Martin Verkerk

Martin Willem Verkerk (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈmɑrtɪɱ vərˈkɛrk]; 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.

Martin Verkerk

Country (sports)	Netherlands
Residence	Alphen a/d Rijn, Netherlands
Born	(1978-10-31) 31 October 1978 (age 46) Leiderdorp, Netherlands
Height	1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)
Turned pro	1996
Retired	2008
Plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Prize money	$1,564,520
Singles
Career record	59–70 (45.7%)
Career titles	2
Highest ranking	No. 14 (15 September 2003)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	1R (2003, 2004)
French Open	F (2003)
Wimbledon	2R (2004)
US Open	2R (2003)
Doubles
Career record	24–37 (39.3%)
Career titles	0
Highest ranking	No. 63 (3 November 2003)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	1R (2004)
French Open	2R (2003, 2004, 2007)
Wimbledon	2R (2004)
US Open	2R (2003)
Last updated on: 28 January 2022.

Early life

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

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

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

Singles (1 runner-up)

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

ATP career finals

Singles: 4 (2 titles, 2 runner-ups)

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	Yevgeny Kafelnikov	6–4, 5–7, 7–5
Loss	1–1	May 2003	Paris, France	Grand Slam	Clay	Juan Carlos Ferrero	1–6, 3–6, 2–6
Loss	1–2	May 2004	Munich, Germany	International Series	Clay	Nikolay Davydenko	4–6, 5–7
Win	2–2	Jul 2004	Amersfoort, Netherlands	International Series	Clay	Fernando González	7–6(7–5), 4–6, 6–4

Doubles: 2 (2 runner-ups)

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	Raemon Sluiter	David Adams Robbie Koenig	2–6, 5–7
Loss	0–2	Mar 2003	Delray Beach, United States	International Series	Hard	Raemon Sluiter	Nenad Zimonjić Leander Paes	5–7, 6–3, 5–7

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals

Singles: 20 (10–10)

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

Doubles: 7 (3–4)

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	Martijn Belgraver	Barry Cowan Tom Spinks	4–6, 4–6
Loss	0–2	May 1998	Germany F7, Augsburg	Futures	Clay	Martijn Belgraver	Sascha Bandermann James Greenhalgh	3–6, 7–6, 1–6
Loss	0–3	May 1999	Italy F6, Viterbo	Futures	Clay	Kepler Orellana	Daniele Bracciali Filippo Messori	1–6, 7–5, 4–6
Win	1–3	Jun 2002	Eisenach, Germany	Challenger	Clay	Edwin Kempes	Marcos Daniel Adrián García	6–3, 6–4
Win	2–3	Jul 2002	Scheveningen, Netherlands	Challenger	Clay	Edwin Kempes	Mariano Hood Sebastián Prieto	6–4, 6–4
Win	3–3	Nov 2002	Knoxville, United States	Challenger	Hard	Dmitry Tursunov	Hugo Armando Sergio Roitman	6–3, 6–4
Loss	3–4	Nov 2002	Champaign-Urbana, United States	Challenger	Hard	Eric Taino	Gabriel Trifu Glenn Weiner	3–6, 2–6

Performance timelines

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

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

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%