Daniel Mérida

Daniel Mérida
Full nameDaniel Mérida Aguilar
Country (sports) Spain
Born (2004-09-26) 26 September 2004 (age 22)
Madrid, Spain
Height1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
CoachIsrael Sevilla, Guillermo Martínez
Prize moneyUS $1,492,413
Singles
Career record21–10 (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles1
Highest rankingNo. 39 (24 August 2026)
Current rankingNo. 42 (2 November 2026)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian OpenQ2 (2026)
French Open1R (2026)
Wimbledon2R (2026)
US Open3R (2026)
Doubles
Career record0–1 (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 1,589 (23 September 2024)
Team competitions
Davis Cup1–0
Last updated on: 21 September 2026.

Daniel Mérida Aguilar (born 26 September 2004) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 39 achieved on 24 August 2026. He is currently the No. 4 Spanish player in men's singles.

Mérida has won one ATP Tour singles title at the 2026 Croatia Open, as well as two titles on the ATP Challenger Tour.

Junior career

Mérida reached the boys' singles quarterfinal at the 2021 French Open, where he lost to 13th seed and eventual champion Luca Van Assche. Later that season, he reached the round of 16 at the US Open, losing to top-seed and eventual runner-up Shang Juncheng.

At the 2022 edition of the French Open, Mérida reached the quarterfinals, repeating his best junior Grand Slam result, but lost to tenth seed Dino Prižmić.

Mérida had good results on the ITF junior circuit, maintaining a 77–33 singles win-loss record and reached an ITF junior combined ranking of No. 15 on 3 January 2022.

Professional career

2021-24: Pro beginnings and first ITF titles

In October 2021, Mérida won his first pro title at the "Copa Alameda" in Madrid, an M15-level event. He defeated compatriot Diego Augusto Barreto in the final.

The following season, Mérida earned his second Futures title at the M15 Valldoreix in May. He defeated top seed Oriol Roca Batalla in straight sets.

Mérida also earned titles during the 2024 season in Antalya and Madrid.

2025: ATP & top 150 debuts, Challenger title

Mérida made his ATP Tour debut in doubles at the 2025 Qatar Open, having been awarded a wildcard with Mubarak Al-Harrasi. The pair lost to Yuki Bhambri and Ivan Dodig.

In July, he won his first Challenger title at Open de Pozoblanco, defeating sixth seed Sun Fajing in the final.

2026: ATP title, Major & Masters debuts & third round, Top 40

Mérida won his second Challenger title in February, this time in Tenerife, beating Francesco Maestrelli in the final. Mérida made his ATP Tour singles debut at the Masters 1000-level at the 2026 Indian Wells Open after qualifying for the main draw.

Mérida qualified for Bucharest, where he made it all the way to the final, upsetting second seed Adrian Mannarino and third seed Fábián Marozsán for his first top-100 wins, but lost to Mariano Navone in the final.

Merida then qualified for his home Masters in Madrid, and defeated Marco Trungelliti and 26th seed Corentin Moutet in the second round. As a result, he made his ATP top 100 debut at world No. 86 on 4 May 2026.

He made his Grand Slam main draw debut at the 2026 French Open but lost in the first round to Ben Shelton.

Merida reached his second ATP Tour final at the 2026 Croatia Open Umag becoming the third-youngest finalist at the event in the decade, after Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. He won his first ATP Tour title, defeating Damir Džumhur in the final.

Performance timeline

Key
W  F  SF QF #R RRQ# DNQ A NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

Singles

Current through the 2026 US Open.

Tournament 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 SR W–L Win %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A A A Q2 0 / 0 0–0  – 
French Open A A A A 1R 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Wimbledon A A A A 2R 0 / 1 1–1 50%
US Open A A A Q3 3R 0 / 1 2–1 67%
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 3–3 0 / 3 3–3 50%
ATP 1000 tournaments
Indian Wells Open A A A A 1R 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Miami Open A A A A Q2 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Monte-Carlo Masters A A A A A 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Madrid Open Q1 A A A 3R 0 / 1 2–1 67%
Italian Open A A A A 1R 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Canadian Open A A A A QF 0 / 1 3–1 75%
Cincinnati Open A A A A 3R 0 / 1 2–1 67%
Shanghai Masters NH A A A 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Paris Masters A A A A 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 2–3 0 / 3 2–3 40%

ATP Tour finals

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

Legend
Grand Slam (–)
ATP 1000 (–)
ATP 500 (–)
ATP 250 (1–1)
Finals by surface
Hard (–)
Clay (1–1)
Grass (–)
Finals by setting
Outdoor (1–1)
Indoor (–)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Loss 0–1 Apr 2026 Țiriac Open, Romania ATP 250 Clay Argentina Mariano Navone 2–6, 6–4, 5–7
Win 1–1 Jul 2026 Croatia Open, Croatia ATP 250 Clay Bosnia and Herzegovina Damir Džumhur 6–2, 5–7, 6–2

ATP Challenger Tour finals

Singles: 4 (2 titles, 2 runner-ups)

Finals by surface
Hard (2–0)
Clay (0–2)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Loss 0–1 Jun 2025 Open de Lyon, France Challenger Clay Argentina Marco Trungelliti 3–6, 6–4, 3-6
Win 1–1 Jul 2025 Open Ciudad de Pozoblanco, Spain Challenger Hard China Sun Fajing 6–3, 6–4
Win 2–1 Feb 2026 Tenerife Challenger, Spain Challenger Hard Italy Francesco Maestrelli 6–2, 6–4
Loss 2–2 Jun 2026 Internazionali Città di Perugia, Italy Challenger Clay Portugal Henrique Rocha 6–7(5–7), 3–6

