Kurt Nielsen
Nielsen in 1999
Country (sports) Denmark
Born(1930-11-19)19 November 1930
Copenhagen, Denmark
Died11 June 2011(2011-06-11) (aged 80)
Turned pro1960 (amateur tour from 1948)
Retired1966
PlaysRight-handed (one-handed backhand)
CoachDon Tregonning (1955)
Singles
Career record205–103
Career titles13
Highest rankingNo. 7 (1953, Lance Tingay)[1]
Grand Slam singles results
French Open4R (1952, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1959)
WimbledonF (1953, 1955)
US OpenQF (1953)
Professional majors
Wembley Pro1R (1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1966)
French Pro1R (1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965)
Doubles
Grand Slam doubles results
Wimbledon3R (1953, 1957)
Mixed doubles
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
WimbledonF (1958)
US OpenW (1957)

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 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

Singles: (2 runner-ups)

Outcome Year Championship Surface Opponent Score
Runner-up1953WimbledonGrassUnited States Vic Seixas7–9, 3–6, 4–6
Runner-up1955WimbledonGrassUnited States Tony Trabert3–6, 5–7, 1–6

Mixed doubles: (1 title, 1 runner-up)

Outcome Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Winner1957US ChampionshipsGrassUnited States Althea GibsonUnited States Darlene Hard
Australia Robert Howe		6–3, 9–7
Runner-up1958WimbledonGrassUnited States Althea GibsonAustralia Lorraine Coghlan
Australia Robert Howe		3–6, 11–13

Singles performance timeline

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.

The following lists main draw appearances for Grand Slam and pre-Open Era Professional Major tournaments only.

Tournament 1948194919501951195219531954195519561957195819591960196119621963196419651966W–L
Grand slam tournaments
Australian Championships AAAAAAAAAAAAA Absent;
had turned pro		 0–0
French Championships 3RAA1R4R1A2R4R14R4R1R4R1R 16–10
Wimbledon Championships 2RA1R3R3RF4RF3R3RSF2R3R 31–12
U.S. National Championships AAAA3RQFA3RA4R1RAA 11–5
Win–loss3–20–00–12–26–310–24–210–35–27–35–34–22–20–00–00–00–00–00–058–27
Professional majors
U.S. Pro Tennis Championships Absent;
had not turned pro		 AAAAAAA 0–0
French Pro Championship 1R1R1R1R1R1RA 0–6
Wembley Championships 1R1R1R1RPRA1R 0–5
Win–loss0–00–00–00–00–00–00–00–00–00–00–00–00–20–20–20–20–10–10–10–11

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 (in Danish)
  3. ↑ "Wimbledon 1953". www.tennis.co.nf.
  4. ↑ "Rosewall Downs Kurt Nielsen". The Canberra Times. 15 September 1960. p. 32 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ↑ Femte sæt, b.dk 17. februar 2011 (in Danish)
  6. ↑ F. Løchte tættere på Wimbledon Archived 19 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine, tv2.dk 20. juni 2007 (in Danish)
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