Nicolás Almagro Sánchez (Spanish pronunciation: [nikoˈlas alˈmaɣɾo ˈsantʃeθ]; born 21 August 1985 in Murcia, Spain) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He reached the quarterfinals of the French Open in 2008, 2010 and 2012 (losing each time to Rafael Nadal, the eventual champion in each occasion), as well as the quarterfinals of the Australian Open in 2013 (losing to David Ferrer after leading by two sets to love).
Over his career, Almagro won thirteen singles titles, and he achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 9 in May 2011. Following his retirement, Almagro began coaching American player Danielle Collins.
Almagro married Rafi Lardín on 6 December 2015. They welcomed their first child, a boy, in 2017.
Almagro reached as high as world No. 18 in the junior singles rankings in December 2003.
Almagro won the gold medal at the 2005 Mediterranean Games by defeating compatriot Guillermo García López in the final in Almería, Spain.
In April 2006, Almagro won his maiden ATP tournament title, the Open de Tenis Comunidad Valenciana (Valencia, Spain). Almagro was forced to come through the qualification rounds just to make this event, but that did not stop him from winning eight matches in a row, including three-set victories over former world number ones Juan Carlos Ferrero and Marat Safin.
After Valencia, Almagro went on an excellent run, reaching the semifinals of the Barcelona Open, before losing to Rafael Nadal, and followed that up by reaching the quarterfinals in Rome, where he lost to Roger Federer in three tight sets, 7–5 in the third round.
At Roland Garros 2006, he suffered a disappointing second-round loss to James Blake. The remainder of 2006 was uninspiring for Almagro. He did show signs of improving his hardcourt game by making a quarterfinal indoors in Lyon, and he also won matches at the Masters 1000 events in Cincinnati and Paris.
Almagro won his second title on 15 April 2007 by defeating Potito Starace, 4–6, 6–2, 6–1, in Valencia for the second consecutive year. However, he lost in the second round of the French Open in five sets to Michaël Llodra, in what was perceived as another disappointing lapse in form. Still, his year contained highlights other than Valencia. He reached the semifinals of Buenos Aires, the finals of Båstad, and began to show promise on hard courts also, advancing to the quarterfinals of the Masters 1000 event in Cincinnati and the third round of the US Open (losing to Davydenko).
In 2008, Almagro won the third title of his career in Costa do Sauipe by defeating Carlos Moyá in a rollercoaster three-set battle. Two weeks later, Almagro followed that victory up with yet another in Acapulco, defeating David Nalbandian in the finals, 6–1, 7–6. With his fourth career title, Almagro rose to a career-best ranking of No. 21 in the world, winning 21 of 26 matches on clay in the season. He was at a career-best ranking of No. 17 in the world following the Masters Series in Rome.
He achieved his best Grand Slam result in June by reaching the quarterfinals of the 2008 French Open, where he lost to Rafael Nadal, 1–6, 1–6, 1–6. During his run, he beat Boris Pašanski, Sebastián Decoud, tenth seed Andy Murray, and home-favourite Jérémy Chardy in straight sets. He hit more aces than any other player in the French Open that year (78).
In January, Almagro participated in the 2009 Heineken Open, held in Auckland, New Zealand. The fourth seed at the event, Almagro received a bye into the second round, where he defeated Lu Yen-hsun of Taiwan in three sets. This gained him entry into the quarterfinals, where he was defeated in straight sets by American Sam Querrey, sixth seed at the event.
At the Australian Open, Almagro won in the first round of the tournament for the first time, making it to the third round before losing to Gaël Monfils. At the 2009 Brasil Open, where Almagro was the defending champion and top seed, he lost in the quarterfinals to Frederico Gil in two tiebreak sets, 6–7, 6–7. At the Abierto Mexicano, Almagro successfully defended his 2008 win, defeating Monfils in the final, 6–4, 6–4.
Almagro's next tournament was the 2009 Sony Ericsson Open, an ATP Masters Series event where he was seeded 19th. After receiving a bye into the second round, he was defeated by Taylor Dent in a third-set tiebreak.
At the French Open, he made it through to the third round, but lost to countryman, Fernando Verdasco in straight sets.
At Wimbledon, he reached the third round, but was stopped easily by recent French Open runner-up Robin Söderling. In the first round, he scraped his way through after trailing 7–6, 7–6, 5–4, 40–30 with Juan Mónaco serving on match point. In the second round, he led Karol Beck two sets to love, only to find himself again fighting in five sets to survive. Nicolas won by 6–4, 7–6, 3–6, 3–6, 7–5.
At the US Open, Almagro lost in the third round to fellow Spaniard Nadal. Before this, he defeated Belgian Steve Darcis in the first round, before getting past American Robby Ginepri in a 4 hr 15 min five-set match in the second round.
In the subsequent ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Paris, Almagro once again fell to Nadal. Despite having five match points and the opportunity to serve for the match in the third set, Almagro lost, 6–3, 6–7, 5–7.