Nicolas Massu

Nicolás Alejandro Massú Fried (Viña del Mar, Chile, October 10, 1979) is a Chilean tennis player and coach.

During his youth career he won the title of one of the 9 most important youth tournaments, the Casablanca International Cup, held in Mexico at the Club Casablanca Satélite facilities in 1997. The Casablanca Cup is considered a seedbed of great tennis figures such as Roger Federer, who also set foot on the Club Casablanca Satélite facilities a year earlier, in 1996.

On the ATP World Tour he won seven titles, six singles (one Olympic, one ATP 500 and four ATP 250) and one doubles (Olympic). He is the only male tennis player of the professional era to win two gold medals in one edition of the Olympic Games, in Athens 2004. Individually, he reached the final of the Madrid Masters in 2003 and won the Kitzbühel Tournament in 2004. His best position in the singles ATP Ranking he was ninth in 2004 and in doubles, 31st in 2005.

He represented Chile in the Davis Cup (quarterfinalist in 2006 and 2010), in the World Team Cup (champion in 2003 and 2004), and is the "best Chilean Olympian in history." He was the "best individual male tennis player in Chile" in the 2003 and 2004 seasons. He has been the captain of the Davis Cup team since 2014. Since 2019 he has been the coach of the Austrian tennis player Dominic Thiem.

Main achievements

On an individual level, his greatest achievements are having won the Casablanca Youth World Cup title in 1997 at just seventeen years of age, having won the gold medal in Athens 2004 against Mardy Fish; the final achieved in the Masters Series in Madrid 2003, lost to the number one at that time, the Spanish Juan Carlos Ferrero; the title in the International Series Gold of Kitzbuhel 2004 (equivalent to a current ATP 500) against Gastón Gaudio; four other ATP titles: Buenos Aires 2002, Amersfoort 2003, Palermo 2003, Costa do Sauipe 2006; and eight other challenger tournaments. In addition to Madrid, he has played eight other ATP finals.

In doubles, the gold medal in Athens 2004 stands out together with Fernando González and 2 other ATP finals. At the team level, he was a two-time winner in the Team World Cup in Düsseldorf in 2003 and 2004, along with Fernando González and Marcelo Ríos. In Davis Cup they have a record of 20-9 in singles and 10-8 in doubles.

Other overall achievements include reaching the top 10 list after reaching the number 9 position in 2004, and having finished ten straight seasons in the top 100 players in the world rankings (between 1999 and 2008). He earned more than 250 wins as a professional. The highest ranked player he beat was Andy Roddick (2nd) at the 2003 Madrid Masters in Spain. In his career he has managed to defeat almost every former number one he has faced, including Roger Federer, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Andy Roddick, Carlos Moyá, Marat Safin and Gustavo Kuerten.

Sports career

Youth stage

Massú in Kitzbühel 2005.

He was born in 1979 in the city of Viña del Mar, into a Chilean family of Lebanese and Jewish origin. His grandfather, Ladislao Fried, introduced him to tennis in his childhood. His first clubs were ATNZ and Valle Dorado, in Villa Alemana.

In the beginning he participated in small tournaments, demonstrating his dedication and natural talent in each game, together with his childhood friend Fernando Valderrama. His career internationalized thanks to two victories that he reaped while playing in the Junior division: he won the Orange Bowl under-18, defeating Peruvian Rodolfo Rake in the final; and then in 1997 he won first place in doubles at Wimbledon together with the Peruvian tennis player Luis Horna and at the United States Open, having his compatriot, Fernando González, as a partner. At the end of the year he received recognition in France as the "best youth male doubles player in the world" in 1997, joining the international circuit.

To perfect his game, he entered the Nick Bollettieri academy in the United States, where he trained alongside Marcelo Ríos and physical trainer Manuel Astorga. He later traveled to Spain, to join the Barcelona High Performance Center, with coach Luis Riba.

Professional start (1997-2002)

Nicolás entered the professional circuit in 1997 at the age of 17. His first achievements as a professional were achieved in 1998 by winning the Spain F6 and Spain F7 Futures and losing another 3 finals. He later won his first challenger in Quito against the Mexican Mariano Sánchez. In 1999 he would win three different challengers, the Ericsson Cup in Santiago, Biella held in Italy, and Quito again. In addition to a final in Guadalajara. Thanks to this, Nicolás would manage to finish the year for the first time within the Top 100, ranked No. 97. In 2000, Nicolás began to get used to the ATP championships, playing his first final in Orlando, losing to his compatriot and friend Fernando González. He reached the quarterfinals on several occasions, in addition to winning his first matches in the Masters Series and Grand Slam. At the Sydney Olympic Games, after Marcelo Ríos refused to do so due to differences with the Chilean organization, Nicolás was appointed to be the national flag bearer at the opening ceremony. He would end the year as world No. 87. In 2001 Nicolás would play his second ATP final in the Adelaide Tournament, losing it to Tommy Haas. He would finish the year as world No. 80. At the beginning of 2002, Nicolás managed to achieve his first ATP title, defeating the Argentine Agustín Calleri in the final of the Buenos Aires Tournament by 2-6 7-6 and 6-2. He would finish the year as world No. 56.

