Stefan Kozlov (, ; born February 1, 1998) is an
American professional tennis player of Russian descent. He has a career-high ATP ranking of world No. 103 achieved on 18 July 2022 and doubles ranking of world No. 180 on 19 June 2017.
Kozlov made his ATP World Tour debut as a wildcard in
2013 Hall of Fame Tennis Championships
The 2013 Hall of Fame Tennis Championships was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts. It was the 38th edition of the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, and was part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the 2013 ATP World Tour. I ...
at the age of 15. He reached two junior Grand Slam finals in 2014 and finished the year at World No. 3 in the ITF Junior Combined rankings.
Personal life
He is the son of Russian parents and his father Andrei is a tennis coach.
Junior career
In 2014, Kozlov reached two junior grand slam finals, where he lost to
Alexander Zverev at the
Australian Open and
Noah Rubin at
Wimbledon. This success led him to a career high junior ranking of No. 2. Kozlov also competed at the
U18 National Championships, finishing in third place in the singles tournament and winning the doubles tournament with Noah Rubin. With this victory, they earned a wild card into the main draw of the
2014 US Open. He ended the year by winning the
Orange Bowl
The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game ...
junior tournament.
In 2015, Kozlov reached the final of the
U18 National Championships, where he lost to
Frances Tiafoe
Frances Tiafoe Jr. ( ; born January 20, 1998) is an American professional tennis player. The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) has ranked Tiafoe as high as world No. 17 in singles, on October 10, 2022, and world No. 160 in doubles, on No ...
in five sets.
Professional career
Early years
![Stefan Kozlov (27716989415)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/Stefan_Kozlov_%2827716989415%29.jpg)
In 2013, Kozlov made his ATP World Tour debut as a wildcard at the
Newport tournament and lost in the first round. At the age of 16, he defeated his first Top 100 player in
Tim Smyczek
Timothy Smyczek ( ; ; born December 30, 1987) is an American former professional tennis player. He made three quarterfinals on the main tour as well as the semi-finals of Newport in 2018. Additionally he won seven Challenger titles. He achieved ...
to reach his first
ATP Challenger final in 2014 in
Sacramento
)
, image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg
, mapsize = 250x200px
, map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...
, where he lost to
Sam Querrey
Samuel Austin Querrey (; born October 7, 1987) is an American former professional tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 11 achieved on February 26, 2018, and won ten ATP singles titles. Known for his powerful serve ...
. He also reached seven career
ITF Futures
The ITF World Tennis Tour (formerly known as the ''ITF Men's World Tennis Tour'', and previously ''ITF Men's Circuit'') is a series of professional tennis tournaments held around the world that are organized by the International Tennis Federation. ...
finals and won four of these finals.
2016-17: First ATP win and quarterfinal, Two Challenger titles
In April, Kozlov reached the final at the
Open de Guadeloupe. In June, he won his first career ATP level match as a wildcard at the
2016 Ricoh Open in
Den Bosch
s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a city and municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 157,486. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant and its fourth largest by population. The city is south of th ...
. He reached his first career quarterfinal by defeating
Steve Johnson in the second round. Toward the end of the season, Kozlov reached a second Challenger final on the year at
Suzhou. He won his first career Challenger event in
Columbus. He won his second title at the
2017 Las Vegas Challenger.
2021: First three Challenger titles since 2017, return to top 200 since 2018
In September, at the
2021 Columbus Challenger, Kozlov won his first title in four years, defeating
Max Purcell
Max Purcell (born 3 April 1998) is an Australian professional tennis player.
He won his first Grand Slam title at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships in doubles alongside Matthew Ebden. The pair also finished runners-up at the 2022 Australian Op ...
in the final in three sets. At the same tournament he won also in doubles partnering Canadian
Peter Polansky
Peter Polansky ( ; born June 15, 1988) is a Canadian professional tennis player of Czech origin. He was Canada's top singles player from June 21, 2010, until January 17, 2011, in the ATP rankings. He was also Canada's No. 2 from August 4, 2008, ...
. He followed this by a final at the
2021 Las Vegas Challenger and a second Challenger title for the season at the
2021 Charlottesville Men's Pro Challenger, defeating another Australian
Aleksandar Vukic. As a result, he returned to the top 200 in more than three years at No. 188 on November 8, 2021. He ended the year with winning his third Challenger in
Champaign
Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in Illinois outside the Chicago metropo ...
, US. As a result he finished the year ranked World No. 159 on 22 November 2021.
2022: Grand Slam debut & first win, second ATP quarterfinal & career-high ranking
At the
2022 Australian Open
The 2022 Australian Open was a Grand Slam tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park, Australia from 17 to 30 January 2022. It was the 110th edition of the Australian Open, the 54th in the Open Era, and the first Grand Slam of the ye ...
he made his debut as a wildcard and won his first Grand Slam match against
Jiří Veselý
Jiří Veselý (; born 10 July 1993) is a Czech professional tennis player.
He reached a career-high singles ranking of World No. 35 on 27 April 2015. He is currently the No. 2 Czech tennis player in singles, as he lost his previous ...
. He lost in the second round to 7th seed
Matteo Berrettini
Matteo Berrettini (; born 12 April 1996) is an Italian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 6 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved in January 2022, and world No. 105 in do ...
.
As a qualifier at the
2022 Delray Beach Open, he reached his second career quarterfinal after defeating
Emilio Gómez and
Steve Johnson.
Ranked No. 130 at the
2022 Abierto Mexicano Telcel
The 2022 Mexican Open (also known as the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC for sponsorship reasons) was a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 29th edition of the men's Mexican Open, and part of the ...
in Acapulco, he reached the main draw as lucky loser and defeated
Grigor Dimitrov
Grigor Dimitrov ( bg, Григор Димитров, ; born 16 May 1991) is a Bulgarian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 3 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he first achieved o ...
in a stunning upset in three sets after fighting cramps, in the longest match in Acapulco history. It was the biggest win in his career.
At the
2022 Wimbledon Championships
The 2022 Wimbledon Championships was a Grand Slam tier tennis tournament that took place at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. Novak Djokovic successfully defended his gentlemen's singles title ...
, he made his debut at this Major when he entered the main draw as a lucky loser after the late withdrawal of
Borna Ćorić
Borna Ćorić (; born 14 November 1996) is a Croatian professional tennis player. On 5 November 2018, he reached his best singles ranking of world No. 12. On 21 August 2022, Ćorić became the lowest-ranked champion in Masters 1000 history when ...
.
Kozlov lost in straight sets to 12th seed
Diego Schwartzman. He reached a new career high ranking of No. 103 on 18 July 2022.
Performance timeline
Singles
''Current through the
2023 Australian Open
The 2023 Australian Open was a Grand Slam level tennis tournament held at Melbourne Park, from 16–29 January 2023. It was the 111th edition of the Australian Open, the 55th in the Open Era, and the first major of the year. The tournament consi ...
.''
ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals
Singles: 18 (9–9)
Doubles: 12 (6–6)
Junior Grand Slam finals
Singles: 2 (2 runner-ups)
Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kozlov, Stefan
1998 births
Living people
American male tennis players
American people of Russian descent
Sportspeople from Skopje
Sportspeople from Pembroke Pines, Florida