By E.J. Crawford
Pablo Carreno Busta has quietly enjoyed an excellent 2017, highlighted by winning Estoril last week for his third career tour title.
Here’s a little more on the 2016 Winston-Salem Open champion:
The Pablo Carreno Busta File
Age: 25
Height: 6-2
Residence: Barcelona, Spain
Current Rank: 18
Career-High Rank: 18 (May 2017)
Best 2016 Series Finish: Champion, Winston-Salem Open
The Baseline
- Carreno Busta has made a major move up the rankings in the past year, cracking the Top 20 for the first time. In fact, he was No. 55 in the world as recently as August 2016, and he finished the 2013 through 2015 seasons ranked in the 50s and 60s.
- He broke through in 2016 at the US Open Series event in Winston-Salem, N.C., taking his first tour title with a victory over fellow Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut in a three-set, three-hour final. He would add a second title two months later in Moscow, defeating Fabio Fognini in the final.
- That set the stage for 2017, where Carreno Busta has reached the final in Rio de Janeiro; the semifinals in Indian Wells, Buenos Aires and Sao Paolo; and the third round at the Australian Open. He is currently No. 7 in the 2017 ATP points race.
- He is also an outstanding doubles player, having reached the 2016 US Open final and the 2017 Australian Open semifinals with Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. In addition, he won the title in Beijing in 2016 with Rafael Nadal. He is currently No. 19 in the ATP individual doubles rankings. (He and American Jack Sock are the only players in the Top 20 in both singles and doubles.)
- Carreno Busta was voted the most improved player on the ATP World Tour in 2013, when he improved from No. 715 at year-end 2012 to No. 65 at year-end 2013.
They Said It!!
“Facing Spanish players is always difficult. To face three former Top 10, monsters in the sport, and on this surface, gives me lots of confidence for the future.” – Carreno Busta, to estorilopen.com, after defeating former world No. 5 Tommy Robredo, defending champion Nicolas Almagro and former French Open finalist David Ferrer, all fellow Spaniards, en route to the Estoril title