Ariel Behar

Uruguayan professional tennis player (born 1989)

Ariel Behar
Behar at the 2021 French Open
Country (sports) Uruguay
ResidenceBuenos Aires, Argentina
Born (1989-11-12) 12 November 1989 (age 34)
Montevideo, Uruguay
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Turned pro2006
PlaysRight Handed (Double Handed Backhand)
Prize money$950,202
Singles
Career record1–5 (ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and Davis Cup)
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 823 (17 February 2014)
Doubles
Career record101–110 (ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and Davis Cup)
Career titles3
Highest rankingNo. 37 (1 April 2022)
Current rankingNo. 37 (1 April 2024)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian OpenQF (2024)
French Open2R (2022, 2023)
WimbledonQF (2023)
US Open3R (2022)
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Australian Open2R (2023)
French Open1R (2022)
Wimbledon1R (2021, 2022)
Last updated on: 2 April 2024.

Ariel Behar (Spanish pronunciation: [aˈɾjel βeˈaɾ];[1][a] born November 12, 1989) is a Uruguayan professional tennis player. He specializes in men's doubles and has won three ATP titles with Ecuadorian partner Gonzalo Escobar. His career-high doubles ranking is World No. 37 achieved on 1 April 2024. He has taken part of the Uruguay Davis Cup team since 2009.[2]

Personal

Behar played tennis for the first time at 3 years old and began playing seriously aged 10. Growing up, he admired Roger Federer and Andre Agassi. He is from a Jewish family but is "not a big fan" of religion.[3]

Professional career

2012–2017: ATP and Grand Slam debut

Since the mid 2010s till 2017, Behar competed primarily on the ATP Challenger Tour, where he won 7 doubles titles.

Partnering with Aliaksandr Bury, he was a semifinalist at the 2017 Estoril Open, an ATP 250 tournament.

He entered the main draw at the 2017 Wimbledon Championships, his first appearance at a Grand Slam.

2018–2022: Three doubles titles, 15 Challenger titles, top 40

Partnering with Ecuadorian Gonzalo Escobar, Behar won two ATP titles at the 2021 Delray Beach Open and the 2021 Andalucía Open[4] and reached three other finals on the ATP tour in 2021 after winning two ATP Challenger Tour titles together in 2020. The pair won a total of eight Challenger titles between 2018 and 2020. Behar entered the top 50 following the final at the 2021 Serbia Open on 26 April 2021. He finished the year 2021 ranked No. 41, a career-high year-end doubles ranking and reached his career-high doubles ranking of No. 39 on 31 January 2022 following the 2022 Australian Open. Also in 2022, he reached a fourth final and won his third ATP 250 title with Escobar at the 2022 Serbia Open defeating top seeds Nikola Mektić and Mate Pavić.[5]

2023: Wimbledon quarterfinal, two ATP finals, back to top 50

At the 2023 Córdoba Open he reached the quarterfinals with Nicolas Barrientos.[6] At the next Golden swing tournament he reached the final at the 2023 Argentina Open also with Barrientos where they lost to Simone Bolelli/Fabio Fognini.[7]

At the 2023 French Open he won his first round match with new partner Adam Pavlásek over Albert Ramos Viñolas and Bernabe Zapata Miralles. At the 2023 Wimbledon Championships he reached the quarterfinals of a Major for the first time with Adam Pavlásek defeating former Wimbledon champions, ninth seeded pair of Mate Pavic/Nikola Mektic before losing to eventual champions Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski.[8] As a result he returned to the top 50 on 17 July 2023.

He reached his tenth ATP final and second of the season with Pavlasek at the 2023 European Open but lost to the Tsitsipas brothers.[9]

2024: Australian Open quarterfinal, back to top 40

At the 2024 Australian Open he made the quarterfinals with Pavlasek. The Uruguayan-Czech team upset fifth seeds Santiago González and Neal Skupski in three sets to advance and face next, first time doubles quarterfinalists newly formed Chinese-Czech duo of Zhang Zhizhen and Tomáš Macháč.[10] As a result he returned the top 40 in the rankings on 29 January 2024.

