Albert Portas Soy (, ; born 15 November 1973) is a Spanish former professional
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...
player.
Career
Portas turned professional in 1994. He reached his career-high singles ranking of World No. 19 in October 2001.
His only top-level singles title came at the
2001 Hamburg Masters, a tournament in which his mastery of the drop shot (key to his defeat of
Juan Carlos Ferrero
Juan Carlos Ferrero Donat (; born 12 February 1980) is a Spanish former world No. 1 tennis player. He won the men's singles title at the 2003 French Open, and in September of that year became the 21st player to hold the top ranking, which he ...
in the final) earned him the nickname "Drop Shot Dragon". According to the BBC,
Lleyton Hewitt
Lleyton Glynn Hewitt (born 24 February 1981) is an Australian former world No. 1 tennis player. He is the most recent Australian man to win a major singles title, with two at the 2001 US Open and 2002 Wimbledon Championships. In November 200 ...
said of Portas that "He sure hits a lot of
drop shots
A drop shot is a shot in some racket sports in which the ball (or birdie) is hit relatively softly, sometimes with topspin or backspin, so that it lands just over and close to the net. A well-placed and well-timed drop shot will make it difficult ...
, but he hits them so well, as well as anyone I have faced.". His final at
Barcelona Open There are two sporting events named the Barcelona Open:
* Barcelona Open (golf)
* Barcelona Open (tennis)
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