Kurt Nielsen (19 November 1930 – 11 June 2011)[2] was a Danish tennis player. He was born in Copenhagen, and was the first Danish tennis player ever to have played in a men's singles final in a Grand Slam tournament.
 Nielsen in 1999 | |
| Country (sports) |  Denmark |
|---|---|
| Born | 19 November 1930 Copenhagen, Denmark |
| Died | 11 June 2011 (aged 80) |
| Turned pro | 1960 (amateur tour from 1948) |
| Retired | 1966 |
| Plays | Right-handed (one-handed backhand) |
| Coach | Don Tregonning (1955) |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 205–103 |
| Career titles | 13 |
| Highest ranking | No. 7 (1953, Lance Tingay)[1] |
| Grand Slam singles results | |
| French Open | 4R (1952, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1959) |
| Wimbledon | F (1953, 1955) |
| US Open | QF (1953) |
| Professional majors | |
| Wembley Pro | 1R (1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1966) |
| French Pro | 1R (1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965) |
| Doubles | |
| Grand Slam doubles results | |
| Wimbledon | 3R (1953, 1957) |
| Mixed doubles | |
| Grand Slam mixed doubles results | |
| Wimbledon | F (1958) |
| US Open | W (1957) |
Nielsen reached the singles finals of Wimbledon in 1953 (beating Ken Rosewall and Jaroslav Drobný, then losing to Vic Seixas)[3] and 1955 (beating Rosewall, then losing to Tony Trabert). Both times he reached the final, he was unseeded. Before this, he won the boys' singles at Wimbledon in 1947 (defeating Sven Davidson). Besides his successes at Wimbledon, he won the boys' singles at the French Open and reached the quarterfinals in the U.S. Championships in 1953.
With Althea Gibson, Nielsen won the U.S. Open mixed doubles in 1957, thereby becoming the first Dane to have won a Grand Slam event. During his long career, he won around 30 international titles, played 96 Davis Cup matches for Denmark (with a 53–43 record), and holds the record of having won the most Danish national tennis championships (50). Nielsen turned professional in 1960 and played on the pro circuit.[4]
After ending his active career, Nielsen held numerous honourable positions in leading international tennis associations as well as served as the supervisor and referee at many Grand Slam events. He was a commentator on the Danish version of the TV channel Eurosport until late 2006.[5]
Nielsen was the grandfather of Danish tennis player Frederik Løchte Nielsen.[6] His grandson, at the 2012 Wimbledon men's doubles event, became the second Dane to win a Grand Slam tournament.
Grand Slam finals
editSingles: (2 runner-ups)
edit| Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runner-up | 1953 | Wimbledon | Grass | 7–9, 3–6, 4–6 | |
| Runner-up | 1955 | Wimbledon | Grass | 3–6, 5–7, 1–6 |
Mixed doubles: (1 title, 1 runner-up)
edit| Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | 1957 | US Championships | Grass | 6–3, 9–7 | ||
| Runner-up | 1958 | Wimbledon | Grass | 3–6, 11–13 |
Singles performance timeline
edit| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | DNQ | A | NH |
The following lists main draw appearances for Grand Slam and pre-Open Era Professional Major tournaments only.
| Tournament | 1948 | 1949 | 1950 | 1951 | 1952 | 1953 | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 | 1960 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | W–L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand slam tournaments | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Australian Championships | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | Absent; had turned pro |
0–0 | |||||
| French Championships | 3R | A | A | 1R | 4R1 | A | 2R | 4R1 | 4R | 4R | 1R | 4R | 1R | 16–10 | ||||||
| Wimbledon Championships | 2R | A | 1R | 3R | 3R | F | 4R | F | 3R | 3R | SF | 2R | 3R | 31–12 | ||||||
| U.S. National Championships | A | A | A | A | 3R | QF | A | 3R | A | 4R | 1R | A | A | 11–5 | ||||||
| Win–loss | 3–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 6–3 | 10–2 | 4–2 | 10–3 | 5–2 | 7–3 | 5–3 | 4–2 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 58–27 |
| Professional majors | ||||||||||||||||||||
| U.S. Pro Tennis Championships | Absent; had not turned pro |
A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0–0 | |||||||||||
| French Pro Championship | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | A | 0–6 | ||||||||||||
| Wembley Championships | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | PR | A | 1R | 0–5 | ||||||||||||
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–11 |
Note: 1 First round bye
References
edit- ^ "Trabert is Seeded Top", The Sydney Morning Herald, 16 September 1953.
- ^ Dansk tennislegende er død, tv2.dk 11. juni 2011 (in Danish)
- ^ "Wimbledon 1953". www.tennis.co.nf.
- ^ "Rosewall Downs Kurt Nielsen". The Canberra Times. 15 September 1960. p. 32 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ Femte sæt, b.dk 17. februar 2011 (in Danish)
- ^ F. Løchte tættere på Wimbledon Archived 19 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine, tv2.dk 20. juni 2007 (in Danish)
External links
edit- Kurt Nielsen at the Association of Tennis Professionals
- Kurt Nielsen at the International Tennis Federation
- Kurt Nielsen at the Davis Cup
- Kurt Nielsen and Torben Ulrich (in dark sweater) play Tony Trabert and Vic Seixas at Kjøbenhavns Boldklub, Frederiksberg, Denmark in 1954. Link to video stream.