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Gonçalo Nicau

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Gonçalo Nicau
Country (sports) Portugal
Born (1982-07-03) 3 July 1982 (age 42)
Portalegre, Portugal[1]
Turned pro2001
Retired2007
Prize money$13,399
Singles
Career record0–2
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 531 (26 February 2007)
Doubles
Career record1–1
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 495 (20 November 2006)
Coaching career (2007–present)
Rui Machado (2007–2010)
CET Oeiras (2011–present)
Coaching achievements
Coachee singles titles total0
Coachee(s) doubles titles total0

Gonçalo Nicau (born 3 July 1982) is a Portuguese former professional tennis player who competed in the ITF Men's Circuit. He achieved his highest singles ranking of 531 in the world by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in February 2007.[2] Though he did not enter a singles event in the ATP Challenger Tour, Nicau did play in the doubles event at the 2006 Estoril Open and was selected for two Davis Cup ties in 2006.[3][4]

Career

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Junior years

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Nicau had a brief junior career. He made his main draw debut in August 1998 at the Grade 5 Junior Tennis Cup in Vila do Conde. His other main draw appearance was at the same event the following year.[5] He attained the Under-16 Portuguese No. 1 position and was Under-18 runner-up at the Portuguese National Championships in 1999.[6] That same year, he joined Clube de Ténis de Faro, where he remained until 2003.[7]

Professional circuit

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After a qualifying attempt in 1997, Nicau turned professional with a main draw debut in the ITF Men's Circuit in November 2001 at the Albufeira Satellite tournament.[8] His first win came in 2004 at another Satellite event in Coimbra, where he reached the quarterfinals.[8] In 2003 Nicau and Israel Monteiro lost to Leonardo Tavares and Tiago Godinho in the final of the men's doubles event at the Portuguese National Championships.[9]

In February 2006, Nicau joined the Portugal Davis Cup team for the first time, but lost the singles match to Gilles Kremer of Luxembourg.[10] In March, Nicau played his first professional final at a Futures event in Benin City and captured his first title at a Futures doubles event in Albufeira.[8] In May, he partnered with Frederico Gil, constituting his only appearance at the main draw of an ATP Tour event. At the 2006 Estoril Open doubles event, he and Gil were defeated in the first round by the second seeds and eventual champions Lukáš Dlouhý and Pavel Vízner.[11][12]

After winning Futures singles and doubles events in Spain in August, Nicau was called up for the Portugal Davis Cup team for the second and final time in September.[8][10] Against Morocco, he lost the singles match to Rabie Chaki after 4 hours and 30 minutes of play – it was the longest match ever for Portugal in the competition until 2010.[13] Nicau and Gil won the doubles match, and Portugal won the tie.[10] Nicau ended 2006 with a runner-up performance at the Portuguese National Championships.[14]

Nicau began the 2007 season with early round losses at Futures events in March.[8] In June, Nicau partnered with Rui Machado to win a doubles Futures event in Málaga, which turned out to be his last professional tournament.[3][4]

Post-retirement

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Shortly after retiring, Nicau started coaching Rui Machado.[15] Under his guidance, Machado entered his first Grand Slam main draw event at the 2008 US Open, won his first ATP Challenger titles in 2009, and broke through to the top 100 in October 2010.[16][17] The partnership ended in December 2010.[18][19] Nicau remained coaching at the Clube Escola de Ténis in Oeiras – where he had joined as a player in 2006.[7][19] He worked under the supervision of João Cunha e Silva.[19]

Nicau decided to join padel tennis in 2014.[7] Alongside João Roque, Nicau became men doubles national champion in 2014 and 2015.[20]

Career finals

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ITF Men's Circuit

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Singles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)

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Category
Futures (1–1)
Titles by surface
Hard (0–1)
Clay (1–0)
Titles by setting
Outdoors (1–1)
Indoors (0–0)
Outcome Date Category Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Runner-up 4 March 2006 Futures Benin City, Nigeria F2 Hard United States Nicholas Monroe 3–6, 4–6
Winner 6 August 2006 Futures Xàtiva, Spain F25 Clay Spain Miguel Ángel López Jaén 7–6(7–4), 7–5

Doubles: 5 (3 titles, 2 runners-up)

