiago. He and compatriot Alejandro Davidovich Fokina defeated the second-seeded pair of Marcelo Arévalo and Jonny O’Mara in the final.

At the 2020 French Open, Carballés Baena reached the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time. He defeated ninth seed Denis Shapovalov in the second round to record his first top-20 win and first victory in five sets^[6] before retiring in his next match against 18th seed Grigor Dimitrov.

In April 2021, Carballés Baena won his first title of the year at the Belgrade Challenger. In May, he qualified for the Masters 1000 in Rome for the first time.

Carballés Baena qualified to represent Spain at the 2020 Summer Olympics in singles and doubles partnering with Pablo Andujar. In September 2021, following his US Open second round showing, he reached his third Challenger final of the year as a top seed at the Murcia Open in Spain, losing to second seed Tallon Griekspoor in three sets. At the same tournament, he also reached the final in doubles partnering with Alberto Barroso Campos.

2022: First hard court ATP quarterfinal

At the Firenze Open, Carballés Baena advanced to his 15th ATP quarterfinal, his first on a surface other than clay, defeating second seed Matteo Berrettini, his third victory over a top-20 player.^[7]

2023: Second ATP title and top 50 debut; First Masters third round

Carballés Baena was defeated in the first round of the Australian Open in straight sets by eventual champion Novak Djokovic.^[8]

At the Córdoba Open in February, Carballés Baena broke the record for the longest match ever in tournament history when he lost to compatriot Bernabe Zapata Miralles in three hours and 26 minutes in the first round. The previous-longest match was in 2020, when Albert Ramos-Vinolas outlasted Pablo Andújar in three hours and 20 minutes.^[9]

Five years after his first ATP title, he won his second at the Grand Prix Hassan II in Marrakesh, defeating fifth seed Maxime Cressy in the first round, fourth seed Tallon Griekspoor in the quarterfinals, second seed Dan Evans in the semifinals, and Alexandre Müller in the final.^[10] As a result, he moved to a new career high in the top 50 at world No. 49 on 10 April 2023.^[11]

A few weeks later, Carballés Baena won a match at the Madrid Open for the first time in his career and only his fifth win at the Masters 1000 level, defeating David Goffin in the first round before losing to 13th seed Alexander Zverev in three sets in the second round. He then won his first match ever in Rome, defeating Hugo Dellien in the first round. In the second round, he defeated Dan Evans for a second time in the season in a marathon lasting almost four hours — the then-longest best-of-three-set match of the season — to reach the third round of a Masters tournament for the first time in his career.^[12]

At the French Open, Carballés Baena defeated qualifier Emilio Nava before losing to fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in the second round.

After losing to Tallon Griekspoor in the first round of the Halle Open, Carballés Baena competed at the Mallorca Championships as the eighth seed, defeating Ilya Ivashka in three sets to record his fifth career win on grass. At Wimbledon, he came from a set down to defeat qualifier Matteo Arnaldi in four sets before losing to sixth seed Holger Rune in the second round.

At the US Open, Carballés Baena was again drawn to play Rune, this time in the first round. He defeated the fourth-seeded Rune in four sets to record his first-ever victory over a top-10 player. In the following round, he lost to Aslan Karatsev in four sets. Carballés Baena then competed at the Copa Sevilla as the top seed, winning and successfully defending his title.

2024: Second Marrakesh final

At the 2024 Grand Prix Hassan II he reached his second final where he was the defending champion defeating qualifier Matteo Gigante, second seed Dan Evans, qualifier Nicolas Moreno de Alboran and Pavel Kotov.

