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Ruben Gonzales (tennis)

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Ruben Gonzales
Country (sports) Philippines
Born (1985-09-11) September 11, 1985 (age 39)
Terre Haute, Indiana, U.S.
PlaysRight-handed
CollegeIllinois (2004–2008)
Prize money$160,745
Singles
Career record10–5
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 766 (May 6, 2013)
Doubles
Career record7–3
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 116 (6 March 2023)
Current rankingNo. 168 (15 January 2024)
Medal record
Men's Tennis
Representing  Philippines
Southeast Asian Games
Gold medal – first place 2021 Vietnam Doubles
Gold medal – first place 2023 Cambodia Doubles
Silver medal – second place 2017 Kuala Lumpur Doubles
Silver medal – second place 2019 Philippines Doubles
Bronze medal – third place 2015 Singapore Doubles
Bronze medal – third place 2015 Singapore Team
Bronze medal – third place 2017 Kuala Lumpur Mixed doubles
Bronze medal – third place 2021 Vietnam Team
Last updated on: 19 January 2024.

Ruben Gonzales (born September 11, 1985) is an American-born Filipino professional tennis player playing on the ATP Challenger Tour. On May 6, 2013, he reached his highest ATP singles ranking of 766 and his highest doubles ranking of 122 achieved on August 29, 2022.

Personal life

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Gonzales was born in Chicago and raised in Terre Haute, Indiana. His parents are from the Philippines and he has two siblings who he watched play tennis.[1] At eight years old, he wanted to become a professional tennis player.[2] For a time, he lived in Manila, where he spent some of his high school years.[1]

In 2019, he proposed to his girlfriend, race car driver Michele Bumgarner.[3]

Career

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College

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In his rookie season, he won the 2005 Big Ten singles consolation championship. He was also named as an ITA Scholar-Athlete. In his sophomore was selected to the Academic All-Big Ten team while having the highest GPA on the team.[2]

A lung injury, spontaneous pneumothorax, kept Gonzales out for most of his junior season and unable to qualify for the NCAA tournament in either singles or doubles.[2][4] Despite this, he was able to finish with a No. 37 ranking in doubles and a No. 125 ranking in singles as he became known as "The Spirit of Illinois Tennis". He was awarded with llinois’ Scholar Athlete Award and was named to the Academic All-Big Ten team once again.[2]

In his senior season, Gonzales helped Illinois defeat Xavier in the first round of the 2008 NCAA Division I tennis championships.[5] Illinois made it to the Round of 16, where they lost to Ohio State.[6]

Professional

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In the 2016 ATP Challenger Philippine Open, Gonzales lost to Igor Sijsling.[7]

In 2022, Gonzales won three ATP Challenger doubles championships.[8] He followed that up with a runner-up finish in the 2023 Cleveland Open and a semis finish in the Tenerife Challenger.[9]

Tour titles

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Legend
Grand Slam (0)
ATP Masters Series (0)
ATP Tour (0)
Challengers (7)

