Sara Sorribes Tormo is another in a long line of Spanish players with three names. Arantxa Sanchez Vicario. Roberto Bautista Agut. Juan Carlos Ferrero. Pablo Carreno Busta. Carla Suárez Navarro.
Though she hasn’t yet entered that august company in her home country, the 41st-ranked player is working hard to become a household name.
Even if the WTA calls her Sorribes Tormo, in Spain and on social media, she uses just the one last name. To the easygoing Spaniard, Sara Sorribes is just fine, thanks.
The 24-year-old from Castellón de la Plana, a village north of Valencia along the coast, is a small-town girl with a reputation for being a giant killer. In July, Sorribes Tormo notched the biggest win of her career, upsetting top seed Ashleigh Barty – who had won Wimbledon only two weeks earlier – in straight sets in the first round of the Tokyo Olympics.
At the Miami Open in March, Sorribes Tormo ran off a string of upsets over Jennifer Brady (No. 13); Elina Rybakina (No. 21); and Ons Jabeur (No 27).
But Sorribes Tormo is known for something else besides beating higher-ranked players. She goes the distance.
"I'm proud of working all the match. Don't stop fighting. I stay there no matter what, no matter the score.”
Not only does she habitually play long matches, the Spaniard seems to enjoy it. She might prefer to win easier and in less time, but Sorribes Tormo goes to any lengths necessary to get the W.
Sorribes Tormo has played five matches that have gone past the three-hour mark in 2021. Of the six longest matches this year, she was involved in two. Of the 12 longest, three. Of the 15 longest, four. And of the 20 longest matches in 2021, the Spaniard was on court for five of them – an astounding 25 percent. Going into the Miami Open earlier this year, Sorribes Tormo led the tour in matches that went beyond two hours, appearing in nine of 15. Half of all her matches leading up to the US Open were longer than two hours.
In Miami, each of the five matches Sorribes Tormo won, all the way to the quarterfinal of the WTA 1000 event, went the distance.
"I'm proud of working all the match," Sorribes Tormo said after her 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 win over Brady in Miami. "Don't stop fighting. I stay there no matter what, no matter the score.”
At another WTA 1000 tournament, in Rome, Sorribes Tormo beat the Italian Camila Giorgi in the second-longest match of the year, 3 hours 51 minutes. Sorribes Tormo saved three set points in the opening frame and came back from 0-4 down in the final set to win, 7-6, 6-7, 7-5.
At Wimbledon, Sorribes Tormo lost to Angelique Kerber in 3 hours, 19 minutes – the longest women’s match at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in a decade.
It’s probably not surprising that Sorribes Tormo’s idol is her countryman David Ferrer. The recently retired Ferrer, who reached No. 3 in the world, was the Energizer Bunny of the men’s tour, indefatigable and supremely resourceful, getting everything out of his modest frame and talent.
Sorribes Tormo owns an adorable photo, which she posted on her Twitter account, of her as a child, perhaps six or seven years old, standing next to a very sweaty Ferrer, who had just come off court. The photo was a harbinger of the future.
Like the Valencian, Sorribes Tormo is not physically imposing: She is also just 5-foot-9. But she definitely exhibits the fight of Ferrer. And much of the same physicality on court.
Sorribes Tormo is becoming known as an extremely tough out on tour. The Spaniard is a great defender, hits looping deep balls that keep her opponents pinned behind the baseline and give them fits, and she stays in points – and matches – long beyond her welcome, at least in the minds of her combatants.
At the 2021 US Open, Sorribes Tormo soundly defeated the 22-seeded Czech Karolina Muchova (a semifinalist at this year’s Australian Open and quarterfinalist at Wimbledon) in straight sets to make it past the second round at a major for the first time in her career.
In March, Sorribes Tormo won her maiden WTA title in Guadalajara, Mexico, defeating former world No. 5 Eugenie Bouchard. Raised on red clay, the Spaniard is 31-9 on hard courts in 2021 and up to a career-high ranking, certain to enter the Top 40 for the first time.
The main goal of Sorribes Tormo as she climbs the rankings and gets deeper in big tournaments is to get more aggressive and come to net more.
“I know I'm not a big server or have really big shots,” she told the WTA Insider. “I have to run a lot. I'm really Spanish in that way.”
In the third round, Sorribes Tormo faces one of the teen darlings of tennis, Britain’s Emma Raducanu, who made a splash at her home major Wimbledon, reaching the fourth round as a wild card. In Flushing, Raducanu won three matches in qualifiers to enter the main draw and has now played five matches to advance to the third round.
There will be a lot of eyes on this match, perhaps more than Sorribes Tormo is accustomed to. Expect for the Spaniard to take it all in stride – and, as is her custom, make Raducanu work for every single point.