ATP career finals

Doubles: 10 (3 titles, 7 runner-ups)

Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0)
ATP World Tour 500 Series (0–0)
ATP World Tour 250 Series (3–7)
Titles by surface
Hard (1–2)
Clay (2–3)
Grass (0–2)
Titles by setting
Outdoor (3–6)
Indoor (0–1)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1–0 Jan 2021 Delray Beach Open,
United States
250 Series Hard Ecuador Gonzalo Escobar United States Christian Harrison
United States Ryan Harrison
6–7(5–7), 7–6(7–4), [10–4]
Loss 1–1 Mar 2021 Argentina Open,
Argentina
250 Series Clay Ecuador Gonzalo Escobar Bosnia and Herzegovina Tomislav Brkić
Serbia Nikola Ćaćić
3–6, 5–7
Win 2–1 Apr 2021 Andalucía Open,
Spain
250 Series Clay Ecuador Gonzalo Escobar Bosnia and Herzegovina Tomislav Brkić
Serbia Nikola Ćaćić
6–2, 6–4
Loss 2–2 Apr 2021 Serbia Open,
Serbia
250 Series Clay Ecuador Gonzalo Escobar Croatia Ivan Sabanov
Croatia Matej Sabanov
3–6, 6–7(5–7)
Loss 2–3 Jun 2021 Stuttgart Open,
Germany
250 Series Grass Ecuador Gonzalo Escobar Brazil Marcelo Demoliner
Mexico Santiago González
6–4, 3–6, [8–10]
Loss 2–4 Jan 2022 Adelaide International,
Australia
250 Series Hard Ecuador Gonzalo Escobar Netherlands Wesley Koolhof
United Kingdom Neal Skupski
6–7(5–7), 4–6
Win 3–4 Apr 2022 Serbia Open,
Serbia
250 Series Clay Ecuador Gonzalo Escobar Croatia Nikola Mektić
Croatia Mate Pavić
6–2, 3–6, [10–7]
Loss 3–5 Jun 2022 Mallorca Championships,
Spain
250 Series Grass Ecuador Gonzalo Escobar Brazil Rafael Matos
Spain David Vega Hernández
6–75–7, 7–68–6, [1–10]
Loss 3–6 Feb 2023 Argentina Open, Argentina 250 Series Clay Colombia Nicolás Barrientos Italy Simone Bolelli
Italy Fabio Fognini
2–6, 4–6
Loss 3–7 Oct 2023 European Open, Antwerp 250 Series Hard (i) Czech Republic Adam Pavlásek Greece Petros Tsitsipas
Greece Stefanos Tsitsipas
7–6(7–5), 4–6, [8–10]

Challenger and Futures finals

Doubles: 56 (27–29)

