Martin Kližan

Martin Kližan

Country (sports)	Slovakia
Residence	Bratislava, Slovakia
Born	(1989-07-11) 11 July 1989 Bratislava, Czechoslovakia
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Turned pro	2007
Plays	Left-handed (two-handed backhand)
Coach	Martin Damm
Prize money	$3,870,333
Singles
Career record	106–105
Career titles	5
Highest ranking	No. 24 (27 April 2015)
Current ranking	No. 35 (24 October 2016)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	3R (2014)
French Open	3R (2014)
Wimbledon	2R (2012)
US Open	4R (2012)
Other tournaments
Olympic Games	1R (2012)
Doubles
Career record	33–42
Career titles	4
Highest ranking	No. 73 (4 May 2015)
Current ranking	No. 105 (15 February 2016)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	2R (2013)
French Open	1R (2013, 2014, 2015)
Wimbledon	2R (2014)
US Open	1R (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015)
Last updated on: 15 February 2016.

Martin Kližan (Slovak pronunciation: [ˈmartin ˈkliʒan]; born 11 July 1989) is a Slovak professional tennis player. Winner of the boys' singles title at the French Open in 2006, Kližan turned pro in 2007 and has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 24, achieved in April 2015.

Career

Junior career

In 2005, he won the European Junior Championship in the under-16 category, in both singles and doubles. In doubles, his partner was another Slovak player Andrej Martin. Kližan then went on to win the 2006 French Open boys' singles competition.

As a junior, Kližan posted a 54–21 win/loss record in singles (58–18 in doubles) and reached the no. 1 combined world ranking in 2007.

2007–11: Start of pro career

In 2007, Kližan turned pro.

In 2010, Kližan qualified for the US Open. In his first main-draw Grand Slam tournament appearance, he lost to former world No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero in the first round. Later in the year Kližan won his first Challenger tournament as a wildcard in his hometown of Bratislava at the Slovak Open.

2012: Challenger success and breakthrough

In 2012, Kližan made it to five Challenger tour finals, winning four, in the space of just two months between March and May. He made it to the second round of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career at the 2012 French Open, before succumbing to Nicolas Mahut in four sets, despite taking the first. These results propelled him into the top 100 of the rankings for the first time in his career. He also reached the semifinals in Kitzbuhel. In his Wimbledon, debut he defeated Juan Ignacio Chela 11–9 in the fifth set in the first round, before losing in five sets to Viktor Troicki in the second round, despite being 2–1 up in sets.

At the 2012 US Open, Kližan advanced to the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career, upsetting fifth seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the second round in four sets. Prior to the upset, Klizan had never beaten a player ranked higher than 49th on the ATP Tour. He beat Jérémy Chardy in straight sets to reach the fourth round, then lost to Marin Čilić. He then won two Davis Cup matches against Portuguese João Sousa and Gastão Elias.

Kližan continued his good form two weeks after the US Open by winning his first ATP tournament, beating Fabio Fognini in the final of the 2012 St. Petersburg Open. Due to this result he finished the year as World No. 30. At the end of the previous year he was No. 117.

2013: Best ranking and downfall

In 2013, considering the past season, Klizan was expected to reach at least the top 20. However, with his inconsistent nature, Klizan alternated good results with very bad ones. After first-round losses at the start of the season, he reached the quarterfinals in Rotterdam. Due to this result, he reached his career-high singles ranking of world no. 26.

He went on with poor results until the semifinals in Casablanca. At the 2013 French Open, he lost in the second round against eventual champion Rafael Nadal, despite winning the first set. Subsequently, he took part of a Challenger tournament in Caltanissetta, Italy, where Klizan suffered a shocking loss from non-ranked player Pablo Carreno Busta at the first round. Afterwards Klizan returned to the main tour and after reaching the quarterfinals in Umag and winning the first round match in Montreal against Thomaz Bellucci, lost in every first round of every tournament, peaking at the 2013 US Open, where he lost 6-1, 6-0, 6-1 to Donald Young. He didn't play for six weeks due to a wrist injury and withdrew from Saint Petersburg where he was the defending champion.

2014: Return to form

Klizan At 2014 Winston-Salem Open

Klizan started the year with a first round loss at the Nouméa, New Caledonia Challenger to World No. 258 Kimmer Coppejans. After such a negative start, he found a very good form at the subsequent Australian Open. As a lucky loser, starting from the qualifications, he reached the third round, his best result in Australia, but lost to another lucky loser: Stephane Robert.

He continued his good form at the 500 tournament of 2014 Rio de Janeiro. Starting again from the qualification, he reached the second round. This result made Klizan return in the top 100 of the ranking, at World No. 97. In São Paulo Kližan reached quarterfinals, where he lost to semifinalist Thomaz Bellucci.

