Personal information
Full name is Martin Willem Verkerk. Began playing tennis at age seven with his father, Wim, and mother, Bep, who is a retired school teacher.
Has one older brother, Mickel, who works in a sports business. Captured Dutch 18-under title in 1995.  Enjoys watching Formula 1 racing. Admired Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras while growing up. Considers backhand and serve as his strengths. Favorite surface is clay and slow hard courts. Has a 6-5 career Davis Cup record (3-1 in doubles) in five ties since 2002. Coached by Nick Carr (of New Zealand) since October 2001.

Career Highlights
1997-Finished runner-up at Netherlands Satellite (46 points). Reached 2nd RD at Ostend Challenger.

1998 - Defeated fellow Dutch player John van Lottum to reach 2nd RD in first ATP event at Amsterdam before losing to S. Dosedel in next match.

1999-Reached final of Scheveningen Challenger and improved ranking 170 positions during year.

2000-Reached SF at Scheveningen and Manerbio Challengers.

2001-Played only ATP event of year in Amsterdam, losing to Mutis in 1st RD. Reached finals at Challengers in Eisenach (l. to O. Gross) and Aschaffenburg (l. to S. Greul). Reached SF in Braunschweig and Houston Challengers.

2002- Finished in Top 100 for first time, compiling a 34-11 match record in Challengers with two titles. Reached first ATP QF in Indianapolis. Began year by reaching finals at Waikoloa (l. to Blake) and Dallas (l. to Morrison) Challengers. Won only Challenger title of year at Turin by defeating Kutsenko in three-set final. Reached SF in Eisenach and final in Ulm (l. to Gross) to continue stellar Challenger play. Achieved first ATP QF in Indianapolis by defeating Ljubicic and Popp and received QF spot after getting walkover from Henman in 3rd RD (l. to eventual champion Rusedski). In doubles, reached first ATP final in Tashkent (w/Sluiter). 2003- Finished as No. 2 Dutchman behind No. 18 Schalken highlighted by his first career ATP title and first Grand Slam final. Following a 1-3 start, captured title in Milan with 30 aces in his three-set victory over Kafelnikov in final. Struggled in next three months with a 2-9 match record until posting a 12-3 mark on clay with QF at TMS Roma (d. Roddick in 2nd, l. to Kafelnikov), SF in St. P÷lten and final at Roland Garros in only his third career Grand Slam event. Fired 124 aces en route to final in Paris, posting consecutive wins over three year-end Top 10s -- Schuettler (4th), Moya (QF) and Coria (SF) -- before losing to Ferrero in straight sets. Afterwards, climbed from 46 to No. 15 in becoming first player since Pernfors in 1986 to reach Roland Garros final in his first visit. Struggled rest of season with a 5-10 record, failing to win back-to-back matches in a tournament. Went 4-0 in five-set matches and 12-8 on clay, 6-3 on carpet and 7-12 on hard.Finished No. 3 in aces (678) and earned a career-high $879,616.