Daniel Vallverdú

Daniel "Dani" Vallverdú (born March 17, 1986) is the tennis coach of the Swiss tennis player Stan Wawrinka. Vallverdu also acts as the coaches representative on the 2021 ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Player Council after being voted for the position by the body of ATP Coaches.

Daniel Vallverdú
Daniel Vallverdú (left) in 2011
Country (sports) Venezuela
ResidenceZurich, Switzerland
Born (1986-03-17) March 17, 1986
Valencia, Venezuela
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Turned pro2004
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
Singles
Career record2-5
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 727 (August 8, 2005)
Doubles
Career record4-2
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 746 (August 15, 2005)
Team competitions
Davis CupSFAm (2005)

Vallverdú has formerly coached Andy Murray [1] (2010–2014), Tomáš Berdych (2014–2016), Grigor Dimitrov (2016–2019),[2] and Juan Martín del Potro. Vallverdu has also worked together with Ivan Lendl, Andre Agassi and Magnus Norman.

Vallverdú and Murray had a longstanding and successful partnership which led to many tournament wins, including Murray's first Olympic Gold medal in 2012 (Vallverdú was head coach for the British Olympic tennis team), and two Grand Slam wins: the 2012 US Open (Tennis) and 2013 Wimbledon[3] (Vallverdú was working alongside Ivan Lendl).

Under Vallverdú's guidance in May 2015, at the age of 29, Czech player Tomáš Berdych reached his highest career singles ranking of No. 4 in the ATP Rankings.

He became the coach of Grigor Dimitrov [4] in July 2016. At the time the Bulgarian was No. 40 in the ATP Rankings.[5] Vallverdú guided him to his first Masters 1000 win beating Nick Kyrgios in the Final at the Cincinnati Masters 2017,[6] followed by the ATP Finals title in November 2017,[7] resulting in Dimitrov's career high ranking of No. 3 by the end of 2017. On 7 May 2019, after 3 years, Dimitrov and Vallverdú ended their working relationship.

In June, 2018 Vallverdú was voted by the body of ATP coaches to act as the Coaches representative in the ATP Player Council.[8] After electing to leave the Players Council for a short period of time Vallverdu was re-elected by the body of ATP Coaches to serve as the Coaches Representative in the newly formed ATP Player Council of 2021 which now includes Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. [9]

Vallverdú joined Stan Wawrinka in July 2019 as his coach, together with Magnus Norman. Wawrinka ended 2019 back in the top 20 of the ATP Rankings ranked 16 in the world. Magnus Norman and Stan Wawrinka parted ways in September 2020.

Coaching history with Andy Murray

Vallverdú met Andy Murray in the Sánchez-Casal Barcelona Tennis Academy when he was 15, where they were both training to become professional tennis players. The two quickly became best friends.

In June 2008, he became British tennis player Andy Murray's doubles partner for the 2008 Queen's Club Championships in London.

Vallverdú started working with Murray following his split with Miles Maclagan in 2010 and became Murray's de facto coach after he parted company with Alex Corretja in March. He coached Murray, organised practice sessions and served as liaison with Darren Cahill and Sven Groeneveld. "Quiet and unassuming, Vallverdú scouts opponents and helps devise tactical plans. Despite his relative youth, he is known for his professionalism and in-depth knowledge of the game."[10]

Vallverdú was also selected to be the head coach of the British men's tennis team for the London Olympics 2012, in which Murray won the Gold medal.[11]

With Andy Murray, Vallverdú worked actively alongside Ivan Lendl,[12] who joined Murray's team in 2012.[13]

Other memorable highlights of his coaching work with Murray and Lendl included when Murray won two Grand Slam titles, Wimbledon 2013[14] and the US Open in 2012.

Following a mutual split with Murray in November 2014, Vallverdú took on the head coaching job for Tomáš Berdych.

Coaching history with Tomáš Berdych

Vallverdu started working with Tomáš Berdych following the mutual split from Andy Murray in November 2014.

At the time Tomáš Berdych was ranked World no. 7.

It was an immediate success as Tomáš Berdych reached his second Australian Open semifinal after beating Rafael Nadal, but then losing to Andy Murray in a tense match 6-7 (6-8) 6-0 6-3 7–5.

Under Vallverdú's guidance in May 2015, at the age of 29, Berdych reached his highest career singles ranking of No. 4 in the ATP Rankings and entered the Roland Garros grand slam event as the number 4 seed.

On 16 May 2016, Berdych and Vallverdú parted their ways.

