Kurt Nielsen

For the Danish football (soccer) player and manager, see Kurt "Nikkelaj" Nielsen.
Kurt Nielsen
Country (sports) Denmark
Born (1930-11-19)19 November 1930
Copenhagen, Denmark
Died 11 June 2011(2011-06-11) (aged 80)
Turned pro 1960 (amateur tour from 1948)
Retired 1966
Plays Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
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)

Kurt Nielsen (19 November 1930 – 11 June 2011)[2] was a Danish tennis player. He was born in Copenhagen, and is the only Danish tennis player ever to have played in a Men's Singles final in a Grand Slam tournament.

Nielsen reached the singles finals of Wimbledon in 1953 (losing to Vic Seixas, having defeated Ken Rosewall in the quarterfinal) and 1955 (losing to Tony Trabert). 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 senior quarterfinals in the French Open (twice) and the US Open.

With Althea Gibson, Nielsen won the US Open mixed doubles in 1957, thereby becoming the first Dane to have ever won a Grand Slam event as a senior. 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.[3]

After ending his active career, Nielsen held numerous honourable positions in leading international tennis associations, as well as being supervisor and referee at many Grand Slam events. He was a commentator on the Danish version of the TV channel Eurosport until late 2006.[4]

Nielsen was the grandfather of Danish tennis player Frederik Løchte Nielsen.[5] He followed his grandfather and became the second Dane to win a Grand Slam tournament at the 2012 Wimbledon men's doubles.

Grand Slam singles finals

Singles: 2 (0–2)

Outcome Year Championship Opponent Score
Runner-up 1953 WimbledonUnited States Vic Seixas 7–9, 3–6, 4–6
Runner-up 1955 Wimbledon United States Tony Trabert 3–6, 5–7, 1–6

Mixed doubles: 2 (1–1)

Outcome Year Championship Partner Opponents Score
Winner 1957 US Open United States Althea Gibson United States Darlene Hard
Australia Robert Howe
6–3, 9–7
Runner-up 1958 Wimbledon United States Althea Gibson Australia Lorraine Coghlan Robinson
Australia Robert Howe
3–6, 11–13

Singles performance timeline

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

  1. "Trabert is Seeded Top", The Sydney Morning Herald, 16 September 1953.
  2. Dansk tennislegende er død, tv2.dk 11. juni 2011 (Danish)
  3. "Rosewall Downs Kurt Nielsen.". The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995). ACT: National Library of Australia. 15 September 1960. p. 32.
  4. Femte sæt, b.dk 17. februar 2011 (Danish)
  5. F. Løchte tættere på Wimbledon, tv2.dk 20. juni 2007 (Danish)

External links


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