Personal life

Carballés Baena married his longtime girlfriend Paula Mustienes Ferrer in December 2023.^[13]

ATP career finals

Singles: 3 (2 titles, 1 runner-up)

Legend Grand Slam tournaments (0–0) ATP World Tour Finals (0–0) ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0) ATP World Tour 500 Series (0–0) ATP World Tour 250 Series (2–1)

Finals by surface Hard (0–0) Clay (2–1) Grass (0–0)

Finals by setting Outdoor (2–0) Indoor (0–0)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	class=unsortable	Score
Win	1–0		Ecuador Open, Ecuador	250 Series	Clay	Albert Ramos Viñolas	6–3, 4–6, 6–4
Win	2–0		Grand Prix Hassan II, Morocco	250 Series	Clay	Alexandre Müller	4–6, 7–6(7–3), 6–2
Loss	2–1		Grand Prix Hassan II, Morocco	250 Series	Clay	Matteo Berrettini	5–7, 2–6

Doubles: 1 (1 title)

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

Finals by surface Hard (0–0) Clay (1–0) Grass (0–0)

Finals by setting Outdoor (1–0) Indoor (0–0)

Challenger and Futures finals

Singles: 38 (20–18)

Legend (singles) ATP Challenger Tour (11–7) ITF Futures Tour (9–11)

Titles by surface Hard (0–0) Clay (20–16) Grass (0–0) Carpet (0–2)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1–0		Spain F32, Oviedo	Futures	Clay	Pablo Carreño Busta	6–4, 6–2
Win	2–0		Spain F12, Madrid	Futures	Clay	Gabriel Trujillo Soler	6–3, 7–6(7–4)
Win	3–0		Spain F13, Vic	Futures	Clay	Jordi Samper Montaña	5–7, 6–4, 6–1
Loss	3–1		Spain F15, Lleida	Futures	Clay	João Sousa	3–6, 3–6
Win	4–1		Spain F6, Badalona	Futures	Clay	David Estruch	6–2, 6–3
Win	5–1		Croatia F5, Rovinj	Futures	Clay	Marc Sieber	6–4, 4–6, 7–5
Loss	5–2		Spain F26, Santander	Futures	Clay	Gabriel Trujillo Soler	2–6, 3–6
Win	6–2		Spain F32, Sabadell	Futures	Clay	Gerard Granollers Pujol	6–4, 6–1
Loss	6–3		Spain F3, Murcia	Futures	Clay	Pablo Carreño Busta	7–6(9–7), 3–6, 3–6
Loss	6–4		Spain F4, Cartagena	Futures	Clay	Pablo Carreño Busta	1–6, 0–6
Loss	6–5		Spain F7, Villajoyosa	Futures	Carpet	Pablo Carreño Busta	3–6, 7–6(7–3), 3–6
Loss	6–6		Spain F8, Villajoyosa	Futures	Carpet	Marc Giner	6–7(4–7), 4–6
Loss	6–7		Spain F19, Palma del Río	Futures	Clay	Gerard Granollers Pujol	6–7(5–7), 6–4, 3–6
Loss	6–8		Spain F33, Sabadell	Futures	Clay	José Checa Calvo	6–3, 0–6, 2–6
Win	7–8		Spain F34, Sant Cugat	Futures	Clay	Guillermo Olaso	6–3, 6–2
Loss	7–9		Spain F3, Murcia	Futures	Clay	Markus Eriksson	6–7(2–7), 6–3, 5–7
Loss	7–10		Spain F4, Cartagena	Futures	Clay	Kamil Majchrzak	6–1, 6–7(4–7), 3–6
Loss	7–11		Italy F7, Santa Margherita di Pula	Futures	Clay	Marco Cecchinato	4–6, 1–6
Win	8–11		Spain F29, Sabadell	Futures	Clay	Pedro Cachin	6–4, 6–4
Win	9–11		Spain F30, Sant Cugat	Futures	Clay	Alexis Musialek	6–4, 4–6, 6–2
Loss	9–12		Meknes, Morocco	Challenger	Clay	Daniel Muñoz de la Nava	4–6, 2–6
Win	10–12		Kenitra, Morocco	Challenger	Clay	Oriol Roca Batalla	6–1, 5–1 ret.
Win	11–12		Mohammedia, Morocco	Challenger	Clay	Kamil Majchrzak	7–6(7–4), 6–2
Loss	11–13		Båstad, Sweden	Challenger	Clay	Horacio Zeballos	3–6, 4–6
Win	12–13		Cortina, Italy	Challenger	Clay	Gerald Melzer	6–1, 6–0
Loss	12–14		Cordenons, Italy	Challenger	Clay	Elias Ymer	2–6, 3–6
Win	13–14		Manerbio, Italy	Challenger	Clay	Guillermo García López	6–4, 2–6, 6–2
Win	14–14		Barcelona, Spain	Challenger	Clay	Pedro Martínez	1–6, 6–3, 6–0
Win	15–14		Murcia, Spain	Challenger	Clay	Mikael Ymer	2–6, 6–0, 6–2
Win	16–14		Lisbon, Portugal	Challenger	Clay	Facundo Bagnis	2–6, 7–6(7–5), 6–1
Win	17–14		Belgrade, Serbia	Challenger	Clay	Damir Dzumhur	6–4, 7–5
Loss	17–15		Seville, Spain	Challenger	Clay	Pedro Martínez	4–6, 1–6
Loss	17–16		Murcia, Spain	Challenger	Clay	Tallon Griekspoor	6–3, 5–7, 3–6
Loss	17–17		Las Palmas, Spain	Challenger	Clay	Gianluca Mager	6–7(6–8), 2–6
Win	18–17		bgcolor=moccasin	Tunis, Tunisia	bgcolor=moccasin	Challenger	Clay	Gijs Brouwer	6–1, 6–1
Loss	18–18		Amersfoort, Netherlands	Challenger	Clay	Tallon Griekspoor	1–6, 2–6
Win	19–18		Seville, Spain	Challenger	Clay	Bernabé Zapata Miralles	6–3, 7–6(8–6)
Win	20–18		Seville, Spain	Challenger	Clay	Calvin Hemery	6–3, 6–1