Legend (doubles)
ATP Challenger Tour (23–23)
ITF Futures Tour (4–6)
Titles by surface
Hard (6–5)
Clay (21–24)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 0–1 Oct 2009 Venezuela F7, Barquisimeto Futures Clay Peru Mauricio Echazú Paraguay Francisco Carbajal
Colombia Eduardo Struvay
5–7, 6–1, [4–10]
Loss 0–2 Oct 2009 Venezuela F8, Caracas Futures Hard Paraguay Francisco Carbajal Venezuela Piero Luisi
Venezuela Román Recarte
4–6, 6–3, [9–11]
Loss 0–3 Oct 2009 Venezuela F9, Caracas Futures Hard Peru Mauricio Echazú Venezuela Luis David Martínez
Venezuela Yohny Romero
6–7(5–7), 5–7
Win 1–3 Jan 2011 Brazil F2, Salvador Futures Clay Italy Matteo Volante Paraguay José Benítez
Paraguay Daniel Alejandro López Cassaccia
6–3, 6–2
Loss 1–4 Jan 2011 Brazil F5, João Pessoa Futures Clay Venezuela Luis David Martínez Brazil Marcelo Demoliner
United Kingdom Morgan Phillips
3–6, 5–7
Win 2–4 Aug 2011 Ecuador F5, Guayaquil Futures Hard Argentina Guido Andreozzi Colombia Alejandro González
Colombia Felipe Mantilla
7–6(11–9), 4–6, [10–8]
Win 3–4 Jan 2012 Bucaramanga, Colombia Challenger Clay Argentina Horacio Zeballos Spain Miguel Ángel López Jaén
Italy Paolo Lorenzi
6–4, 7–6(7–5)
Loss 3–5 Mar 2012 Salinas, Ecuador Challenger Clay Colombia Carlos Salamanca Argentina Martín Alund
Argentina Horacio Zeballos
3–6, 3–6
Win 4–5 Aug 2012 Colombia F2, Medellín Futures Clay Peru Duilio Beretta Colombia Nicolás Barrientos
Colombia Michael Quintero
2–1 ret.
Loss 4–6 Oct 2012 Villa Allende, Argentina Challenger Clay Argentina Guillermo Durán Argentina Facundo Bagnis
Argentina Diego Junqueira
1–6, 2–6
Loss 4–7 Nov 2012 São Leopoldo, Brazil Challenger Clay Argentina Horacio Zeballos Brazil Fabiano de Paula
Brazil Júlio Silva
1–6, 6–7(5–7)
Loss 4–8 Jul 2013 France F12, Bourg-en-Bresse Futures Clay Spain Carlos Poch Gradin Belgium Germain Gigounon
Belgium Yannik Reuter
4–6, 6–3, [4–10]
Win 5–8 Jun 2014 Košice, Slovakia Challenger Clay Argentina Facundo Argüello Poland Andriej Kapaś
Poland Błażej Koniusz
6–4, 7–6(7–4)
Loss 5–9 Dec 2014 Chile F12, Santiago Futures Clay Chile Gonzalo Lama Chile Julio Peralta
Chile Hans Podlipnik Castillo
6–7(3–7), 2–6
Win 6–9 Jul 2015 Scheveningen, Netherlands Challenger Clay Brazil Eduardo Dischinger Russia Aslan Karatsev
Russia Andrey Kuznetsov
ret.
Win 7–9 Jul 2015 Belgium F8, Middelkerke Futures Hard Netherlands Sander Arends Belgium Sander Gillé
Belgium Joran Vliegen
6–7(1–7), 6–4, [10–7]
Win 8–9 Feb 2016 Santo Domingo,
Dominican Republic
Challenger Clay Ecuador Giovanni Lapentti France Jonathan Eysseric
Croatia Franko Škugor
7–5, 6–4
Win 9–9 Jun 2016 Poprad-Tatry, Slovakia Challenger Clay Kazakhstan Andrey Golubev Czech Republic Lukáš Dlouhý
Slovakia Andrej Martin
