Jarkko Nieminen
 | |
| Country (sports) |  Finland |
|---|---|
| Residence | Masku, Finland |
| Born | July 23, 1981 Masku, Finland |
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) |
| Turned pro | 2000 |
| Plays | Left-handed (two-handed backhand) |
| Prize money | $5,612,452 |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 321-257 (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup) |
| Career titles | 2 |
| Highest ranking | No. 13 (July 10, 2006) |
| Current ranking | No. 44 (April 30, 2012) |
| Grand Slam singles results | |
| Australian Open | QF (2008) |
| French Open | 4R (2003) |
| Wimbledon | QF (2006) |
| US Open | QF (2005) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 117-152 (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup) |
| Career titles | 2 |
| Highest ranking | No. 42 (January 28, 2008) |
| Current ranking | No. 119 (April 16, 2012) |
| Grand Slam doubles results | |
| Australian Open | SF (2010) |
| French Open | 2R (2003, 2008) |
| Wimbledon | 2R (2007) |
| US Open | QF (2008) |
| Last updated on: April 22, 2012. | |
Jarkko Kalervo Nieminen (born July 23, 1981 in Masku, Finland) is a professional tennis player from Finland.
His highest ranking is World No. 13, which he achieved on July 10, 2006. He has won two ATP singles titles and two doubles titles in his career. His best performances in Grand Slam tournaments have been reaching the quarterfinals of the 2005 US Open, the 2006 Wimbledon Championships, and the 2008 Australian Open.
Arguably Finland's best player ever, Nieminen is the highest-ranked Finn ever, and is also the first and so far only Finnish player to have won an ATP singles title and to have reached the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam event.
His wife, Anu Nieminen, is currently Finland's top-ranked badminton women's single player.
Career highlights
1999
- Defeated Kristian Pless of Denmark to win his first junior Grand Slam, the U.S. Open.
- Finished the year at no. 9 in the world junior rankings.
- Made his Davis Cup debut against Italy, losing to Andrea Gaudenzi.
2000
- Won his first Davis Cup match, beating Mikael Tillström of Sweden in a dead-rubber.
2001
- Became the first Finn to reach an ATP final since Leo Palin in 1981, beating Pless, Younes El Aynaoui, defending champion Thomas Johansson and three-time winner Thomas Enqvist, before losing to Sjeng Schalken in five sets in Stockholm.
- Posted a 38–12 Challenger record, winning four titles.
- Finished the year in the top 100 for the first time.
2002
- Reached clay-court finals in Estoril and Majorca, losing to David Nalbandian and Gastón Gaudio, respectively.
- Became the first Finnish player to end the season in the top 50.
2003
- Reached his fourth career ATP final in Munich, losing to Roger Federer.
- Advanced to the fourth round at the 2003 French Open, losing to Fernando González.
- Was at best ranked world no. 27, a career high until 2006.
2004
- Represented Finland at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, losing to Max Mirnyi in the second round.
- Finished in the top 100 for the fourth consecutive year, despite missing nearly three months due to injury.
2005
- Defeated world no. 7 Andre Agassi in a firstround five-setter at the 2005 French Open.
- Was defeated in five sets by Lleyton Hewitt in the quarter-finals of the 2005 U.S. Open, having become the first Finn to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal.
2006
- Won his first ATP singles title in January by defeating Mario Ančić in the final in Auckland.
- Recorded his career-best ATP Masters Series performance by reaching the quarterfinals of the Indian Wells Masters, but lost to Paradorn Srichaphan.
- Broke into the top 20 for the first time in his career in April.
- Reached the quarterfinals of the 2006 Wimbledon Championships, but lost to world no. 2 Rafael Nadal in straight sets.
- Broke into the top 15 for the first time in his career in July after his Wimbledon success.
- Reached the quarterfinals of the Canada Masters, losing to Andy Murray.
- Reached his sixth career ATP final in Stockholm, losing to James Blake.
- Finished the season by reaching the quarterfinals of the Paris Masters, where he lost to Tommy Robredo.
2007
- Won his first ATP doubles title in September, paired with Robert Lindstedt. They beat Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and Rohan Bopanna in Mumbai, India on hard courts.
- His best singles performance in 2007 came at Davidoff Swiss Indoors, where he was beaten in the finals by world no. 1 Roger Federer in straight sets, 6–3, 6–4. En route to the finals, he had beaten Robby Ginepri, Guillermo Cañas, world no. 8 Fernando González, and Marcos Baghdatis.