Doubles: 9 (4–5)

Legend (doubles) ATP Challenger Tour (0–3) ITF Futures Tour (4–2)

Titles by surface Hard (0–0) Clay (4–5) Grass (0–0) Carpet (0–0)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	0–1		Spain F31, Santander	Futures	Clay	Pablo Carreño Busta	Miguel Ángel López Jaén Pablo Santos González	2–6, 2–6
Win	1–1		Spain F28, Irun	Futures	Clay	Pablo Carreño Busta	Enrique López Pérez Jaime Pulgar-García	6–4, 6–2
Win	2–1		Spain F39, Vilafranca	Futures	Clay	Gerard Granollers Pujol	Miguel Ángel López Jaén Gabriel Trujillo Soler	3–6, 6–3, [11–9]
Win	3–1		Spain F34, Sant Cugat	Futures	Clay	Oriol Roca Batalla	Marcos Giraldi Requena Iván Gómez Mantilla	6–4, 6–2
Loss	3–2		Spain F34, Paguera	Futures	Clay	Oriol Roca Batalla	Pedro Martínez Jaume Munar	1–6, 1–6
Win	4–2		Italy F6, Santa Margherita di Pula	Futures	Clay	David Vega Hernández	Filippo Baldi Pietro Licciardi	6–4, 6–4
Loss	4–3		Mohammedia, Morocco	Challenger	Clay	Pablo Carreño Busta	Íñigo Cervantes Huegun Mark Vervoort	6–3, 6–7(2–7), [10–12]
Loss	4–4		Cortina, Italy	Challenger	Clay	Cristian Garín	James Cerretani Philipp Oswald	3–6, 2–6
Loss	4–5		Murcia, Spain	Challenger	Clay	Alberto Barroso Campos	Raúl Brancaccio Flavio Cobolli	3–6, 6–7(4–7)

Performance timelines

Singles

Current through the 2023 French Open.

