Former world No. 32 Pablo Andujar of Spain knows a thing or two about perseverance. One of the more talented clay-courters in the game about four years ago, Andujar was besieged by physical problems and fell out of the Top 100. He missed approximately three seasons before beginning a tremendous comeback in 2018 that saw him climb from No. 1,824 in the rankings all the way back inside the Top 100 by the end of last season.
On Saturday in New York, Andujar booked his first Round of 16 appearance at a major on his 31st Grand Slam appearance, with a 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik.
Learn more about the 33-year-old who was born in Cuenca, Spain, who is currently ranked No. 70 in the world.
He's had three elbow surgeries
Andujar has undergone a trio of different elbow surgeries—March 2016, November 2016 and April 2017—all with different doctors.
“I had three surgeries in my elbow. They were pretty tough for me mentally, but the third time, the third surgery, was the good one. I worked a lot in the gym with physios, with doctors, and finally I don’t have any pain,” Andujar told the ATP Tour in April.
Andujar missed about three years, recovering from surgeries and playing sparingly until he finally got to full health again.
“It was mentally very tough, but now I’m very happy,” he said.
He's the father of two boys
The Spaniard was married in 2016 and had his first child, Pablo Jr., in 2017. His second son, Alex, was born this year in February. “It made me think about the fact that tennis was not my whole life,” Andujar said of his family.
Hard courts were not his best surface, until this week
It’s remarkable that Andujar has experienced his greatest result at a major on the fast-playing hard courts of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The Spaniard entered this year’s US Open with a 32-79 lifetime record on hard courts, and he owned a 5-14 combined record at the two hard-court Grand Slam events. He owns a 100-96 record on clay.
Andujar is a former world No. 32
The Spaniard, who makes his home in Valencia, Spain, reached his career-high ranking in July 2015 and made four consecutive Top 50 finishes from 2011 through 2014. Last year, he finished inside the Top 100 (No. 82) for the first time since 2015.
He faces Gael Monfils in the fourth round
Rublev defeated Nick Kyrgios in straight sets on Saturday night in Arthur Ashe Stadium. The Russian, a former quarterfinalist at the US Open, defeated Andujar in their only previous meeting in 2015.