2008
- Lost to Michaël Llodra in the final at the Adelaide International, 3–6, 4–6.
- Made the quarterfinals at the Australian Open, losing in straight sets to Rafael Nadal.
- Represented Finland at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, losing to Swede Thomas Johansson in the first round.
2009
- Defeated top seed Novak Djokovic in the 2009 Medibank International semifinal, 6–4, 7–6. He lost to David Nalbandian in the final, 4-6, 7-6, 2-6.
- Withdrew from the 2009 Australian Open half-way through his first round clash with 28th seed Paul-Henri Mathieu.
- Underwent surgery for a wrist injury and sidelined for three months, thus missing out on Roland Garros and Wimbledon.
- Returned to professional tennis at the New Haven tournament in the US in August.
- Defeated Frenchman Stéphane Robert in the ATP Challenger tournament final in Jersey, United Kingdom in November.
2010
- Defeated Nick Lindahl in the first round of the Australian Open, before losing a tight five-set match to Florent Serra in the second round after having two match points in the fourth set. In the doubles competition, he reached the semifinals with partner Michael Kohlmann, losing to the top seeds Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan.
- Reached his first semifinal of the season at the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships, beating Paolo Lorenzi, 6–3, 6–4, in the first round, Evgeny Korolev, 5–7, 6–1, 6–0, in the second round, winning 12 consecutive games to close out the match, and finally third seed Benjamin Becker in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, lost against Ernests Gulbis of Latvia, who ended up winning the tournament against Ivo Karlović in the final.
- Won his second doubles title with Swede Johan Brunstrom in Gstaad, Switzerland on clay courts.
- Lost to Guillermo García-López in the PTT Thailand Open final, 6–4, 3–6, 6–4.
2011
- Reached his eleventh career ATP final in Stockholm, losing to Gaël Monfils.
2012
Nieminen won the Sydney International for his second career title against Julien Benneteau. He was a finalist in doubles in the same tournament with Matthew Ebden against Mike Bryan and Bob Bryan.
He was a quarterfinalist at the Open Sud de France and in Rotterdam.
ATP Career Finals
Singles: 12 (2–10)
| Legend (Singles) |
|---|
| Grand Slam tournaments (0–0) |
| ATP World Tour Finals (0–0) |
| ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0) |
| ATP World Tour 500 Series (0–0) |
| ATP World Tour 250 Series (2–10) |
| Outcome | No. | Date | Championship | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runner-up | 1. | October 29, 2001 |  Stockholm, Sweden
|
Hard |  Sjeng Schalken
|
6–3, 3–6, 3–6, 6–4, 3–6 |
| Runner-up | 2. | April 15, 2002 |  Estoril, Portugal
|
Clay |  David Nalbandian
|
4–6, 6–7(5–7) |
| Runner-up | 3. | May 6, 2002 |  Majorca, Spain
|
Clay | Gastón Gaudio
|
2–6, 3–6 |
| Runner-up | 4. | May 5, 2003 |  Munich, Germany
|
Clay |  Roger Federer
|
1–6, 4–6 |
| Winner | 1. | January 9, 2006 |  Auckland, New Zealand
|
Hard |  Mario Ančić
|
6–2, 6–2 |
| Runner-up | 5. | October 16, 2006 | Stockholm, Sweden
|
Hard |  James Blake
|
4–6, 2–6 |
| Runner-up | 6. | October 29, 2007 | Basel, Switzerland
|
Hard | Roger Federer
|
3–6, 4–6 |
| Runner-up | 7. | January 6, 2008 |  Adelaide, Australia
|
Hard |  Michaël Llodra
|
3–6, 4–6 |
| Runner-up | 8. | January 17, 2009 | Sydney, Australia
|
Hard | David Nalbandian
|
3–6, 7–6(11–9), 2–6 |
