Galo Blanco (born 8 October 1976) is a retired professional tennis player from Oviedo, Spain. Blanco is a member of the men's professional tour since 1995.
Tennis career
Most of Blanco's early professional tour appearances were earned by qualifying for tournaments. He would do so by winning the qualifier's rounds that are usually played before the tournaments themselves, to fill one last tournament spot. It was that way that he was able to participate at the Fairmonts tournament in Scottsdale, Arizona, U.S. in 1996, for example.
Blanco eventually began to be invited to tournaments, and his name has gained reasonable importance in the men's professional circuit. He came closest to winning a Grand Slam title in 1997, reaching the quarterfinals of the French Open. He won his only title in 1999 San Marino GO&FUN Open to his countryman Albert Portas and reached the final (2001 Mexican Open) and the semifinals in 2000 Majorca Open losing to eventual champion Marat Safin.
Blanco had two high-profile wins in majors, beating former 2-time US Open Champion, Patrick Rafter, in the first round of the 2000 US Open, and in beating Pete Sampras in the second round of the 2001 French Open.
Blanco lost in the second round of the 2004 Australian Open. He announced his retirement after the 2006 Torneo Godó.
Blanco was a prominent tennis coach. He has previously coached the rising Canadian star Milos Raonic. This partnership ended in May 2013. He is now coaching Canadian Filip Peliwo.
ATP World Tour: 2 (1–1)
| Legend | | Grand Slam tournaments (0–0) | | ATP World Tour Finals (0–0) | | ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0) | | ATP World Tour 500 Series (0–1) | | ATP World Tour 250 Series (1–0) |
| | Titles by Surface | | Hard (0–0) | | Clay (1–1) | | Grass (0–0) | | Carpet (0–0) |
| | Titles by surface | | Outdoors (1–1) | | Indoors (0–0) |
|
| Outcome | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|
| Winner | 1. | 15 August 1999 | San Marino, San Marino | Clay |  Albert Portas | 4–6, 6–4, 6–3 |
| Runner-up | 2. | 4 March 2001 | Acapulco, Mexico | Clay |  Gustavo Kuerten | 4–6, 2–6 |
Wins over top 10 ranked players
| Season | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | Total |
| Wins | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
Wins Over Top 10s Per Season
| # | Player | Rank | Event | Surface | Rd | Score |
|---|
| 1997 |
|---|
| 1. | Carlos Moyá | 10 | Stuttgart, Germany | Clay | 2R | 4–6, 7–6(7–3), 7–5 |
| 2. | Àlex Corretja | 4 | Kitzbühel, Austria | Clay | 3R | 7–6(7–4), 7–5 |
| 2001 |
|---|
| 3. | Juan Carlos Ferrero | 9 | Monte-Carlo, Monaco | Clay | 2R | 6–2, 7–6(7–3) |
| 4. |  Pete Sampras | 5 | French Open, Paris, France | Clay | 2R | 7–6(7–4), 6–3, 6–2 |
Albert Portas
Gustavo Kuerten
Pete Sampras