is a former professional
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
player from Japan.
Biography
Kuki, a right-hander, played collegiate tennis in the United States for
UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
. He had an unbeaten season in 1969, with a 13–0 record.
He was first picked for the
Japan Davis Cup team
The Japan men's national tennis team represents Japan in Davis Cup tennis competition and is governed by the Japan Tennis Association.
Japan first competed at the Davis Cup in 1921, where they finished as runners-up. They were an inaugural me ...
in the
1971 tournament.
His best performance in a
Grand Slam tournament came at the
1971 French Open
The 1971 French Open was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor clay courts at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. The tournament ran from 24 May until 6 June. It was the 75th staging of the French Open, and the second Grand Slam ...
when he had wins over
Phil Dent and
Petre Mărmureanu
Petre Mărmureanu (born 20 June 1941) is a Romanian-American former professional tennis player.
Mărmureanu played for the Romania Davis Cup team in 1962 and 1963, then from 1969 to 1972. His second stint in the team included three runner-up fini ...
, before losing a five-set third round match to
Bob Lutz.
In April 1976 he had the most prolific period of his career when he finished runner-up in a further two Grand Prix tournaments, both in Spain. He lost to
Paolo Bertolucci
Paolo Bertolucci (born 3 August 1951) is an Italian former professional tennis player. He is currently working as sport commentator for Italian SKY Italia, Sky TV.
Bertolucci won the Davis Cup with Italy in 1976. His greatest success on ATP Tou ...
in the final at
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
, then to
Buster Mottram in
Palma, Majorca.
A regular
Davis Cup
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...
competitor for Japan in the 1970s, Kuki played the last of his nine ties for the Japanese team in 1978. He played a total of 17 singles matches, of which he won 11.
In the 1980s he was coach of
Etsuko Inoue
is a retired tennis player from Japan.
Inoue twice represented her native country at the Summer Olympics: in 1984 (Los Angeles, California) and 1988
File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and ...
, a player on the women's circuit.
Grand Prix career finals
Singles: 2 (0–2)
See also
*
List of Japan Davis Cup team representatives
This is a list of tennis players who have represented the Japan Davis Cup team
The Japan men's national tennis team represents Japan in Davis Cup tennis competition and is governed by the Japan Tennis Association.
Japan first competed at the D ...
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuki, Jun
1945 births
Living people
Japanese male tennis players
UCLA Bruins men's tennis players
People from Yokkaichi
20th-century Japanese people