Heyday (2003-2004)

Nicolas in the 2006 Australian Open.

The year 2003 would be the explosion of Nicolás as a professional. Nicolás would achieve his second title by defeating Raemon Sluiter at home in the Amersfoort Tournament in the Netherlands 6-4 7-6 6-2. The following week he would lose the final in Kitzbühel, Austria against the Argentine Guillermo Coria. He would later lose again in a final, this time in the Bucharest Tournament against David Sánchez. But Massú got a title again by winning the Palermo Tournament against Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu 1-6 6-2 7-6. Later he would reach a new final, but this time in a master series tournament, the Madrid Masters losing to the Spanish No. 1 in the world Juan Carlos Ferrero. He would also manage to win the Szczecin Challenger in Poland, and another final in Bermuda. Representing Chile along with Marcelo Ríos, Fernando González and Adrián García, he would win the Team World Cup in Düsseldorf, Germany, giving his country an unprecedented victory and sealing a great year individually and collectively. Nicolás would end a great 2003 bordering the Top Ten at No. 12 in the world ranking.

During 2004 he continued with a high level of play which allowed him to reach the quarterfinals in the Rome Masters. He would also manage to rise again in a championship by winning the ATP 500 in Kitzbühel against the Argentine Gastón Gaudio by 7-6 and 6-4. In August 2004, together with Fernando González, he won the doubles final of the Athens Olympic Games against the Germans Rainer Schuettler and Nicolas Kiefer after having 4 match points against in the tie break of the 4th set, thus achieving the first gold medal for Chile. The following day, Massú obtained his second Olympic gold, beating the American Mardy Fish in the final of the singles, in an agonizing match. When, together with González, they returned to the country, they were received as heroes by the crowd that was waiting to cheer them on. From the airport, his first stop was the La Moneda Presidential Palace, where together with the President of the Republic, Ricardo Lagos, they looked out on the second-floor balcony to greet thousands of their unconditional fans. In addition to the Olympic medals, Nicolás would achieve another victory at the national level. Again together with Fernando González, added to Adrián García, he would win the Düsseldorf Team World Cup for the second consecutive year. Nicolás would win the final defeating Australian Mark Philippoussis 6-3, 6-1. Nicolás would finish the year as No. 19 in the world, but in September after the gold medals he would reach his best position in the ranking until today; the no. 9.

Continuity in the circuit (2005-2008)

Nicolás Massú during the Masters of Hamburg of 2007.

Nicolás Massú during the Open of Australia 2007.

In 2005, Nicolás struggled to maintain the level shown in previous years, standing out in the round of 16 at the US Open and the semifinals in Kitzbühel and the Gstaad Tournament. As a consequence, Nicolás leaves the first 50 in the world, ending the year as No. 65 in the ranking.

In 2006, the final in his hometown stands out in the Viña del Mar Tournament, lost in the hands of the Argentine José Acasuso and the title obtained in the Costa do Sauipe Tournament against the Spanish Alberto Martín. He would also reach the finals of Casablanca and Amersfoort. He would finish the year as No. 44 in the world ranking.

In 2007 Nicolás would lower his level of play, highlighting only the final reached for the second time at his local Viña del Mar, losing to Luis Horna. He would finish the year ranked No. 77.

At the beginning of 2008, Massú left the Top 100 for the first time after 10 years, and as a consequence of this, he lost the number two in Chile to Paul Capdeville. After this, Nicolás would assume his level of play and would play Challenger category tournaments again, and thanks to this he would obtain good results, being crowned champion in Florianópolis and Rijeka, and losing the final in Belo Horizonte and Montevideo, the latter due to being absent due to to an injury. His good performances in the challenger tournaments allowed him to return to second place in the country and go from being ranked No. 138 in July, to ending the year as No. 77 in the world, demonstrating an increase in his performance and an incredible fighting spirit, as He has demonstrated throughout his career. In addition, he would finish for the tenth consecutive year among the hundred best players in the world, an unprecedented achievement for national tennis.