6–2, 5–7, [10–5]
Loss 9–10 Aug 2016 Liberec, Czech Republic Challenger Clay Croatia Dino Marcan France Jonathan Eysseric
Brazil André Ghem
0–6, 4–6
Loss 9–11 Sep 2016 Seville, Spain Challenger Clay Spain Enrique López Pérez Spain Íñigo Cervantes Huegun
Spain Oriol Roca Batalla
2–6, 5–6 ret.
Loss 9–12 Oct 2016 Orléans, France Challenger Hard (i) Belarus Andrei Vasilevski Croatia Nikola Mektić
Croatia Franko Škugor
2–6, 5–7
Loss 9–13 Oct 2016 Lima, Peru Challenger Clay Chile Gonzalo Lama Peru Sergio Galdós
Argentina Leonardo Mayer
2–6, 6–7(7–9)
Win 10–13 Nov 2016 Guayaquil, Ecuador Challenger Clay Brazil Fabiano de Paula El Salvador Marcelo Arévalo
Peru Sergio Galdós
6–2, 6–4
Loss 10–14 Nov 2016 Bogotá, Colombia Challenger Clay Ecuador Gonzalo Escobar El Salvador Marcelo Arévalo
Peru Sergio Galdós
4–6, 1–6
Loss 10–15 Sep 2017 Genova, Italy Challenger Clay Argentina Guido Andreozzi Germany Tim Pütz
Germany Jan-Lennard Struff
6–7(5–7), 6–7(8–10)
Win 11–15 Oct 2017 Buenos Aires, Argentina Challenger Clay Brazil Fabiano de Paula Argentina Máximo González
Brazil Fabrício Neis
7–6(7–3), 5–7, [10–8]
Loss 11–16 Nov 2017 Montevideo, Uruguay Challenger Clay Brazil Fabiano de Paula Monaco Romain Arneodo
Brazil Fernando Romboli
6–2, 4–6, [8–10]
Win 12–16 Mar 2018 Punta del Este, Uruguay Challenger Clay Argentina Facundo Bagnis Italy Simone Bolelli
Italy Alessandro Giannessi
6–2, 7–6(9–7)
Win 13–16 Mar 2018 Marbella, Spain Challenger Clay Argentina Guido Andreozzi Slovakia Martin Kližan
Slovakia Jozef Kovalík
6–3, 6–4
Loss 13–17 Apr 2018 Alicante, Spain Challenger Clay Argentina Guido Andreozzi Netherlands Wesley Koolhof
New Zealand Artem Sitak
3–6, 2–6
Loss 13–18 Apr 2018 Barletta, Italy Challenger Clay Argentina Máximo González Ukraine Denys Molchanov
Slovakia Igor Zelenay
1–6, 2–6
Loss 13–19 Apr 2018 Francavilla, Italy Challenger Clay Argentina Máximo González Italy Julian Ocleppo
Italy Andrea Vavassori
6–7(5–7), 6–7(3–7)
Loss 13–20 May 2018 Braga, Portugal Challenger Clay Mexico Miguel Ángel Reyes-Varela Netherlands Sander Arends
Canada Adil Shamasdin
2–6, 1–6
Win 14–20 Jun 2018 Vicenza, Italy Challenger Clay Spain Enrique López Pérez Argentina Facundo Bagnis
Brazil Fabrício Neis
6–2, 6–4
Win 15–20 Sep 2018 Mallorca, Spain Challenger Hard Spain Enrique López Pérez United Kingdom Daniel Evans
Spain Gerard Granollers Pujol
w/o
Loss 15–21 Oct 2018 Santo Domingo,
Dominican Republic
Challenger Clay Ecuador Roberto Quiroz India Leander Paes
Mexico Miguel Ángel Reyes-Varela
6–4, 3–6, [5–10]
Loss 15–22 Oct 2018 Lima, Peru Challenger Clay Ecuador Gonzalo Escobar Argentina Guido Andreozzi
Argentina Guillermo Durán
6–2, 6–7(5–7), [5–10]
