Jiří Veselý (; born 10 July 1993) is a Czech professional
tennis
Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 35 on 27 April 2015.
Youth career
Veselý reached the No. 1 junior combined world ranking in January 2011, compiling a singles win–loss record of 125–45.
Professional career
2012–2015: Grand Slam debut, first singles and doubles titles, Top 35
Veselý made his
Davis Cup debut for Czech Republic in February 2013, and to date has nine singles titles on the
ITF Futures circuit to his name and three
Challengers.
2016: Two ATP top 10 wins, including over the World No. 1 Djokovic, Wimbledon fourth round
At the
2016 US Open, Veselý beat
Saketh Myneni in the first round and set up a rematch of Monte Carlo with world number one
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Новак Ђоковић, Novak Đoković, separator=" / ", ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at N ...
. However, Veselý pulled out before the match was set to begin because of a left arm injury.
2017–2020: Second doubles title, second singles title & first since 2015
In
2020 Maharashtra Open, Veselý once again required three sets, saving four match points to defeat
Ričardas Berankis
Ričardas Berankis (; born June 21, 1990) is a Lithuanian professional tennis player. He is the first and only Lithuanian to enter the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP top 50 rankings, making him the highest ranked Lithuanian tennis play ...
, to advance to his first tour-level final since April 2015. He defeated
Egor Gerasimov in three sets to win the title.
2022: Second victory over Djokovic, first ATP 500 final
Veselý started his 2022 season at the
Adelaide International 1. He lost in the first round to sixth seed
Tommy Paul. Getting past qualifying at the
Sydney Classic, he was defeated in the first round by
Brandon Nakashima. At the
Australian Open, he was eliminated from the tournament in the first round by American wildcard
Stefan Kozlov.
Seeded fourth and defending champion from when the
Maharashtra Open was last held in 2020, Veselý failed to defend his title; he lost in the quarterfinals to sixth seed and eventual finalist,
Emil Ruusuvuori. As a result, his ranking fell from 80 to 123; he exited the top 100 for the first time since the beginning of 2020. In February, as the top seed at the
Bengaluru Open, he retired after losing the first set to opponent, sixth seed
Enzo Couacaud, due to fatigue caused by a bout of food poisoning.
In
Doha
Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...
, he lost in the first round to
Arthur Rinderknech. Ranked World No. 123 at the time, Veselý qualified for the
Dubai Championships by defeating
Hady Habib and
Alexei Popyrin. He reached the quarterfinals with victories over world No. 24
Marin Čilić
Marin Čilić (; born 28 September 1988) is a Croatian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved on 28 January 2018. Čilić has won 21 ATP Tour-level si ...
and eighth seed and world No. 15,
Roberto Bautista Agut. In the quarterfinals, he recorded his second career victory over
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Новак Ђоковић, Novak Đoković, separator=" / ", ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at N ...
, defeating the World No. 1 in straight sets to reach the semifinal, his first since 2020 in Pune. This victory also allowed
Daniil Medvedev to ascend to the World No. 1 ranking, marking the first time a male player outside the
Big Four held the number 1 ranking since
Andy Roddick in 2004. He then defeated sixth seed and world No. 14,
Denis Shapovalov
Denis Viktorovich Shapovalov (born ) is a Canadian professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked as high as world No. 10 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP, which he first achieved on September 21, 2020. Sh ...
, in three sets to reach his first ATP 500 final claiming his third top-20 win in the tournament. He lost the final in straight sets to second seed and world No. 7,
Andrey Rublev. After the tournament, his ranking improved from 123 to 74.
In March, Veselý competed at the
Challenger di Roseto degli Abruzzi II. As the top seed, he lost in the first round to
Nino Serdarušić
Nino Serdarušić (; born 13 December 1996) is a Croatian tennis player. He has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 167, achieved on 27 June 2022 and a doubles ranking of No. 159, achieved on 20 November 2023.
Juniors
Serdarušić had a ...
. Seeded fourth at the
Andalucía Challenger, he reached the semifinals where he was defeated by
Jaume Munar. At the
Grand Prix Hassan II in
Marrakesh
Marrakesh or Marrakech (; , ) is the fourth-largest city in Morocco. It is one of the four imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakesh–Safi Regions of Morocco, region. The city lies west of the foothills of the Atlas Mounta ...
, he retired in the third set during his first-round match against
Malek Jaziri. In
Estoril, he lost in the first round to qualifier
Hugo Dellien. At the
Mutua Madrid Open, he fell in the first round of qualifying to
David Goffin
David Goffin (; born 7 December 1990) is a Belgian professional tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ATP rankings, ranking of world No. 7, making him the highest ranked male player from Belgium in tennis history. He is also the first ...
. At
Roland Garros, he was beaten in the first round by
Steve Johnson.
Veselý started his grass-court season at the
Nottingham Open. Seeded second, he lost in the first round to British tennis player,
Ryan Peniston. Seeded second at the
Ilkley Trophy, he made it to the quarterfinals where he was defeated by fifth seed and eventual finalist,
Jack Sock. At
Wimbledon, he reached the third round where he lost to 30th seed and world No. 32, Tommy Paul.
After Wimbledon, Veselý played at the
Hall of Fame Open
The Hall of Fame Open is an international tennis tournament that has been held every year in July since 1976 at the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island, the original location of the U.S. Open (tennis), U.S. National Champion ...
. Seeded seventh, he withdrew from his second-round match against Steve Johnson.
In August, Veselý competed at the
Odlum Brown Vancouver Open. Seeded second, he lost in the second round to
Gilles Simon. Seeded second at the
Championnats Banque Nationale de Granby, he was defeated in the first round by American qualifier
Aidan Mayo. At the
US Open, he lost in the first round to 20th seed and world No. 23,
Dan Evans.
2023–24: Return to the Tour, Major third round, back to top 300
Veselý entered the
2023 Surbiton Trophy using protected ranking. He won his first ATP tour level match after his return at the
2023 Wimbledon Championships
The 2023 Wimbledon Championships was a Grand Slam (tennis), major tennis tournament that took place at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom.
Tournament
The tournament was played on grass courts, wi ...
defeating 22nd seed
Sebastian Korda also with protected ranking. Again using his protected ranking, Veselý matched his best performance in the
US Open by reaching the third round. He defeated qualifier
Enzo Couacaud and 20th seed
Francisco Cerúndolo, both in five sets but lost to qualifier
Borna Gojo.
Coaches
Veselý's former coaches were
Jaroslav Navrátil and
Dušan Lojda. In December 2015, Veselý began to work with
Tomáš Krupa, formerly the longtime coach of
Tomáš Berdych
Tomáš Berdych (; born 17 September 1985) is a Czech former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 4 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved in May 2015. Berdych won 13 ATP Tour singles titles, i ...
.
Performance timelines
Singles
''Current through the
2024 Australian Open.''
Doubles
''Current through the
2022 Qatar ExxonMobil Open.''
ATP Tour finals
Singles: 4 (2 titles, 2 runner-ups)
Doubles: 3 (2 titles, 1 runner-up)
ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals
Singles: 23 (18 titles, 5 runner-ups)
Doubles: 10 (6 titles, 4 runner-ups)
Best Grand Slam results details
Wins over top 10 players
Notes
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Vesely, Jiri
1993 births
Living people
Australian Open (tennis) junior champions
Czech male tennis players
Sportspeople from Příbram
Tennis players from the Central Bohemian Region
Tennis players at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics
Hopman Cup competitors
Grand Slam (tennis) champions in boys' singles
Grand Slam (tennis) champions in boys' doubles
Youth Olympic gold medalists for the Czech Republic
21st-century Czech sportsmen