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Venezuelan tennis coach and a former professional player From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Daniel Vallverdú (born March 17, 1986), also known as Dani Vallverdú,[1] is a Venezuelan tennis coach and a former professional player. Vallverdu is the Tournament Director of the Washington Mubadala Citi DC Open ATP and WTA 500 tournament. He is also the Co-Tournament Director of the 2024 Next Generation ATP Finals in Jeddah [2] and the Event Director for the 2024 WTA Finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He is currently coaching Grigor Dimitrov.
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|
 Daniel Vallverdú (left) in 2011 | |
| Country (sports) |  Venezuela |
|---|---|
| Residence | London, United Kingdom |
| Born | March 17, 1986 Valencia, Venezuela |
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) |
| Turned pro | 2004 |
| Plays | Right-handed (two-handed backhand) |
| College | University of Miami |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 2-5 |
| Career titles | 0 |
| Highest ranking | No. 727 (August 8, 2005) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 4-2 |
| Career titles | 0 |
| Highest ranking | No. 746 (August 15, 2005) |
| Team competitions | |
| Davis Cup | SFAm (2005) |
Vallverdu is also the Co-Founder of AD Global Sports, a company founded to promote the growth of sports in the UK and around the world. In November 2023, AD Global Sports, together with Andy Murray acquired the Team AD/vantage part of the Hexagon Cup which took place in Madrid in February 2024.
Vallverdú has formerly coached Andy Murray[3] (2010–2014), Tomáš Berdych (2014–2016), Juan Martín del Potro, Stan Wawrinka (2019–2022) and recently he is coaching Grigor Dimitrov (2016–2019, 2022–).[4] Vallverdu has also worked alongside Ivan Lendl, Andre Agassi, Magnus Norman and Jamie Delgado.
Vallverdú and Murray's partnership 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 and 2013 Wimbledon Championships.[3]
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 title at the 2017 Cincinnati Masters,[6] followed by the ATP Finals title in November 2017,[5] resulting in Dimitrov's career high ranking of No. 3 by the end of 2017. In May 2019, Dimitrov and Vallverdú ended their working relationship.
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. Vallverdu and Wawrinka ended their working relationship in October 2022.
In December 2022 Vallverdu agreed to start coaching Grigor Dimitrov again.[7]
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 included Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.[9]
In 2023, Vallverdu was re-elected by the body of ATP Coaches to continue serving as the Coaches' Representative in the newly formed ATP Player Council of 2023.[10]
In August 2021, after the cancellation of the Asia Swing, Vallverdu instigated the collaboration between the ATP and the San Diego Barnes Tennis Centre which was then allocated a one-year 250 tournament license to be held 27 September - 3 October 2021 as a lead up to the Indian Wells Masters which had been postponed to October due to Covid.[11][12][13]
Vallverdu took on the role of Managing Director and the tournament attracted players including Denis Shapovalov, Andrey Rublev, Kei Nishikori, Dimitrov and Murray. With 8 of the top 20 players attending and the ranking cut off being 42 to get in the main draw it was the 2nd most competitive ATP 250 all season since Doha. Billie Jean King[14] accepted the role of honorary tournament chair.[13]
In 2022, with the Asia swing still cancelled due to Covid, Vallverdu again instigated the collaboration between the ATP and the San Diego Barnes Tennis Centre which was then allocated a second one year 250 tournament license to be held post US Open 17-25 September Vallverdu again took on the position of Managing Director.[citation needed]
In 2023, Vallverdu took on the role of Tournament Director of the Washington D.C. Mubadala Citi DC Open. [15]
In 2023, Vallerdu took on the role of Co-Tournament Director of the 2023 Next Generation ATP Finals to be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.[16]
Vallverdú met British tennis player 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 became friends.
In June 2008, Vallverdú became 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."[17]
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.[18]
With Andy Murray, Vallverdú worked alongside Ivan Lendl,[19] who joined Murray's team in 2012.[20]
Other memorable highlights of his coaching work with Murray and Lendl included when Murray won two Grand Slam titles, the US Open in 2012 and Wimbledon 2013.[3][21] Following a mutual split with Murray in November 2014, Vallverdú took on the head coaching job for 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 Roland Garros as the fourth seed.
