Ruben Gonzales (tennis)

Ruben Gonzales
Country (sports) Philippines
Born (1985-09-11) September 11, 1985
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
2021 Vietnam Doubles
2023 Cambodia Doubles
2017 Kuala Lumpur Doubles
2019 Philippines Doubles
2015 Singapore Doubles
2015 Singapore Team
2017 Kuala Lumpur Mixed doubles
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

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

College

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

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

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

Doubles

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

References

  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.