Kurt Nielsen

For the Danish football (soccer) player and manager, see Kurt "Nikkelaj" Nielsen.

Kurt Nielsen (born November 19, 1930) is a retired Danish tennis player. He is the only Danish tennis player to have ever played in a men's singles final in a Grand Slam tournament. He reached the singles finals of Wimbledon in 1953 (lost to Vic Seixas after having defeated Ken Rosewall in the quarterfinal) and 1955 (lost to Tony Trabert). Prior to this, he won the Boys’ singles at Wimbledon in 1947 (defeated 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 he won the US Open mixdoubles in 1957, thereby being the only 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).

After ending his active career, he has held numerous honourable positions in leading international tennis associations, as well as being supervisor and referee at many Grand Slam events. He is to this day active in the tennis world through, among other things, being a commentator on the Danish version of the TV channel Eurosport.

Trivia

• Kurt Nielsen is the grandfather of Danish tennis player Frederik Løchte Nielsen, born 1983, who turned professional in 2001.

External links

• Kurt Nielsen's Davis Cup results
• Kurt Nielsen and Torben Ulrich (in dark sweater) play Tony Trabert and Vic Seixas at Kjøbenhavns Boldklub, Frederiksberg, Denmark in 1954. To watch video stream, click on "Kurt Nielsen og Torben Ulrich" link.