Doubles

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Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Runner-up 1. June 16, 2013 Internationaux de Tennis de Blois Clay Australia Chris Letcher France Jonathan Eysseric
France Nicolas Renavand
3–6, 4–6
Runner-up 2. July 28, 2013 Tampere Open Hard Australia Chris Letcher Finland Henri Kontinen
Serbia Goran Tošić
4–6, 4–6
Winner 1. July 27, 2014 Tampere Open Clay United Kingdom Sean Thornley Sweden Elias Ymer
Russia Anton Zaitcev
6–7(5–7), 7–6(12–10), [10–8]
Runner-up 3. August 3, 2014 Svijany Open Clay United Kingdom Sean Thornley Czech Republic Roman Jebavý
Czech Republic Jaroslav Pospíšil
4–6, 3–6
Winner 2. February 20, 2015 Morelos Open Hard United Kingdom Darren Walsh Ecuador Emilio Gómez
Venezuela Roberto Maytín
4–6, 6–3, [12–10]
Runner-up 4. July 16, 2016 Gimcheon Open Hard Colombia Nicolás Barrientos Chinese Taipei Cheng-Peng Hsieh
Chinese Taipei Tsung-Hua Yang
(W/O)
Runner-up 5. September 17, 2016 China International Nanchang Hard Colombia Nicolás Barrientos China Wu Di
China Zhang Zhizhen
6–7(4–7), 3–6
Runner-up 6. November 19, 2017 Dunlop World Challenge Toyota Carpet Indonesia Christopher Rungkat Australia Max Purcell
Australia Andrew Whittington
3–6, 6–2, [8–10]
Runner-up 7. April 22, 2018 China International Nanchang Clay Indonesia Christopher Rungkat China Gong Mao-Xin
China Zhang Ze
6–3, 6–7(7–9), [7–10]
Winner 3. July 22, 2018 The Hague Open Scheveningen Clay United States Nathaniel Lammons Venezuela Luis David Martinez
Portugal Gonçalo Oliveira
6–3, 6–7(8–10), [10–5]
Runner-up 8. August 5, 2018 Sopot Open Clay United States Nathaniel Lammons Poland Mateusz Kowalczyk
Poland Szymon Walków
6–7(6–8), 3–6
Winner 4. October 20, 2019 Las Vegas Challenger Hard South Africa Ruan Roelofse United States Nathan Pasha
United States Max Schnur
2–6, 6–3, [10–8]
Runner-up 9. November 3, 2019 City of Playford Tennis International II Hard United States Evan King Finland Harri Heliövaara
Finland Patrik Niklas-Salminen
4–6, 7–6(7–4), [7–10]
Winner 5. September 25, 2021 Bucharest Challenger Clay United States Hunter Johnson Germany Maximilian Marterer
Czech Republic Lukáš Rosol
1–6, 6–2, [10–3]
Winner 6. April 30, 2022 Savannah Challenger Clay Philippines Treat Huey Chinese Taipei Wu Tung-lin
China Zhang Zhizhen
7–6(7–3), 6–4
Runner-up 10. July 16, 2022 Georgia's Rome Challenger Hard (i) United States Reese Stalder France Enzo Couacaud
Australia Andrew Harris
4–6, 2–6
Winner 7. August 20, 2022 República Dominicana Open Clay United States Reese Stalder Colombia Nicolás Barrientos
Mexico Miguel Ángel Reyes-Varela
7–6(7–5), 6–3
Winner 8. November 5, 2022 Keio Challenger Yokohama Hard Romania Victor Vlad Cornea Japan Tomoya Fujiwara
Japan Masamichi Imamura
7–5, 6–3
Runner-up 11. February 4, 2023 Cleveland Open Hard (i) United States Reese Stalder United States Robert Galloway
Mexico Hans Hach Verdugo
6–3, 5–7, [6–10]
Runner-up 12. February 18, 2023 Bahrain Ministry of Interior Tennis Challenger Hard Brazil Fernando Romboli Finland Patrik Niklas-Salminen
Netherlands Bart Stevens
3–6, 4–6

References

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  1. ^ a b Songalia, Ryan (March 6, 2016). "Tennis player Ruben Gonzales finds purpose in PH nat'l team". Rappler. Archived from the original on July 13, 2022. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d Iniguez, Alex (April 3, 2008). "Go-to Gonzales does it all". The Daily Illini. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
  3. ^ Valderrama, Aeron Paul (December 7, 2019). "Ruben Gonzales might have lost on SEAG gold but gets yes from fiance Bumgarner". Tiebreaker Times. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
  4. ^ Iniguez, Alex (May 4, 2008). "COLUMN: Ruben Gonzales steals spotlight". The Daily Illini. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
  5. ^ Iniguez, Alex (May 2, 2008). "Men win in first round of NCAA tournament". The Daily Illini. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
  6. ^ http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/tennis_champs_records/2013-14/2013_DI_MTE.pdf
  7. ^ Terrado, Reuben (January 20, 2016). "Ruben Gonzales bows out of ATP Challenger Philippine Open". Spin.ph. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
  8. ^ "Gonzales, Cornea rule ATP Yokohama Challenger". Rappler. November 5, 2022. Archived from the original on December 27, 2022. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
  9. ^ Mina, Rosy (February 11, 2023). "Tennis: Ruben Gonzales ousted in Tenerife Challenger doubles semis". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved November 7, 2024.
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