Karol Kučera

Karol Kučera
Country (sports)  Slovakia
Residence Monte Carlo, Monaco
Born (1974-03-04) 4 March 1974
Bratislava, Czechoslovakia
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 1 1⁄2 in)
Turned pro 1992
Retired 2005
Plays Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Coach(es) Miloslav Mečíř (1997-2001)
Marian Vajda (2001-2005)
Prize money $5,061,125
Singles
Career record 293–244
Career titles 6
Highest ranking No. 6 (14 September 1998)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open SF (1998)
French Open 3R (1996, 2000)
Wimbledon 4R (1999)
US Open QF (1998)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals RR (1998)
Grand Slam Cup SF (1998)
Olympic Games 2R (1996, 2000)
Doubles
Career record 34–41
Career titles 0
Highest ranking No. 131 (7 June 2004)
Team competitions
Davis Cup F (2005)
Hopman Cup W (1998)

Karol Kučera (born 4 March 1974) is a retired ATP professional male tennis player from Slovakia. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 6 in September 1998, reaching the semi-finals of the Australian Open the same year.

Tennis career

Kučera turned professional in 1992. He was a member of the Czechoslovakian Galea Cup teams in 1991 and 1992 and the 1992 European championship squad. In 1993 he qualified for his first Grand Slam at Roland Garros.

In 1995 when Kučera won his first ATP title in Rosmalen. In 1996 he played in the Summer Olympics in Atlanta where he lost to eventual gold medalist Andre Agassi.

A year later he won his second ATP title in Ostrava defeating Magnus Norman. He was runner-up in two other tournaments in Nottingham on grass to Greg Rusedski and Stuttgart Outdoor to Sergi Bruguera on clay.

Kučera's best year was in 1998, where he finished the year in the top 10, ranked World No. 8, which qualified him in the ATP Tour World Championship in Hannover. During the year Kučera won 2 titles in Sydney defeating Tim Henman and New Haven defeating Goran Ivanišević.

He reached another two finals, losing to Gustavo Kuerten in Stuttgart Outdoor and to World No. 1 Pete Sampras in Vienna. Overall in 1998, Kučera compiled a career high 53 match victories and earning $1,402,557.

Kučera achieved his best Grand Slam result in 1998 reaching the semi-finals of Australian Open where on his way he defeated defending champion Pete Sampras in the quarter-finals, losing to eventual champion Petr Korda in 4 sets.

In 1999, Kučera won his fifth ATP title in Basel defeating Tim Henman in the final. After 1999, Kučera struggled with form due to a right wrist and arm injury.

After some injury plagued years, Kučera found some form again in 2003 when he finished in the top 50 for the first time since 1999. During the year he won his sixth and final tour title in Copenhagen defeating Olivier Rochus in the final.

Recently, Kučera was one of the contributing members on the Slovakian team which reached the final of the Davis Cup in 2005, eventually losing to Croatia 2–3. He announced his retirement after the final.

Style of play

Miloslav Mečíř known as the "Big Cat" was Kučera's coach from 1997 to 2001. Kučera was nicknamed the "Little Cat" because of his deceptive style of play and his fluid movement around the court resembling his coach.

Career titles

Singles (6)

Legend (Singles)
Grand Slam (0)
ATP Super 9 (0)
ATP Masters Series (0)
ATP Championships Series (1)
ATP World Series (5)
No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent in the Final Score
1. 12 June 1995 Rosmalen, Netherlands Grass Sweden Anders Järryd 7–6(9–7), 7–6(7–4)
2. 13 October 1997 Ostrava, Czech Republic Carpet (i) Sweden Magnus Norman 6–2, retired
3. 12 January 1998 Sydney, Australia Hard United Kingdom Tim Henman 7–5, 6–4
4. 17 August 1998 New Haven, U.S. Hard Croatia Goran Ivanišević 6–4, 5–7, 6–2
5. 4 October 1999 Basel, Switzerland Carpet (i) United Kingdom Tim Henman 6–4, 7–6(12–10), 4–6, 4–6, 7–6(7–2)
6. 24 February 2003 Copenhagen, Denmark Hard (i) Belgium Olivier Rochus 7–6(7–4), 6–4

Singles performance timeline

Tournament1990199119921993199419951996199719981999200020012002200320042005SRW–L
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open A A A A A 1R 3R 2R SF QF 1R 1R 2R 2R 2R A 0 / 10 15–10
French Open A A A 1R 2R 1R 3R 1R 1R 1R 3R A 1R 1R 2R A 0 / 11 6–11
Wimbledon A A A A 1R 2R 3R 1R 1R 4R 2R A A 3R 2R 2R 0 / 10 11–10
US Open A A A A 1R 1R 1R 1R QF A 1R A 2R 3R 2R 2R 0 / 10 9–10
Win–Loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–1 1–3 1–4 6–4 1–4 9–4 7–3 3–4 0–1 2–3 5–4 4–4 2–2 0 / 41 41–41
Year End Championship
ATP Tour World Championships A A A A A A A A RR A A A A A A A 0 / 1 0–3
ATP Masters Series
Indian Wells A A A A A A A A 2R QF 1R A 3R A A A 0 / 4 6–4
Miami A A A A A A 2R A 3R 4R 1R 1R 1R 1R 2R A 0 / 8 5–8
Monte Carlo A A A A A A A 1R A 2R QF 1R A 1R A A 0 / 5 3–5
Hamburg A A A A A 2R 1R 1R SF A 1R A A 1R A A 0 / 6 4–6
Rome A A A A A 3R 1R A 1R QF 1R A A 1R A A 0 / 6 5–6
Canada A A A A A A A A A A 2R A A QF A A 0 / 2 4–2
Cincinnati A A A A A A A A A A 1R A A 1R A A 0 / 2 0–2
Madrid1 A A A A A A A 2R 2R 2R A A A 2R A A 0 / 4 2–4
Paris A A A A A A A A 3R 2R 1R 2R A 1R A A 0 / 5 2–5
Win–Loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 3–2 1–3 1–3 6–6 8–6 4–8 1–3 2–2 4–8 1–1 0–0 0 / 42 31–42
Year End Ranking 862 352 210 159 54 79 63 24 8 17 73 101 83 40 91 310

1This event was held in Stockholm through 1994, Essen in 1995, and Stuttgart from 1996 through 2001.

External links

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