Loss 15–23 Jan 2019 Playford, Australia Challenger Hard Spain Enrique López Pérez Australia Max Purcell
Australia Luke Saville
4–6, 5–7
Loss 15–24 Apr 2019 San Luis Potosi, Mexico Challenger Clay Ecuador Roberto Quiroz El Salvador Marcelo Arevalo
Mexico Miguel Ángel Reyes-Varela
6–1, 4–6, [10–12]
Win 16–24 May 2019 Jerusalem, Israel Challenger Hard Ecuador Gonzalo Escobar United States Evan King
Italy Julian Ocleppo
6–4, 7–6(7–5)
Loss 16–25 Jun 2019 Parma, Italy Challenger Clay Ecuador Gonzalo Escobar Lithuania Laurynas Grigelis
Italy Andrea Pellegrino
6–1, 3–6, [7–10]
Win 17–25 Jul 2019 Prague, Czech Republic Challenger Clay Ecuador Gonzalo Escobar Kazakhstan Andrey Golubev
Kazakhstan Aleksandr Nedovyesov
6–7(4–7), 7–5, [10–8]
Win 18–25 Sep 2019 Genoa, Italy Challenger Clay Ecuador Gonzalo Escobar Argentina Guido Andreozzi
Argentina Andrés Molteni
3–6, 6–4, [10–3]
Loss 18–26 Sep 2019 Biella, Italy Challenger Clay Kazakhstan Andrey Golubev Bosnia and Herzegovina Tomislav Brkić
Croatia Ante Pavić
6–7(2–7), 4–6
Win 19–26 Oct 2019 Santo Domingo,
Dominican Republic
Challenger Clay Ecuador Gonzalo Escobar Brazil Orlando Luz
Venezuela Luis David Martínez
6–7(5–7), 6–4, [12–10]
Win 20–26 Oct 2019 Lima, Peru Challenger Clay Ecuador Gonzalo Escobar Brazil Felipe Meligeni Alves
Venezuela Luis David Martínez
6–2, 2–6, [10–3]
Win 21–26 Nov 2019 Guayaquil, Ecuador Challenger Clay Ecuador Gonzalo Escobar Brazil Thiago Seyboth Wild
Brazil Pedro Sakamoto
7–6(7–4), 7–6(7–5)
Loss 21–27 Nov 2019 Houston, USA Challenger Hard Ecuador Gonzalo Escobar Israel Jonathan Erlich
Mexico Santiago González
3–6, 6–7(4–7)
Win 22–27 Jan 2020 Newport Beach, USA Challenger Hard Ecuador Gonzalo Escobar Croatia Antonio Šančić
Austria Tristan-Samuel Weissborn
6–2, 6–4
Win 23–27 Aug 2020 Todi, Italy Challenger Clay Kazakhstan Andrey Golubev France Elliot Benchetrit
France Hugo Gaston
6–4, 6–2
Win 24–27 Aug 2020 Trieste, Italy Challenger Clay Kazakhstan Andrey Golubev France Tristan Lamasine
France Hugo Gaston
6–4, 6–2
Win 25–27 Sep 2020 Cordenons, Italy Challenger Clay Kazakhstan Andrey Golubev Monaco Hugo Nys
Argentina Andrés Molteni
7–5, 6–4
Loss 25–28 Sep 2020 Aix-en-Provence, France Challenger Clay Ecuador Gonzalo Escobar Argentina Andrés Molteni
Monaco Hugo Nys
4–6, 6–7(4–7)
Loss 25–29 Oct 2020 Parma, Italy Challenger Clay Ecuador Gonzalo Escobar El Salvador Marcelo Arévalo
Bosnia and Herzegovina Tomislav Brkić
4–6, 4–6
Win 26–29 Oct 2020 Istanbul, Turkey Challenger Hard Ecuador Gonzalo Escobar United States Robert Galloway
United States Nathaniel Lammons
4–6, 6–3, [10–7]
Win 27–29 May 2023 Francavilla al Mare, Italy Challenger Clay Colombia Nicolás Barrientos Netherlands Sander Arends
Greece Petros Tsitsipas
7–6(7–1), 3–6, [10–6]