| Runner-up | 9. | October 3, 2010 |  Bangkok, Thailand
|
Hard (i) | Guillermo García-López
|
4–6, 6–3, 4–6 |
| Runner-up | 10. | October 23, 2011 | Stockholm, Sweden (2)
|
Hard (i) | Gaël Monfils
|
5–7, 6–3, 2–6 |
| Winner | 2. | January 15, 2012 | Sydney, Australia (2)
|
Hard | Julien Benneteau
|
6–2, 7–5 |
Doubles: 6 (2–4)
| Legend (Doubles) |
|---|
| Grand Slam tournaments (0–0) |
| ATP World Tour Finals (0–0) |
| ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0) |
| ATP World Tour 500 Series (0–0) |
| ATP World Tour 250 Series (2–4) |
| Outcome | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runner-up | 1. | September 29, 2003 | Bangkok, Thailand
|
Hard | Andrew Kratzmann
|
 Jonathan Erlich Andy Ram
|
3–6, 6–7(4–7) |
| Winner | 1. | September 24, 2007 |  Mumbai, India
|
Hard | Robert Lindstedt
|
Rohan Bopanna Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi
|
7–6(7–3), 7–6(7–5) |
| Runner-up | 2. | February 15, 2009 | San Jose, United States
|
Hard (i) | Rohan Bopanna
|
Tommy Haas Radek Štěpánek
|
2–6, 3–6 |
| Winner | 2. | August 1, 2010 | Gstaad, Switzerland
|
Clay | Johan Brunström
|
 Marcelo Melo Bruno Soares
|
6–3, 6–7(4–7), [11–9] |
| Runner-up | 3. | October 24, 2010 | Stockholm, Sweden
|
Hard (i) | Johan Brunström
|
Eric Butorac Jean-Julien Rojer
|
3–6, 4–6 |
| Runner-up | 4. | January 15, 2012 | Sydney, Australia
|
Hard | Matthew Ebden
|
Bob Bryan Mike Bryan
|
1–6, 4–6 |
Singles Performance Timeline
| Tournament | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | W–L | Win % | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Slam Tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||
| Australian Open | A | 1R | 3R | 2R | 3R | 3R | 2R | QF | 1R | 2R | 1R | 1R | 13–11 | 54.17 | |||||
| French Open | A | 3R | 4R | A | 2R | 1R | 3R | 3R | A | 1R | 1R | 2R | 11–9 | 55.00 | |||||
| Wimbledon | A | 2R | 3R | A | 1R | QF | 3R | 2R | A | 2R | 1R | 11–8 | 57.89 | ||||||
| US Open | Q3 | 1R | 2R | 1R | QF | 1R | 1R | 3R | 2R | 1R | 1R | 8–10 | 44.45 | ||||||
| Win–Loss | 0–0 | 3–4 | 8–4 | 1–2 | 7–4 | 6–4 | 5–4 | 9–4 | 1–2 | 2–4 | 0–4 | 1–2 | 43–38 | 53.09 | |||||
| ATP Masters Series | |||||||||||||||||||
| Indian Wells | A | A | 1R | 2R | 2R | QF | 3R | 2R | 2R | A | 2R | 1R | 7–9 | 43.75 | |||||
| Miami | A | 2R | 3R | 2R | 2R | 3R | 4R | 2R | 2R | A | 1R | 1R | 7–10 | 41.18 | |||||
| Monte Carlo | A | A | 3R | 2R | A | 1R | 1R | 2R | Q2 | 1R | 2R | 2R | 6–7 | 46.15 | |||||
| Rome | A | A | 3R | A | A | 2R | 1R | 1R | A | Q2 | 3R | 1R | 5–6 | 45.45 | |||||
| Madrid | A | 2R | 1R | Q1 | A | 1R | 1R | 2R | A | A | A | A | 2–5 | 28.57 | |||||
| Canada | A | 2R | 1R | A | A | QF | 2R | 1R | A | 1R | 1R | 5–7 | 41.67 | ||||||
| Cincinnati | A | 3R | 2R | A | A | 1R | 3R | 1R | A | Q2 | Q1 | 5–5 | 50.00 | ||||||
| Shanghai | Not Masters Series | A | A | A | 0–0 | ||||||||||||||
| Paris | A | 2R | 1R | A | 1R | QF | 2R | 1R | A | 2R | LQ | 5–7 | 41.67 | ||||||
| Hamburg | A | A | 2R | A | A | 3R | 3R | 2R | NMS | 6–4 | 60.00 | ||||||||
| Win–Loss | 0–0 | 6–5 | 7–9 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 12–9 | 9–9 | 3–9 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 4–5 | 1–4 | 48–60 | 44.44 | |||||
| Career Statistics | |||||||||||||||||||
| Titles–Finals | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–12 | 16.67 | |||||
| Year End Ranking | 61 | 40 | 36 | 77 | 28 | 15 | 27 | 37 | 88 | 39 | 77 | $5,215,350 | |||||||
External links and sources
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