Juan Monaco life and biography

Juan Mónaco, nicknamed "Pico", is a male tennis player from Argentina. He dated Argentinian model and actress Luisana Lopilato until May 2009. He is sponsored by adidas and Yonex.

CAREER:

Singles Titles
2007: Kitzbuhel, Poertschach, Buenos Aires

Doubles Titles
2008: Valencia, Auckland

2010:
Monaco started 2010 with the Heineken Open, where he defeated Horacio Zeballos 6–3, 6–0 in the first round but lost to eventual champion John Isner in three sets 5–7, 6–4, 6–3. He lost to 6th seed Nikolay Davydenko in the third round of the 2010 Australian Open 6–0, 6–3, 6–4, having defeated Ernests Gulbis 6–3 7–6(5) 6–1 and Michaël Llodra 3–6 3–6 7–6(5) 6–1 6–3. He lost to Thomaz Bellucci 6–2, 0–6, 6–4 in the Finals of the 2010 Movistar Open after defeating Nicolas Massú 6–3, 6–4, Juan Ignacio Chela 6–3, 7–5, Peter Luczak 6–4, 3–6, 6–3, and João Souza 6–1, 6–4 respectively. He lost to Juan Carlos Ferrero in the Semifinals of the 2010 Copa Telmex 6–2, 7–6(7) just hours after defeating Horacio Zeballos 7–5, 6–1 in the Quarterfinals where he did not face a single break point, he also defeated Juan Ignacio Chela 7–6(3), 4–6, 6–2 in the 2nd round and Łukasz Kubot 6–4, 7–6(1). He lost Juan Carlos Ferrero in the semifinals of the 2010 Abierto Mexicano Telcel retiring with a abdominal strain after losing the first set 7–5 after receiving treatment at 5–4 Monaco, Monaco lead 4–2 in one stage of the first set. He defeated top seed Fernando Verdasco 7–5, 6–3 in the Quarterfinals, Juan Ignacio Chela 6–4, 7–6(4) for the second time in as many weeks and Alberto Martín 6–7(6), 7–5, 6–2.

He defeated Fabio Fognini 6–4, 7–5 in the second round of the 2010 BNP Paribas Open. He then faced Juan Carlos Ferrero in the third round, this was their 3rd straight meeting in a row with Ferrero prevailing in the other two. He upset Ferrero for the first time as he won 7–6(2), 3–6, 6–3 in a match than lasted over 3 hours. He then defeated Guillermo García López 3–6, 6–2, 6–1 converting 6 of 6 break points thus reaching his first hardcourt Master Series quarterfinals. He then lost to eventual champion Ivan Ljubičić in a three sets match by 4–6, 6–2, 6–1. In the 2010 Sony Ericsson Open where he lost to Fernando González 6–7(4), 6–4, 6–2, failing to convert several break points in the second set after defeating Marsel Ilhan 6–2, 7–5 in the second round.

In the 2010 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters he defeated qualifier Jarkko Nieminen 7–5, 7–5 for the first time in three meetings and was upset by Michael Berrer 6–4, 6–4 in the second round. His bad run continued as he was upset by Daniel Gimeno-Traver in the first round as the tenth seed of the 2010 Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell 6–2, 3–6, 6–2 cause by failing to convert 12 of 13 break opportunities he had in the match. He defeated Igor Andreev 7–6(4), 7–5 but lost to Victor Hănescu 7–6(4), 6–4 in the second round of the 2010 Internazionali BNL d'Italia. In the 2010 Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open he defeated Simon Greul 6–1, 6–1 and Thomaz Bellucci 6–2, 6–2. He lost to Nicolás Almagro 6–4, 6–1. He the lead Argentina to their second ARAG World Team Cup, at the Round Robin he defeated Serbia's Viktor Troicki 1–6, 6–3, 7–6(3) and lost to Jérémy Chardy 6–3, 6–4. In the finals he defeated American Sam Querrey 1–6, 6–2, 6–3. At the 2010 French Open he was upset by Qualifier Grega Žemlja in four sets in the first round. He then withdrew from the 2010 Wimbledon Championships due to a wrist injury and will miss 2 months of action. He made his return in the 2010 Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in a losing effort to Thiemo de Bakker 6–4, 6–7(5), 6–3. He then lost in the first rounds of 2010 Pilot Pen Tennis, 2010 US Open and 2010 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships.

In October, he reached an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 semi-final for the first time in the 2010 Shanghai Rolex Masters 1000 by defeating Florent Serra 6–4, 7–6(3), Thiemo de Bakker 2–6, 6–3, 6–4, Mischa Zverev 6–2, 6–0 and Jürgen Melzer 6–7, 7–5, 6–2, but then lost to World No. 4, Andy Murray 6–4, 6–1. At the 2010 Valencia Open 500 he upset defending champion Andy Murray 6–2, 3–6, 6–2 in the second round but was then upset by Marcel Granollers 1–6, 6–3, 6–4 in the following round. Monaco, played his last tournament of the year at the BNP Paribas Masters where he defeated Sam Querrey 6–2, 7–6(7) but fell to no. 2 seed Novak Djokovic 6–4, 6–3 in the second round after failing to convert 7 of 8 break points.

2011:
Monaco is set to begin his 2011 at the 2011 Heineken Open as the 5th seed, but was upset by Adrian Mannarino 6–4, 6–3. At the first Grand Slam of the year the Australian Open, he was upset by Robin Haase 6–4, 6–4, 3–6, 6–2 in the second round. At the South American Clay season, he fell in the first round of 2011 Movistar Open to Maximo Gonzalez 6–4, 3–6, 6–4 and the quarterfinals of the 2011 Copa Claro and 2011 Abierto Mexicano Telcel losing to Stanislas Wawrinka and David Ferrer respectively. At the 2011 BNP Paribas Open, he was upset by American qualifier Ryan Sweeting 6–1, 0–6, 6–1 in the second round after receiving a bye in the first round. At the 2011 Sony Ericsson Open, he fell to 3rd seed Roger Federer 7–6(4), 6–4 in the third round.

PERSONAL:

Started playing at age six
Father, Hector, is a businessman
Mother, Cristina, is an architect
Has one sister, Mara, and brother, Andres
Enjoys spending time at home in Tandil with family and friends
Fellow ATP players Mariano Zabaleta, Juan Martin del Potro and Diego Junqueira also originate from Tandil
Enjoys playing soccer
Favorite sports to follow are soccer and basketball
Favorite teams are Estudiantes de la Plata and the San Antonio Spurs
Favorite soccer players are Chelo Carrusca and Jose "el Principe" Sosa
In the NBA, he’s a fan of Emanuel Ginobili
Favorite surface is clay
Grew up idolizing Andre Agassi and countryman Mariano Zabaleta
Also enjoys going to the cinema
Favorite movies are 'Gladiator' and 'Lord of the Rings' series
Favorite actors are Robert De Niro and Al Pacino
Favorite book is "El Eternauta"
Favorite magazine is "El Grafico"
Favorite TV show is "Los Roldan"

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