Starting again from the qualifications, Klizan surprisingly won the Munich Open, beating Mikhail Youzhny and Tommy Haas en route to the final, where he defeated top seeded Fabio Fognini 2-6, 6-1, 6-2. It was the second final and second title in Klizan's main circuit career. He won both titles beating Fognini in the final. At the Roland Garros Klizan made his best result to date in the French slam. He reached the third round after defeating World no. 11 Kei Nishikori in straight sets and Robin Haase.

At the beginning of the grass season he reached the quarterfinals where he was beaten by Richard Gasquet in Eastbourne. At Wimbledon he was ranked no. 51, and lost in the first round in 4 sets to the former champion Rafael Nadal. At the Beijing Open Klizan reversed the tables on Nadal in a shock 6-7 6-4 6-3 victory bringing him to a semi-final against Berdych.

2015: Continued success

Kližan played at 2015 Australian Open as 32nd seed. He retired his second round match against João Sousa.

Kližan won his third ATP doubles title at Rio Open, partnering Philipp Oswald.

He played two singles matches and also a doubles match in the Davis Cup tie against Slovenia. Slovakia won 5-0. Originally the Slovak nomination was announced without Kližan, but he later changed his decision and decided to play in the Davis Cup match.

In April, Kližan won his third ATP title in Casablanca, defeating Daniel Gimeno-Traver in the final. In Barcelona he reached semifinals, where he lost to the eventual champion Kei Nishikori.

At 2015 French Open Kližan defeated Frances Tiafoe in the first round and lost to Gilles Simon in the second round. He then received wild card into challenger in Prostějov. He defeated fellow Slovak player Norbert Gombos in the first round, but he lost in the second round to the young Serbian player Laslo Djere.

In Wimbledon Kližan lost in the first round to Fernando Verdasco.

In July, Kližan played for Slovakia in Davis Cup again. He won both his singles matches in Romania.

At US Open he won his first match against Florian Mayer. But in the second round he lost to 27th seed Jérémy Chardy. In September he reached semifinals in Metz.

2016: Two ATP 500 Titles

Kližan started the season by first round loses in Doha and Sydney. In the first round of Australian Open he lost in a five-setter to the 24th seed Roberto Bautista Agut.

In February, Kližan reached semifinals in Sofia, where he lost to Victor Troicki.

He subsequently won his fourth title in Rotterdam, beating Gaël Monfils in the final, coming back from a set down. On his way to the title, Kližan saved eight match points (five against Roberto Bautista Agut and three against Nicolas Mahut).

Kližan seized his second ATP 500 title this year in 2016 German Open, defeated Pablo Cuevas in the final in straight sets.

ATP career finals

Singles: 5 (5 titles)

Legend Grand Slam Tournaments (0–0) ATP World Tour Finals (0–0) ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0) ATP World Tour 500 Series (2–0) ATP World Tour 250 Series (3–0)

Finals by Surface Hard (2–0) Clay (3–0) Grass (0–0) Carpet (0–0)

Result	Date	Category	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Winner	23 September 2012	250 Series	St. Petersburg Open, Russia	Hard (i)	Fabio Fognini	6–2, 6–3
Winner	4 May 2014	250 Series	Bavarian Open, Germany	Clay	Fabio Fognini	2–6, 6–1, 6–2
Winner	12 April 2015	250 Series	Grand Prix Hassan II, Morocco	Clay	Daniel Gimeno-Traver	6–2, 6–2
Winner	14 February 2016	500 Series	Rotterdam Open, Netherlands	Hard (i)	Gaël Monfils	6–7(1–7), 6–3, 6–1
Winner	17 July 2016	500 Series	German Open, Germany	Clay	Pablo Cuevas	6–1, 6–4

Doubles: 4 (4 titles)

Legend Grand Slam Tournaments (0–0) ATP World Tour Finals (0–0) ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0) ATP World Tour 500 Series (1–0) ATP World Tour 250 Series (3–0)

Finals by Surface Hard (0–0) Clay (4–0) Grass (0–0) Carpet (0–0)

Result	Date	Category	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Winner	27 July 2013	250 Series	Croatia Open, Croatia	Clay	David Marrero	Nicholas Monroe Simon Stadler	6–1, 5–7, [10–7]
Winner	24 May 2014	250 Series	Open de Nice Côte d'Azur, FRA	Clay	Philipp Oswald	Rohan Bopanna Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi	6–2, 6–0
Winner	21 February 2015	500 Series	Rio Open, Brazil	Clay	Philipp Oswald	Pablo Andújar Oliver Marach	7–6(7–3), 6–4
Winner	23 July 2016	250 Series	Croatia Open Umag, Croatia	Clay	David Marrero	Nikola Mektić Antonio Šančić	6–4, 6–2

