Nicklas Kulti
Nicklas Kulti (born 22 April 1971, in Stockholm, Sweden) is a former professional tennis player from Sweden.
Kulti was ranked the World No. 1 junior tennis player in 1989 after winning the Australian Open and Wimbledon junior titles, and finishing runner-up at the US Open.
In 1990, Kulti won his first top-level singles title at Adelaide. He won a total of three tour singles titles during his professional career. He also won 13 top-level doubles titles, including the Monte Carlo Masters in 1994 (partnering Magnus Larsson) and the Paris Masters in 2000 (partnering Max Mirnyi). Kulti was a men's doubles runner-up at the French Open in 1995 (with Larsson) and the US Open in 1997 (with Jonas Björkman). Kulti's best singles performance at a Grand Slam event came at the 1992 French Open, where he reached the quarter-finals before being knocked-out by Henri Leconte.
Kulti was a member of the Swedish teams which won the Davis Cup in both 1997 and 1998 (partnering Björkman to win doubles rubbers in the final on both occasions). He was also on the team which finished runners-up in the Davis Cup in 1996. In the fifth and deciding match against frenchman Arnaud Boetsch, Kulti was a late replacement for the injured Stefan Edberg. In a 4 hour and 46 minute thriller, Boetsch saved three matchpoints and finally overcame Kulti, 7-6, 2-6, 4-6, 7-6, 10-8 in what is considered to be one of the greatest Davis Cup matches in history. [1]
Kulti's career-high rankings were World No. 32 in singles (in 1993), and World No. 11 in doubles (in 1997). His career prize-money totalled US$3,186,946. He retired from the professional tour in 2000.
Doubles titles (13)
No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partnering | Opponent in the final | Score |
1. | 1992 | Copenhagen, Denmark | Carpet | Magnus Larsson | Hendrik Jan Davids Libor Pimek |
6–3, 6–4 |
2. | 1992 | San Marino | Clay | Mikael Tillström | Cristian Brandi Federico Mordegan |
6–2, 6–2 |
3. | 1994 | Monte Carlo, Monaco | Clay | Magnus Larsson | Yevgeny Kafelnikov Daniel Vacek |
3–6, 7–6, 6–4 |
4. | 1996 | Antwerp, Belgium | Carpet | Jonas Björkman | Yevgeny Kafelnikov Menno Oosting |
6–4, 6–4 |
5. | 1996 | New Delhi, India | Hard | Jonas Björkman | Byron Black Sandon Stolle |
4–6, 6–4, 6–4 |
6. | 1997 | Atlanta, U.S. | Clay | Jonas Björkman | Scott Davis Kelly Jones |
6–2, 7–6 |
7. | 1997 | Båstad, Sweden | Clay | Mikael Tillström | Magnus Gustafsson Magnus Larsson |
6–0, 6–3 |
8. | 1998 | St. Petersburg, Russia | Carpet | Mikael Tillström | Marius Barnard Brent Haygarth |
3–6, 6–3, 7–6 |
9. | 1998 | Stockholm, Sweden | Hard (i) | Mikael Tillström | Chris Haggard Peter Nyborg |
7–5, 3–6, 7–5 |
10. | 2000 | Barcelona, Spain | Clay | Mikael Tillström | Paul Haarhuis Sandon Stolle |
6–2, 6–7, 7–6 |
11. | 2000 | Halle, Germany | Grass | Mikael Tillström | Mahesh Bhupathi David Prinosil |
7–6, 7–6 |
12. | 2000 | Båstad, Sweden | Clay | Mikael Tillström | Andrea Gaudenzi Diego Nargiso |
4–6, 6–2, 6–3 |
13. | 2000 | Paris Indoor, France | Carpet | Mikael Tillström | Paul Haarhuis Daniel Nestor |
6–4, 7–5 |
Runner-ups (12)
Doubles performance timeline
Tournament | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | Career SR | Career Win-Loss |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Grand Slams | ||||||||||||||||
Australian Open | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | 1R | 3R | 1R | 3R | 3R | 2R | 0 / 7 | 7–7 |
French Open | A | A | A | 1R | A | A | 2R | F | QF | 2R | 1R | SF | 3R | QF | 0 / 9 | 19–9 |
Wimbledon | A | A | A | A | A | A | 2R | A | QF | QF | QF | 1R | SF | A | 0 / 6 | 14–6 |
U.S. Open | A | A | A | A | A | A | SF | 3R | 2R | F | 3R | 1R | 3R | A | 0 / 7 | 15–7 |
Grand Slam SR | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 3 | 0 / 3 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 29 | N/A |
Annual Win-Loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 6–3 | 7–3 | 6–4 | 11–4 | 5–4 | 6–4 | 10–4 | 4–2 | N/A | 55–29 |
ATP Masters Series | ||||||||||||||||
Indian Wells | NME | A | A | A | A | A | 2R | A | QF | A | A | A | A | 0 / 2 | 3–2 | |
Miami | NME | A | A | A | A | A | 2R | A | 3R | A | SF | A | 3R | 0 / 4 | 6–4 | |
Monte Carlo | NME | A | A | A | A | W | 2R | F | SF | 1R | A | QF | A | 1 / 6 | 13–5 | |
Rome | NME | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 2R | A | 2R | A | 0 / 2 | 2–2 | |
Hamburg | NME | A | A | A | A | QF | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 1 | 2–1 | |
Canada | NME | A | A | A | A | A | A | SF | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 1 | 3–1 | |
Cincinnati | NME | A | A | A | A | 1R | A | QF | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 2 | 2–2 | |
Stuttgart (Stockholm) | NME | A | A | 1R | 1R | QF | A | A | A | 1R | 1R | 1R | A | 0 / 6 | 2–6 | |
Paris | NME | A | A | A | A | 2R | A | 1R | 2R | QF | A | W | A | 1 / 5 | 6–4 | |
Masters Series SR | N/A | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 1 | 1 / 5 | 0 / 3 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 2 | 1 / 4 | 0 / 1 | 2 / 29 | N/A | |
Annual Win-Loss | N/A | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 10–4 | 1–3 | 8–4 | 6–4 | 3–4 | 4–2 | 5–3 | 1–1 | N/A | 39–27 | |
Year End Ranking | 484 | 271 | 206 | 592 | 213 | 489 | 23 | 50 | 16 | 16 | 38 | 37 | 15 | 155 | N/A |
A = did not attend tournament