ITF Tour finals

Singles: 10 (6 titles, 4 runner-ups)

Finals by surface
Hard (2–1)
Clay (4–3)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Win 1–0 Oct 2021 M15 Madrid, Spain WTT Clay Spain Diego Augusto Barreto 6–4, 6–3
Win 2–0 May 2022 M15 Valldoreix, Spain WTT Clay Spain Oriol Roca Batalla 2–6, 7–5, 6–2
Loss 2–1 Jun 2023 M25 Córdoba, Spain WTT Clay Spain Javier Barranco Cosano 4–6, 1–6
Loss 2–2 Nov 2023 M15 Alcalá de Henares, Spain WTT Hard Syria Hazem Naw 4–6, 1–6
Win 3–2 Feb 2024 M25 Antalya, Turkey WTT Clay Dominican Republic Nick Hardt 4–6, 7–5, 6–3
Loss 3–3 Aug 2024 M25 Santander, Spain WTT Clay Spain Pol Martín Tiffon 7–6(7–3), 2–6, 4–6
Loss 3–4 Aug 2024 M25 Oviedo, Spain WTT Clay Spain Nicolás Álvarez Varona 6–7(3–7), 0–6
Win 4–4 Sep 2024 M15 Madrid, Spain (2) WTT Hard France Guillaume Dalmasso 6–2, 6–3
Win 5–4 Jan 2025 M25 Doha, Qatar WTT Hard Belgium Tibo Colson 6–4, 6–2
Win 6–4 May 2025 M25 Sabadell, Spain WTT Clay United Kingdom Oliver Crawford 6–4, 2–6, 7–6(7–5)

References

  1. ↑ "Daniel Merida | Overview | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour. Retrieved 2025-02-16.
  2. ↑ "The 10 Spanish tennis players to watch closely in 2025". tennisuptodate. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
  3. ↑ "Spain ATP rankings".
  4. ↑ "History made: Four French boys reach semi-finals at Roland Garros". ITF Tour (news). 10 June 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  5. ↑ Daniel Mérida Junior Grand Slams Results
  6. 1 2 "Daniel Mérida Junior Results".
  7. ↑ "Mérida se despide en los cuartos de final de Roland Garros Jr". RFET (in Spanish). 2 June 2022. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  8. ↑ "Mérida se despidió de RG de nuevo entre los ocho mejores juniors". lawebdeltenis.net (in Spanish). 3 June 2022. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  9. ↑ "Mérida se proclama campeón de la Copa Alameda en Madrid". industriadeltenis.com (in Spanish). 1 November 2021. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  10. ↑ "Primer título profesional para Dani Mérida en Madrid". RFET (in Spanish). 1 November 2021. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  11. ↑ "Mérida sorprende al favorito en la final del ITF de Valldoreix". RFET (in Spanish). 16 May 2022. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
  12. ↑ "Triple éxito de Landaluce, Mérida y Martín Tiffon en el circuito ITF". RFET (in Spanish). 19 February 2024. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
  13. ↑ "Mérida conquista el ITF Villa de Madrid". TeleMadrid (deportes) (in Spanish). 18 September 2024. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
  14. ↑ "Qatar ExxonMobil Open: Djokovic's acclaim, Alcaraz's debut and more". 17 February 2026.
  15. ↑ "Alcaraz downs Cilic to advance in Doha". 18 February 2026.
  16. ↑ "Qatar ExxonMobil Open doubles draw" (PDF).
  17. ↑ "Challenger Tour Weekly Recap: Wimbledon Hero August Holmgren Wins Again". lastwordonsports.com. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
  18. ↑ "Pozoblanco Challenger 2025: Dani Mérida Crowned Champion". Punto de Break. 20 July 2025. Retrieved 20 July 2025.
  19. ↑ "El español Dani Mérida conquista el Challenger de Pozoblanco". F.A. Ténis (in Spanish). 21 July 2025. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
  20. ↑ "El madrileño Dani Mérida gana Open de Pozoblanco". Córdoba Hoy (deportes) (in Spanish). 21 July 2025. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
  21. ↑ "Dani Mérida conquista en Tenerife el segundo título Challenger de su carrera" (in Spanish). FTM. 8 February 2026. Retrieved 8 February 2026.
  22. ↑ "The Desert Heats Up: Who to Watch in the BNP Paribas Open Main Draw". 4 March 2026.
  23. 1 2 "Shelton kickstarts Roland Garros quest, Ruud survives in 5". ATPTour. 25 May 2026.
  24. ↑ "Navone saves 2 MPs, qualifier Merida reaches Bucharest final". ATP Tour. 4 April 2026.
  25. ↑ "Navone survives chaos to win maiden ATP Tour title in Bucharest". ATP Tour. 5 April 2026.
  26. ↑ "Madrid has its three musketeers". 21 April 2026.
  27. ↑ "Mérida: "I want to keep competing at this level"". 27 April 2026.
  28. ↑ "Merida follows Alcaraz & Sinner, becomes third-youngest finalist in Umag". ATPTour. 17 July 2026.
  29. ↑ "Merida joins Alcaraz & Sinner in Umag title history". ATPTour. 18 July 2026.
  30. ↑ 2024 M25 Antalya
  31. ↑ 2025 M25 Doha