Decline and injuries (2009-2013)

For the year 2009, Nicolás has the necessary ranking to play ATP Tour tournaments, however the results are not positive, so he returns to play challenger tournaments to stay in the Top 100. His most important victories on the circuit were against Mardy Fish in the Miami Masters and against David Ferrer in the Umag Tournament, where he managed to reach the quarterfinals; his best performance of the year. In October he managed to reach the final of the Challenger in Santiago, losing to the Argentine Eduardo Schwank, and on November 22 he won the championship in the Challenger in Cancun by beating the Slovenian Grega Žemlja 6-3 7-5 in the final, however Nicolás he ends the season for the first time in 11 years outside the Top 100, ranking at No. 112 and posting a record of just 7 wins and 12 losses in ATP Tour tournaments.

At the beginning of 2010, Nicolás managed to get back into the top 100 by reaching the final of the Salinas challenger and the quarterfinals of the Houston Tournament. However, the rest of the year he would get bad results, so he would finish as No. 186 in the world with 3 wins and 7 losses.

In 2011 Nicolás would drop dramatically in the ranking due to poor results now also in challenger tournaments. He suffers from constant small injuries that do not allow him to regain his level. He ends the season ranked 453rd with a record of 0-3 in ATP championships and 4-11 in challengers. Despite the bad season suffered, Massú has declared his intention to continue on the tour for a couple more years.

2012 begins receiving a wildcard to play the 2012 Viña del Mar Tournament, where he faced the young Argentine Federico Delbonis. However he is defeated 6-0 6-3, continuing to fail to win an ATP-level match since April 5, 2010 at that year's Houston Tournament. Due to constant injuries and his low ranking, Nicolás fails to get an invitation to the 2012 London Olympics.

In 2013 he changed his coach by hiring Horacio de la Peña to be able to return to his best level. He received an invitation to play in Viña del Mar in what is his sixteenth participation in the tournament, where he lost in the first round against Albert Montañés 7-6 3-6 4-6. After nine consecutive defeats in the first round of tournaments challengers Massú declares that he will play all this year and at the end of it he will evaluate whether to continue for another year depending on his results. Finally on August 27, 2013 he announces his final retirement from professional tennis. He ends the year with a record of 2-10 in challengers and 0-1 in ATP.

Retirement and farewell

Massú accompanied by David Nalbandián, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Christian Garín and Minister Cecilia Pérez Jara, at the Palacio de La Moneda.

After confirming his retirement, Massú joined the management of the Chilean Davis Cup Team as captain, replacing Belus Prajoux, to start the year 2014. He will be assisted by fellow tennis player Marcelo Ríos.

He defined his farewell for November 20, 2013, where he faced the recently retired Argentine David Nalbandián, defeating him 6-4, 6-2. After this meeting, an exhibition match was held between the world number 1 and 2, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, an unprecedented event in the country, both held at the Movistar Arena.

Tributes

He was invited in 2004 by Chilean President Ricardo Lagos to the Palacio de La Moneda in Santiago, where he leaned out of a second-story balcony to greet thousands of people. In 2015, the International Tennis Federation presented him with a Commitment Award trophy for having played a minimum of 20 series in the Davis Cup, during its Annual General Meeting held at the Santiago Marriott Hotel.

Davis Cup

Nicolás Massú has a long history in the Davis Cup since he started in 1996 against Canada at just 16 years and 188 days old, becoming at that time the youngest player to represent Chile and he was for 16 years the youngest player to have represented Chile in said competition, until Christian Garín played the series against Italy in 2012. With the exception of 2003, he has been called up to represent Chile every year since then, having played 49 games in total. His all-time record is 32-18; 22-9 in singles and 10-9 in doubles. Together with Fernando González they have been the best doubles team in the history of the Chilean Davis Cup Team with a 9-4 record. The best result achieved by the team while Nicolás was a participant was the quarterfinals in 2006, being defeated by the American team. Massú has always stood out for his ability to fight in these matches, which has resulted in marathon matches, many times achieving victories against better ranked rivals than him. In fact, he holds the record for the longest match in the history of the Chilean Davis Cup team, defeating Austrian Stefan Koubek in September 2009 6-4 4-6 6-4 and 7-6(6) in 5 hours and 14 minutes, also becoming the longest four-set match in tennis history.

Style of Play

Massú running a "first service" in Chile Open in 2007.

He was characterized by his fierce and powerful game on the pitch. He showed muscular development and used a Babolat Pure Storm racket, and was right-handed with a two-handed backhand. On the ATP Tour, his black beast was Juan Ignacio Chela (1-6).

Historical classification

Filmography

Nicolás Massú throughout his career has participated on television mainly in sports and star programs. In 2013 he had a small appearance in the Chilevisión teleseries Graduados .

Television