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Category
Futures (3–2)
Titles by surface
Hard (1–2)
Clay (2–0)
Titles by setting
Outdoors (3–2)
Indoors (0–0)
Outcome Date Category Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Winner 1 April 2006 Futures Albufeira, Portugal F3 Hard Portugal Frederico Gil Germany Sebastian Fitz
Croatia Franko Škugor 		6–2, 6–2
Runner-up 22 April 2006 Futures Melilla, Spain F11 Hard Portugal Vasco Antunes Spain Carlos Rexach-Itoiz
Germany Eric Scherer 		7–5, 4–6, 6–7(4–7)
Winner 19 August 2006 Futures Irun, Spain F26 Clay Argentina Horacio Zeballos Spain Miguel Ángel López Jaén
Spain Juan-Miguel Such-Perez 		7–5, 6–3
Runner-up 7 October 2006 Futures El Ejido, Spain F32 Hard Spain Guillermo Alcaide Greece Alexandros Jakupovic
Netherlands Antal van der Duim 		6–4, 6–7(5–7), 6–7(3–7)
Winner 29 June 2007 Futures Málaga, Spain F24 Clay Portugal Rui Machado Spain Carlos Gonzalez-De Cueto
Spain Sergio Pérez-Pérez 		6–4, 6–0

National participation

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Davis Cup (1 win, 2 losses)

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Nicau played 3 matches in 2 ties for the Portugal Davis Cup team in 2006. His singles record was 0–2 and his doubles record was 1–0 (1–2 overall).

Group membership
World Group (0–0)
WG Play-off (0–0)
Group I (1–2)
Group II (0–0)
Group III (0–0)
Group IV (0–0)
Matches by surface
Hard (0–1)
Clay (1–1)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Matches by type
Singles (0–2)
Doubles (1–0)
Matches by setting
Indoors (i) (0–1)
Outdoors (1–1)
Matches by venue
Portugal (0–0)
Away (1–2)
Rubber result Rubber Match type (partner if any) Opponent nation Opponent player(s) Score
Decrease1–4; 10–12 February 2006; National Tennis Centre, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg; Group I Europe/Africa First Round; Hard(i) surface
Defeat V Singles (dead rubber) Luxembourg Luxembourg Gilles Kremer 7–6(10–8), 4–6, 4–6
Increase3–2; 22–24 September 2006; Royale Tennis Club de Marrakesh, Marrakesh, Morocco; Group I Europe/Africa Relegation Play-off; Clay surface
Defeat I Singles Morocco Morocco Rabie Chaki 6–4, 3–6, 6–1, 3–6, 10–12
Victory III Doubles (with Frederico Gil) Mounir El Aarej / Mehdi Ziadi 6–1, 6–3, 6–1

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Gonçalo Nicau: Um alentejano em busca de um lugar ao Sol [Gonçalo Nicau - an alentejano searching for a place in the sun]" (in Portuguese). Tenis Português blog. 9 October 2006. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  2. ^ "Gonçalo Nicau ATP Ranking History". Association of Tennis Professionals. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  3. ^ a b "Gonçalo Nicau Career Singles Activity". Association of Tennis Professionals. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  4. ^ a b "Gonçalo Nicau Career Doubles Activity". Association of Tennis Professionals. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  5. ^ "Gonçalo Nicau Junior Activity". International Tennis Federation. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  6. ^ "Under-18 Boys' Singles National Champions" (in Portuguese). Federação Portuguesa de Ténis. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  7. ^ a b c "Gonçalo Nicau Padel Portugal Activity" (in Portuguese). Federação Portuguesa de Ténis. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  8. ^ a b c d e "Gonçalo Nicau ITF Pro Circuit Activity". International Tennis Federation. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  9. ^ "Men's Doubles Portugal National Champions" (in Portuguese). Federação Portuguesa de Ténis. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  10. ^ a b c "Gonçalo Nicau Davis Cup Activity". Association of Tennis Professionals. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  11. ^ "Frederico Gil e Gonçalo Nicau eliminados em pares [Frederico Gil and Gonçalo Nicau eliminated in doubles]" (in Portuguese). TSF. 3 May 2006. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  12. ^ "Pavel Vizner 2006 Doubles Activity". Association of Tennis Professionals. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  13. ^ "Gil vence maratona na Taça Davis [Frederico Gil wins marathon at Davis Cup]" (in Portuguese). SAPO Desporto. 17 September 2010. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  14. ^ "Men's Singles Portugal National Champions" (in Portuguese). Federação Portuguesa de Ténis. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  15. ^ "Gonçalo Nicau recupera Rui Machado [Gonçalo Nicau recovers Rui Machado]" (in Portuguese). Record. 18 July 2007. Archived from the original on 3 February 2016. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  16. ^ "Rui Machado Career Singles Activity". Association of Tennis Professionals. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  17. ^ "Rui Machado ATP Ranking History". Association of Tennis Professionals. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  18. ^ "Rui Machado cai na final do torneio de Meknes e no ranking ATP [Rui Machado falls in Meknes tournament final and in the ATP ranking]" (in Portuguese). Público. 28 February 2010. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  19. ^ a b c "Ano de mudanças [Year of changes]" (in Portuguese). Record. 8 December 2010. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  20. ^ "Padel Portugal Men Doubles National Champions" (in Portuguese). Federação Portuguesa de Ténis. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
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