Best Grand Slam results details

Doubles

Australian Open
2022 Australian Open (15th Seed)
with Ecuador Gonzalo Escobar
Round Opponents Score
1R Bosnia and Herzegovina Tomislav Brkić / Serbia Nikola Ćaćić 6–4, 7–5
2R Germany Dominik Koepfer / Germany Jan-Lennard Struff 7–6(7–5), 4–6, 6–2
3R Australia Thanasi Kokkinakis / Australia Nick Kyrgios (WC) 4–6, 6–4, 4–6
French Open
2022 French Open
with Ecuador Gonzalo Escobar
Round Opponents Score
1R Argentina Francisco Cerúndolo / Argentina Federico Coria 6–2, 6–4
2R United Kingdom Lloyd Glasspool / Finland Harri Heliövaara 4–6, 2–6

Wimbledon Championships
2021 Wimbledon[a]
with Ecuador Gonzalo Escobar
Round Opponents Score
1R Monaco Hugo Nys / United Kingdom Jonny O'Mara 6–4, 7–6(7–3)
2R Australia Matthew Ebden / Australia John-Patrick Smith 7–6(7–5), 6–7(4–7), 6–4
3R United States Rajeev Ram / United Kingdom Joe Salisbury (6) 3–6, 3–6, 6–7(10–12)
US Open
2022 US Open
with Ecuador Gonzalo Escobar
Round Opponents Score
1R Spain Albert Ramos Viñolas / Spain Bernabé Zapata Miralles 6–4, 6–0
2R Croatia Ivan Dodig / United States Austin Krajicek (7) 1–6, 7–6(7–5), 7–6(10–5)
3R Monaco Hugo Nys / Poland Jan Zieliński 1–6, 4–6

a Because of a delay in schedule due to rain, the first two rounds of the competition were played best-of-three sets instead of the usual best-of-five format.

Wins over top 10 players

Doubles

  • Behar has a 6–12 (33.3%) record against players who were, at the time the match was played, ranked in the top 10.
Type 2020 2021 2022 2024 Total
Wins 0 2 3 1 6
# Opponents Rank Event Surface Rd Score Partner ABR
2021
1. Brazil Marcelo Melo
Romania Horia Tecău
9
22
Melbourne, Australia Hard QF 7–6(7–4), 6–3 Ecuador Gonzalo Escobar 60
2. Croatia Marin Čilić
Croatia Ivan Dodig
274
9
Stuttgart, Germany Grass SF 7–6(7–5), 1–6, [14–10] Ecuador Gonzalo Escobar 51
2022
3. Croatia Nikola Mektić
Croatia Mate Pavić
7
4
Belgrade, Serbia Clay F 6–2, 3–6, [10–7] Ecuador Gonzalo Escobar 49
4. United Kingdom Jamie Murray
New Zealand Michael Venus
18
9
Rome, Italy Clay 1R 6–7(2–7), 6–3, [10–5] Ecuador Gonzalo Escobar 49
5. United Kingdom Joe Salisbury
United States Rajeev Ram
1
2
Montreal, Canada Hard 2R 6–4, 7–6(7–3) Ecuador Gonzalo Escobar 46
2024
6. United Kingdom Neal Skupski
Mexico Santiago González
10
11
AO, Melbourne, Australia Hard 3R 3-6, 7-6 (7–1), 6-4 Czech Republic Adam Pavlásek 48

Notes

  1. ^ In isolation, Behar is pronounced [beˈaɾ].

References

  1. ^ etennistv (2 August 2013). "ATP Challenger Segovia, 2013 - interview with Ariel Behar". YouTube. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  2. ^ Player profile daviscup.com [dead link]
  3. ^ Kalenberg, Martín (5 March 2012). "Tenista de la selección uruguaya Ariel Behar: "Hay muchas cosas duras y difíciles en el tenis profesional"". CCIU (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  4. ^ "Ariel Behar, Gonzalo Escobar Capture Marbella Doubles Crown | ATP Tour | Tennis".
  5. ^ "Ariel Behar/ Gonzalo Escobar Clinch Belgrade Title | ATP Tour | Tennis".
  6. ^ "Doubles Drama: Barrientos/Behar, Doumbia/Reboul Save MPs In Cordoba".
  7. ^ "Simone Bolelli & Fabio Fognini Return to Buenos Aires Winners' Circle". ATP Tour.
  8. ^ "Wimbledon 2023: Neal Skupski & Wesley Koolhof to make men's doubles semi-final debut". 7 December 2023.
  9. ^ "Hijikata/Purcell Clinch Tokyo Title, Tsitsipas Brothers Win Antwerp Trophy". atpworldtour.com. ATP. 22 October 2023. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  10. ^ "Bopanna/Ebden cut through tie-break tension for QF spot".

External links