Slovak tennis player (born 1974)
Karol Ku?era
(born 4 March 1974) is a Slovak
tennis
coach and former professional player. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 6 in September 1998, reaching the semifinals of the
Australian Open
the same year.
In 2020, Ku?era was elected an MP of the
National Council of Slovakia
representing the
Ordinary People and Independent Personalities
movement, along with fellow former tennis players
Jan Kro?lak
and
Romana Tabak
.
[1]
Tennis career
[
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]
Ku?era 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 Ku?era 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
Alex Corretja
on clay.
Ku?era'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 Ku?era won 2 titles in
Sydney
defeating
Tim Henman
and
New Haven
defeating
Goran Ivani?evi?
.
He reached another two finals, losing to
Gustavo Kuerten
in Stuttgart Outdoor and to
World No. 1
Pete Sampras
in
Vienna
. Overall in 1998, Ku?era compiled a career high 53 match victories and earning $1,402,557.
Ku?era achieved his best Grand Slam result in 1998 reaching the semi-finals of
Australian Open
where on his way he defeated
Sergi Bruguera
,
Daniel Vacek
,
Daniel Nestor
,
Richard Fromberg
and defending champion Pete Sampras in the quarter-finals, losing to eventual champion
Petr Korda
in 4 sets. Later the same year he reached the quarterfinals of the US Open.
In 1999, Ku?era won his fifth ATP title in
Basel
defeating
Tim Henman
in the final. After 1999, Ku?era struggled with form due to a right wrist and arm injury.
After some injury plagued years, Ku?era 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.
Later, Ku?era 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
[
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]
Miloslav Me?i?
known as the "Big Cat" was Ku?era's coach from 1997 to 2001. Ku?era was nicknamed the "Little Cat" because of his deceptive style of play and his fluid movement around the court resembling his coach.
Ku?era was also coached for a time by
Novak Djokovic
's coach Marian Vajda.
[2]
Career finals
[
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]
Singles 12 (6?6)
[
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]
Legend
|
Grand Slam (0-0)
|
Tennis Masters Cup (0-0)
|
ATP Masters Series (0-0)
|
ATP Championships Series (1-0)
|
ATP World Series (5-6)
|
Result
|
W-L
|
Date
|
Tournament
|
Surface
|
Opponent
|
Score
|
Loss
|
0?1
|
Aug 1994
|
Umag
, Croatia
|
Clay
|
Alberto Berasategui
|
2?6, 4?6
|
Win
|
1?1
|
Jun 1995
|
Rosmalen
, Netherlands
|
Grass
|
Anders Jarryd
|
7?6
(9?7)
, 7?6
(7?4)
|
Win
|
2?1
|
Oct 1997
|
Ostrava
, Czech Republic
|
Carpet (i)
|
Magnus Norman
|
6?2, retired
|
Loss
|
2?2
|
Jun 1997
|
Nottingham
, Great Britain
|
Grass
|
Greg Rusedski
|
4?6, 5?7
|
Loss
|
2?3
|
Jul 1997
|
Stuttgart
, Germany
|
Clay
|
Alex Corretja
|
2?6, 5?7
|
Win
|
3?3
|
Jan 1998
|
Sydney
, Australia
|
Hard
|
Tim Henman
|
7?5, 6?4
|
Loss
|
3?4
|
Jul 1998
|
Stuttgart
, Germany
|
Clay
|
Gustavo Kuerten
|
6?4, 2?6, 4?6
|
Win
|
4?4
|
Aug 1998
|
New Haven
, U.S.
|
Hard
|
Goran Ivani?evi?
|
6?4, 5?7, 6?2
|
Loss
|
4?5
|
Oct 1998
|
Vienna
, Austria
|
Carpet (i)
|
Pete Sampras
|
3?6, 6?7
(3?7)
, 1?6
|
Win
|
5?5
|
Oct 1999
|
Basel
, Switzerland
|
Carpet (i)
|
Tim Henman
|
6?4, 7?6
(12?10)
, 4?6, 4?6, 7?6
(7?2)
|
Win
|
6?5
|
Feb 2003
|
Copenhagen
, Denmark
|
Hard (i)
|
Olivier Rochus
|
7?6
(7?4)
, 6?4
|
Loss
|
6?6
|
Jan 2003
|
Chennai
, India
|
Hard
|
Paradorn Srichaphan
|
3?6, 1?6
|
Doubles: 4 (0?4)
[
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]
Singles performance timeline
[
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]
Key
W
|
F
|
SF
|
QF
|
#R
|
RR
|
Q#
|
DNQ
|
A
|
NH
|
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W?L) win?loss record.
1
This event was held in Stockholm through 1994, Essen in 1995, and Stuttgart from 1996 through 2001.
