All-American Monday - Daniel Vallverdu

Daniel Vallverdu (2006-09)

Coral Gables, Fla. – In 2003, this Valencia, Venezuela native and future member of Venezuela’s Davis cup team won both the 20th International Junior Tournament of Salsomaggiore and the 11th International Junior Tournament “Citta Di Prato.” That same year Daniel Vallverdu advanced to the final round in both the Yucatan Cup and the Asuncion Bowl. Before becoming a Hurricane, Vallverdu ranked as high as 15th in the ITF Junior Doubles rankings.

In his first year on the Coral Gables campus, Vallverdu, who ranked as high as 30th during the season, compiled an overall singles record of 17-7 while going 9-2 in ACC play, including an 8-1 mark in the No. 2 position. His 17 victories include wins over four ranked players, including a straight-sets win (6-2, 6-1) over Michigan’s No. 62 Ryan Heller to open collegiate play. Eleven of his wins came over opponents from ranked teams. While partnered with All-American Luigi D’Agord, Vallervedu compiled an overall doubles record of 21-6 including a 19-5 mark in the No. 1 position. The pair finished 9-2 in ACC and ranked as high as No. 10 in the nation. En route to a quarterfinals appearance in the NCAA Doubles Tournament, Vallverdu defeated a pair of top-30 teams. As the 2006 ACC Freshman of the Year, Vallverdu helped the Hurricanes sweep ACC accolades for the first time in league history.

Player Bio: Daniel Vallverdu

Building upon his success as a freshman, Vallverdu earned his second All-American honors after he finished the season ranked No. 34 in the country while compiling an overall 26-10 singles record and advancing the Round of 16 at the 2007 NCAA tournament. Verse ranked opponents, Vallverdu compiled a 9-7 record, including a 2-1 mark against top-10 players. In doubles competition, Vallverdu compiled an overall record of 19-11 while opening dual competition with six straight victories. For the second straight season, Vallverdu was selected to the All-ACC Men’s Tennis Team and the Academic Men’s Tennis Team.

As a junior in 2007-08, playing the entire season out of the No.1 position in both singles and doubles, compiled a team best 29-9 singles mark and 27-10 doubles mark primarily teaming with All-American Carl Sundberg. In singles play, Vallverdu went 16-8 against ranked opponents and 7-3 in ACC play. In the regular season Vallverdu went 11-8  against opponents who advanced to the NCAA singles field. As the fifth seed in singles and the third seed in doubles at the 2008 NCAA Tournament, Vallverdu advanced to the Round of 32 and the Round of 16 respectively.

Daniel Vallverdu-Andy Murray

In his final season as a Hurricane, Vallverdu won at least 17 singles matches for the fourth time. On his way to an overall 18-5 singles record, Vallverdu went 7-1 in ACC play. Against top-100 opponents, he posted a 10-5 mark. On his way to his fourth consecutive season of at least 17 singles victories, Vallverdu put together an eight match win streak which included victories over three top-40 players. In doubles competition, while partnered primarily with David Rosenfeld, Vallverdu went 11-7. Vallverdu who was a top-16 seed in the 2009 NCAA tournament was forced to withdraw due to an injury. For the fourth consecutive season Vallverdu was selected to the All-America and All-ACC teams. His selection to the All-America team was his fifth overall.     

As a teenager learning the game of tennis at the Sanches-Casal Tennis Academy, Vallverdu met a young man named Andy Murray, now the No. 3 ranked player in the world. Vallverdu and Murray have been friends ever since. Alongside Andy Murray, Vallverdu advanced to the second round of the Artois Championships in London in June 2008 after topping France’s Richard Gasquet and Nicolas Mahut, 4-6, 7-5, 10-4 in the first round. In September 2012, with Vallverdu, who has been his defacto coach since 2010, by his side, Murray defeated Novak Djokovic in five sets to win the 2012 US Open for his first Grand Slam title.