Clay-court specialist Albert Ramos-Vinolas bids farewell to tennis

Spain’s Albert Ramos-Vinolas has finally bid farewell to tennis after losing in the Challenger event. The 37-year-old, known for his fighting spirit, has had some success at the highest level, but that period was not long enough for him to be considered among the greats.

Despite that, Ramos-Vinolas will be remembered as a player who gave his heart and soul to the sport and entertained the fans. His final appearance came in the Challenger event in Valencia, where he was knocked out after losing in the quarterfinals to Britain’s Jan Choinski in straight sets with a score of 6-4, 7-5.

During his last outing on the court, Ramos-Vinolas produced three aces, six fewer than his opponent. Ramos-Vinolas won 64 per cent points on his first serve, which was considerably lower than Choinski, who won 78 per cent points on his first serve.

Ramos-Vinolas ended up winning 60 points in total, 18 fewer than Choinski. It was only the second occasion this year that Ramos-Vinolas managed to cement a spot in the quarterfinals of an event. Previously, he secured a spot in the last eight of the ATP Challenger in Maia, where he suffered a defeat to Damir Dzumhur in straight sets with a score of 6-1, 6-0.

Ramos-Vinolas finished his career with four ATP titles at the highest level. Interestingly, all of those came while playing on Clay courts. His first-ever ATP title was the Nordea Open in 2016, where he defeated his fellow countryman Fernando Verdasco in the final in straight sets with a score of 6-3, 6-4.

Ramos-Vinolas had to wait three more years to lift his second title, which came in 2019, where he defeated Cedrik-Marcel Stebe of Germany in the final in straight sets with a score of 6-3, 6-2 to lift the Swiss Open in Gstaad. In 2021, Ramos-Vinolas lifted the Estoril Open after beating Britain’s Cameron Norrie in the final with a score of 4-6, 6-3, 7-6. Ramos-Vinolas’ last title was the Cordoba Open in 2022, where he defeated Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo in the final with a score of 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

After winning his fourth and last title, Ramos-Vinolas managed to play in the final of an event on just one occasion, which was the Swiss Open again in 2023, where he lost to Argentina’s Pedro Cachin in the final with a score of 3-6, 6-0, 7-5. Ramos-Vinolas, in his career, played in the final of 12 events in the singles category.

Eleven of those came while playing on the clay courts whereas only once he managed to book a spot in the final of an event that was played on a surface other than clay, which was the was Chengdu Open in 2016 where he lost to Karen Khachanov of Russia in the final with a score of 6-7, 7-6, 6-3.

In terms of Grand Slams, Ramos-Vinolas did not have an excellent record. He featured in the main draw of the major events 51 times but only reached the fourth round once. That occasion came way back in 2016, when Ramos-Vinolas lost in the quarterfinal of the French Open to Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka with a score of 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2.

Interestingly, Ramos-Vinolas featured in just one Grad Slam in 2025, which was also the Roland Garros. He started the competition in the qualifying round. He managed to secure wins against Uzbekistan’s Khumoyun Sultonov, Argentina’s Roman Andres Burruchaga and Andrea Collarini to secure a spot in the main draw. However, his journey in the main round of the mega-event was short-lived as he was knocked out after losing in the round of 128 to Denmark’s Holger Rune in straight sets with a score of 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.