Top 10 wins
[
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]
Season
|
1991
|
1992
|
1993
|
1994
|
1995
|
1996
|
1997
|
1998
|
1999
|
2000
|
2001
|
2002
|
2003
|
2004
|
2005
|
Total
|
Wins
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
6
|
5
|
5
|
5
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
28
|
#
|
Player
|
Rank
|
Event
|
Surface
|
Rd
|
Score
|
Ku?era
Rank
|
1994
|
1.
|
Sergi Bruguera
|
5
|
Moscow
, Russia
|
Carpet (i)
|
1R
|
3?6, 7?5, 6?4
|
62
|
1996
|
2.
|
Wayne Ferreira
|
9
|
Australian Open
, Melbourne, Australia
|
Hard
|
2R
|
6?1, 6?3, 6?0
|
76
|
3.
|
Michael Chang
|
3
|
Long Island
, United States
|
Hard
|
QF
|
6?4, 6?4
|
86
|
1997
|
4.
|
Marcelo Rios
|
8
|
Stuttgart
, Germany
|
Clay
|
3R
|
6?4, 6?4
|
45
|
5.
|
Sergi Bruguera
|
9
|
Stuttgart
, Germany
|
Clay
|
QF
|
6?3, 2?6, 7?5
|
45
|
6.
|
Goran Ivani?evi?
|
8
|
Basel
, Switzerland
|
Carpet (i)
|
1R
|
6?3, 6?3
|
32
|
7.
|
Yevgeny Kafelnikov
|
6
|
Vienna
, Austria
|
Carpet (i)
|
1R
|
6?4, 7?5
|
32
|
8.
|
Goran Ivani?evi?
|
4
|
Ostrava
, Czech Republic
|
Carpet (i)
|
SF
|
6?3, ret.
|
32
|
9.
|
Thomas Muster
|
8
|
Stockholm
, Sweden
|
Hard (i)
|
2R
|
4?6, 6?3, 6?3
|
25
|
1998
|
10.
|
Pete Sampras
|
1
|
Australian Open
, Melbourne, Australia
|
Hard
|
QF
|
6?4, 6?2, 6?7
(5?7)
, 6?3
|
20
|
11.
|
Petr Korda
|
2
|
Antwerp
, Belgium
|
Hard
|
QF
|
3?6, 6?4, 6?2
|
14
|
12.
|
Marcelo Rios
|
2
|
Stuttgart
, Germany
|
Clay
|
SF
|
6?1, 6?7
(8?10)
, 6?4
|
16
|
13.
|
Richard Krajicek
|
6
|
New Haven
, United States
|
Hard
|
SF
|
7?6
(8?6)
, 6?4
|
13
|
14.
|
Andre Agassi
|
8
|
US Open
, New York, United States
|
Hard
|
4R
|
6?3, 6?3, 6?7
(5?7)
, 1?6, 6?3
|
9
|
1999
|
15.
|
Tim Henman
|
8
|
Rome
, Italy
|
Clay
|
3R
|
4?6, 7?6
(7?5)
, 6?3
|
12
|
16.
|
Pat Rafter
|
3
|
World Team Cup
, Dusseldorf, Germany
|
Clay
|
RR
|
6?3, 7?6
(7?5)
|
12
|
17.
|
Yevgeny Kafelnikov
|
4
|
Davis Cup
, Moscow, Russia
|
Clay
|
RR
|
6?1, 6?3, 6?4
|
13
|
18.
|
Andre Agassi
|
1
|
Basel
, Switzerland
|
Carpet (i)
|
QF
|
6?4, 7?5
|
20
|
19.
|
Tim Henman
|
6
|
Basel
, Switzerland
|
Carpet (i)
|
F
|
6?4, 7?6
(12?10)
, 4?6, 4?6, 7?6
(7?2)
|
20
|
2000
|
20.
|
Gustavo Kuerten
|
4
|
Monte Carlo
, Monaco
|
Clay
|
1R
|
6?4, 0?6, 6?2
|
42
|
21.
|
Andre Agassi
|
1
|
French Open
, Paris, France
|
Clay
|
2R
|
2?6, 7?5, 6?1, 6?0
|
40
|
22.
|
Thomas Enqvist
|
7
|
Queen's Club
, London, United Kingdom
|
Grass
|
2R
|
3?6, 7?6
(8?6)
, 6?3
|
36
|
23.
|
Yevgeny Kafelnikov
|
5
|
Long Island
, United States
|
Hard
|
2R
|
6?1, 6?3
|
45
|
24.
|
Tim Henman
|
10
|
Summer Olympics
, Sydney, Australia
|
Hard
|
1R
|
6?3, 6?2
|
43
|
2001
|
25.
|
Marat Safin
|
1
|
Davis Cup
, Bratislava, Slovakia
|
Hard (i)
|
RR
|
3?6, 4?6, 6?3, 7?5, 6?2
|
75
|
2002
|
26.
|
Andre Agassi
|
2
|
St. Petersburg
, Russia
|
Hard (i)
|
2R
|
6?4, 6?4
|
79
|
2003
|
27.
|
Juan Carlos Ferrero
|
2
|
Montreal
, Canada
|
Hard
|
3R
|
6?3, 7?5
|
41
|
2005
|
28.
|
Mariano Puerta
|
10
|
Davis Cup
, Bratislava, Slovakia
|
Hard (i)
|
RR
|
4?6, 6?3, 2?1, ret.
|
145
|
References
[
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]
External links
[
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]