Tournament	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	SR	W–L	Win%
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	A	Q1	A	A	Q2	Q1	1R	1R	2R	1R	1R	0 / 5	1–5
French Open	A	Q1	Q3	1R	Q1	1R	2R	3R	1R	2R	2R	0 / 7	5–7
Wimbledon	A	A	Q1	A	Q1	1R	1R	style=color:#767676	NH	1R	1R	2R	0 / 5	1–5
US Open	A	Q1	A	A	A	2R	1R	2R	2R	2R	2R	0 / 6	5–6
style=text-align:left	Win–loss	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–1	0–0	1–3	1–4	3–3	2–4	2–4	3–4	0 / 23	12–23
ATP Tour Masters 1000
Indian Wells Masters	A	A	A	A	A	A	2R	style=color:#767676	NH	2R	1R	1R	0 / 4	2–4
Miami Open	A	A	A	1R	A	Q1	2R	style=color:#767676	NH	A	1R	2R	0 / 4	2–4
Monte Carlo Masters	A	A	A	A	Q2	Q1	A	style=color:#767676	NH	A	A	A	0 / 0	0–0
Madrid Open	A	Q1	Q2	1R	Q1	1R	Q2	style=color:#767676	NH	Q2	Q2	2R	0 / 3	1–3
Italian Open	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	Q1	1R	A	3R	0 / 2	2–2
Canadian Open	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	style=color:#767676	NH	A	A		0 / 0	0–0
Cincinnati Masters	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A		0 / 0	0–0
Shanghai Masters	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	NH			1R	0 / 1	0–1
Paris Masters	A	A	A	A	A	A	Q1	Q1	Q2	A	Q2	0 / 0	0–0
style=text-align:left	Win–loss	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–2	0–0	0–1	2–2	0–0	1–2	0–2	4–5	0 / 14	7–14
Career statistics
Tournaments	1	3	2	9	2	19	19	8	17	18	6	104
style=text-align:left	Overall win–loss	0–1	3–3	1–2	6–9	3–2	14–17	19–20	6–8	11–16	11–18	5–6	79–102
Year-end ranking	267	167	131	145	106	73	80	97	79	74

Doubles

Tournament	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	SR	W–L	Win%
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	A	A	A	A	A	2R	A	A	2R	0 / 2	2–2	50%
French Open	A	A	A	A	2R	1R	A	A	A	0 / 2	1–2	33%
Wimbledon	A	A	A	A	1R	1R	style=color:#767676	NH	A	A	0 / 2	0–2	0%
US Open	A	A	A	A	A	2R	A	A	A	0 / 1	1–1	50%
style=text-align:left	Win–loss	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	1–2	2–4	0–0	0–0	1–1	0 / 7	4–7	30%

Top 10 wins

Carballés Baena has a win-loss record against players who were, at the time the match was played, ranked in the top 10.

	Player	Rank	Event	Surface	Rd	class=unsortable	Score
2023
1.	Holger Rune	align=center bgcolor=eee8aa	4	US Open, United States	Hard	1R	6–3, 4–6, 6–3, 6–2	63

Notes and References

1. Web site: Roberto Carballes Baena | Overview | ATP Tour | Tennis. ATP Tour.
2. Web site: The pronunciation by Roberto Carballés Baena himself. ATPWorldTour.com. 2018-01-09.
3. Web site: ATP rankings.
4. Web site: Roberto Carballes Baena | Bio | ATP Tour | Tennis. ATP Tour.
5. Web site: itftennis.com . Roberto Carballés Baena. 25 June 2023.
6. Web site: Carballes Baena Upsets Shapovalov in Fifth Set for Series of Firsts at Roland Garros | ATP Tour | Tennis .
7. Web site: Roberto Carballes Baena Stuns Matteo Berrettini in Florence ATP Tour Tennis . 2023-03-10 . ATP Tour.
8. Web site: Australian Open: Novak Djokovic allays hamstring injury fears with straight sets win over Roberto Carballés Baena . . 17 January 2023 .
9. Web site: Bernabe Zapata Miralles Wins Record-Breaking Match in Cordoba | ATP Tour | Tennis .
10. Web site: Marathon Man Carballes Baena Wins 3-Hour Battle to Earn Marrakech Crown | ATP Tour | Tennis .
11. Web site: Tiafoe Rises After Title, Mover of Week | ATP Tour | Tennis .
12. Web site: Evans out of Italian Open in near four-hour marathon. BBC Sport.
13. News: Carballés Baena Vive Su "Día Mágico". ATP Tour. 13 December 2023. Spanish.