On 16 May 2016, Berdych and Vallverdú parted their ways.
He became the coach of Grigor Dimitrov in July 2016.[4] At the time the Bulgarian was No. 40 in the ATP rankings.[5] Vallverdú guided him to his first Masters 1000 Win, as he beat Nick Kyrgios in the final of the 2017 Cincinnati Masters. 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.[22]
In October 2022 after parting ways with Wawrinka, Vallverdu agreed to coach Dimitrov again till the end of the 2022 season which ended in November 2022.[23] On 1 December 2022, it was confirmed he will continue to coach Dimitrov in 2023.[24]
Dimitrov under Vallverdu’s guidance made his first ATP Final since the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament Rotterdam 2018 at the 2023 Gonet Geneva Open.[25]
At the 2023 US Open Dimitrov beat Andy Murray in straight sets to advance to the third round during the second-round match. Dimitrov had both of his coaches Vallverdu and Jamie Delgado - two of Murray’s former coaches, in his coaching Box.[26]
After a solid run of form in the China circuit, making the semifinals of the Chengdu Open and the quarterfinals of the Beijing Open at the 2023 Rolex Shanghai Masters, Dimitrov beat Carlos Alcaraz (ranked No. 2 in the world) in the last 16 to reach the quarterfinals against Nicolas Jarry.[27] Dimitrov beat Jarry to make it to the semifinals.[28]
At the 2023 Rolex Paris Masters with his 94-minute triumph over Hubert Hurkacz, Dimitrov reached 40 tour-level wins in a season for the first time since 2017, which is also the year he last lifted an ATP Tour crown at the Nitto ATP Finals with Vallverdu.[29] Dimitrov advanced to his second ATP Masters 1000 final and first since 2017 when he clawed past Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 6-7(1), 7-6(3) at the Rolex Paris Masters.[30]
Dimitrov lifted his first title in Brisbane 2024 since he won his last title with Vallverdu at the ATP Finals in 2017. [31] After beating Andy Murray in the first-round match up, Dimitrov did not lose another set the whole tournament beating Rune 7-5 6-4 in the Brisbane Final.
After parting ways with Grigor Dimitrov, Vallverdú joined Stan Wawrinka's coaching team before the start of the 2019 grass court season.
Following the departure of Magnus Norman in September 2020 Vallverdu became the de facto head coach.
Vallverdu and Wawrinka ended their working relationship in October 2022.[32]
In 2023, Vallverdu co-founded the company AD Global Sports with Arran Yentob to support the development of sports in the UK and globally.
In November AD Global Sports partnered with Andy Murray to acquire the Padel team AD/vantage - one of six teams in the Hexagon Cup which took place in Madrid in February 2024.[33]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Vallverdú in collaboration with the ATP launched the coaches and players fan experience initiative to help raise funds for tennis coaches most affected during the pandemic.[34] The first round of bidding raised over 90,000 USD.
In July 2020, The second round was launched and gave fans the chance to bid on more exclusive fan experiences [35] which included hitting with players Murray, Wawrinka,[36] Lopez and Dimitrov.[37]
The highest individual bid was made for two Wimbledon Final tickets and the chance to hit with Grand Slam Champion Murray and reached close to 52,000 USD. The bid to hit with the Swiss Grand Slam Champion Wawrinka went for 27,000 US Dollars.
In total, the initiative launched by Vallverdú raised 218,000 US Dollars.
In 2020, Vallverdu became an ambassador for the charity organization HIA Athletes. He is quoted saying “My family and I are passionate about the environment and helping the planet. Having coached some of the greatest tennis players in the world I understand how important optimization is. High Impact Athletes helps me optimize my giving by providing easy access to the most effective, impactful charities in the world.” [38]
In June 2008, he became British tennis player Andy Murray's doubles partner for the 2008 Queen's Club Championships in London.
Vallverdú has played for Venezuela in eight matches over six ties, including a semifinal appearance in Group I of the Americas Zone in 2005.
Vallverdú attended the Sánchez-Casal Barcelona Tennis Academy when he was 15, where he met Andy Murray.
Vallverdú graduated from the University of Miami in 2009 with a BA in International Marketing and Finance.[39]
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.
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