Coaching history with Grigor Dimitrov

He became the coach of Grigor Dimitrov in July 2016. At the time the Bulgarian was No. 40 in the ATP Rankings.[4] Vallverdu guided him to his first Masters 1000 Win, as he beat Nick Kyrgios in the final of the Western and Southern Open, Cincinnati Masters 2017. This success was followed by the ATP Finals title for Dimitrov in November 2017, resulting in a career high ranking of No. 3 by the end of 2017. On 7 May 2019, after three years, Dimitrov and Vallverdú ended their working relationship.[15]

Coaching history with Stan Wawrinka

After parting ways with Grigor Dimitrov, Vallverdú joined Stan Wawrinka's coaching team before the grass court season 2019 started.

Coaching history with Karolína Plíšková

In November 2019 Vallverdú agreed to work also with Karolína Plíšková, ranked then number 2 in the WTA Rankings.[16] She successfully went on to defend her Premier Brisbane International title in January 2020 beating Naomi Osaka in the semifinal and Madison Keys in the final. Plíšková also reached the final of the Rome Masters defending her title but was forced to retire due to an injury.

COVID 19—coaches fan experience

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Vallverdu with members of the ATP Coach Programme in collaboration with ATP launched the coaches fan experience initiative to help raise funds for tennis coaches most affected during the pandemic.[17] The first round of bidding raised over US$90,000.

In July 2020 The second round of bids was launched and gave fans the chance to bid on more coaches experiences [18] as well as fan experiences hitting with current players including Murray, Wawrinka,[19] Lopez and Dimitrov.[20]

In total the initiative launched by Vallverdu raised 218K. With the highest individual bid reaching close to 52K for 2 Wimbledon Final tickets and the chance to hit with Andy Murray. The bid to hit with Wawrinka went for 27K.

Tour career

Doubles

In June 2008, he became British tennis player Andy Murray's doubles partner for the 2008 Queen's Club Championships at Queens Club in London.

Davis Cup

Vallverdú has played for Venezuela in eight matches over six ties, including a semifinal appearance in Group I of the Americas Zone in 2005.

Educational background

Vallverdú graduated from the University of Miami in 2009 with a BA in International Marketing and Finance.[21]

During his time at the University of Miami, Vallverdú was captain of the university tennis team.

He received five all-American honors, was no. 3 in the nation in singles and no. 1 in the nation in doubles with teammate Carl Mikael Sundberg.

References
  1. Harman, Neil. "Joy of Dani Vallverdu who became Andy Murray's closest confidant".
  2. "Dani Vallverdu Explains Why He Opted to Coach Grigor Dimitrov Instead of del Potro". 18 August 2016.
  3. Harman, Neil. "Joy of Dani Vallverdu who became Andy Murray's closest confidant".
  4. "Dani Vallverdu Explains Why He Opted to Coach Grigor Dimitrov Instead of del Potro". 18 August 2016.
  5. "Hear Him Roar, Nitto ATP Finals Title Belongs to Grigor Dimitrov! | ATP Tour | Tennis".
  6. "Formerly Baby Fed, Grigor Dimitrov won Cincy with an all-grown-up game".
  7. "Hear Him Roar, Nitto ATP Finals Title Belongs to Grigor Dimitrov! | ATP Tour | Tennis".
  8. "New ATP Player Council Elected in London | ATP Tour | Tennis".
  9. https://www.atptour.com/en/news/atp-announces-2021-2022-player-council. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  10. "Wimbledon 2011: The men who make Murray tick". BBC Sport. 30 June 2011.
  11. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-10-16. Retrieved 2013-01-18.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  12. "Dani Vallverdu Photos Photos: 2012 French Open - Day Nine".
  13. Hodgkinson, Mark (24 March 2011). "Andy Murray hoping old pals' act with new coach Dani Vallverdu will rekindle his form".
  14. Harman, Neil. "Joy of Dani Vallverdu who became Andy Murray's closest confidant".
  15. Dimitrov, Grigor (2019-05-07). "pic.twitter.com/FKzimMLkzg". @GrigorDimitrov. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
  16. Kane, David. "Pliskova hires coach Daniel Vallverdu for upcoming 2020 season". WTA. WTA Tour, Inc. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  17. "ATP Coaches Launch Fan Experience". ATP Tour. ATP Tour, Inc. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  18. "Murray Wimbledon Lesson, 'Big 4' Racquet Draw Top New Fan Experience Prizes". ATP Tour. ATP Tour, Inc. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  19. https://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/wawrinka-versteigert-sich-fuer-arbeitslose-coaches-147988377627
  20. //www.tennisworldusa.org/tennis/news/UK_Tennis/89292/andy-murray-happy-to-support-daniel-vallverdu-s-efforts-to-raise-funds-for-coaches. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  21. "Wimbledon 2011: The men who make Murray tick". BBC Sport. 30 June 2011.

[1]

  1. Dimitrov, Grigor (2019-05-07). "pic.twitter.com/FKzimMLkzg". @GrigorDimitrov. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
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