Challenger career finals

Singles: 9 (6–3)

Result	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Winner	21 November 2010	Bratislava, Slovakia	Hard	Stefan Koubek	7–6(7–4), 6–2
Runner-up	17 April 2011	Rome, Italy	Clay	Thomas Schoorel	5–7, 6–1, 3–6
Runner-up	14 August 2011	San Marino, San Marino	Clay	Potito Starace	1–6, 0–3 RET
Winner	11 September 2011	Genoa, Italy	Clay	Leonardo Mayer	6–3, 6–1
Winner	17 March 2012	Rabat, Morocco	Clay	Filippo Volandri	6–2, 6–3
Winner	24 March 2012	Marrakech, Morocco	Clay	Adrian Ungur	3–6, 6–3, 6–0
Runner-up	13 May 2012	Prague, Czech Republic	Clay	Horacio Zeballos	6–1, 4–6, 6–7(6–8)
Winner	20 May 2012	Bordeaux, France	Clay	Teymuraz Gabashvili	7–5, 6–3
Winner	12 August 2012	City of San Marino, San Marino	Clay	Simone Bolelli	6–3, 6–1
Runner-up	25 March 2014	Barranquilla, Colombia	Clay	Pablo Cuevas	3–6, 1–6

Singles performance timeline

Key

W

F

SF

QF

#R

RR

Q#

P#

DNQ

A

Z#

PO

G

S

B

NMS

NTI

P

NH

(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

Current through the 2016 US Open.

Tournament	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	W–L	Win %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	A	A	A	Q1	A	A	1R	3R	2R	1R	3–4	43%
French Open	Q2	A	A	Q3	A	2R	2R	3R	2R	1R	5–5	50%
Wimbledon	A	A	A	A	Q1	2R	1R	1R	1R	1R	1–5	17%
US Open	A	A	A	1R	A	4R	1R	2R	2R	1R	5–6	45%
Win–Loss	0-0	0-0	0-0	0–1	0-0	5-3	1–4	5–4	3-4	0–4	14–20	41%
Olympic Games
Summer Olympics	NH	A	Not Held			1R	Not Held			A	0–1	0%
ATP World Tour Masters 1000
Indian Wells Masters	A	A	A	A	A	A	2R	A	2R	2R	1–3	25%
Miami Open	A	A	A	A	A	A	2R	A	2R	A	1–2	33%
Monte-Carlo Masters	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R	A	1R	A	0–2	0%
Madrid Open	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R	A	1R	A	0–2	0%
Italian Open	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R	A	1R	A	0–2	0%
Canadian Open	A	A	A	A	A	A	2R	A	1R	A	1–2	33%
Cincinnati Masters	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R	1R	2R	A	1–3	25%
Shanghai Masters	Not Held		A	A	A	2R	A	2R	2R		3–3	50%
Paris Masters	A	A	A	A	A	1R	A	A	1R		0–2	0%
Win–Loss	0–0	0–0	0-0	0-0	0-0	1-2	1-7	1-2	4-9	0–1	7–21	25%
Career statistics
	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	W–L	Win %
Tournaments Played	1	0	1	2	2	15	24	17	28	12	102
Titles	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	1	2	5
Finals	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	1	2	5
Overall Win–Loss	1-2	0-0	0-1	3-4	2-4	19-15	12-24	25–14	30–27	14–10	106–101	51%
Win%	33%	0%	0%	43%	33%	56%	33%	64%	53%	58%	51.21%
Year End Ranking	395	606	234	155	117	30	110	34	43		$3,762,328

Doubles performance timeline

Tournament	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	W–L
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open	A	2R	A	1R	1R	1–3
French Open	A	1R	1R	1R		0–3
Wimbledon	1R	1R	2R	1R		1–4
US Open	1R	1R	1R	1R		0–4
Win–Loss	0–2	1–4	1–3	0–4	0–1	2–14

Wins over top-10 players per season

Season	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	Total
Wins	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	0		3

#	Player	Rank	Event	Surface	Rd	Score	Klizan Rank
2012
1.	Jo-Wilfried Tsonga	6	US Open, New York, United States	Hard	2R	6–4, 1–6, 6–1, 6–3	52
2014
2.	Kei Nishikori	10	French Open, Paris, France	Clay	1R	7–6(7–4), 6–1, 6–2	59
3.	Rafael Nadal	2	Beijing, China	Hard	QF	6–7(7–9), 6–4, 6–3	56

External links

• Martin Kližan at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Martin Kližan at the Davis Cup