Jozef Kovalík
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Jozef Kovalík (; born 4 November 1992) is a Slovak 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 who competes on the
ATP Challenger Tour The ATP Challenger Tour (known until the end of 2008 as the ATP Challenger Series) is a series of international men's professional tennis tournaments. It was founded in 1976 as a replacement for the ILTF Satellite Circuit (founded in 1971) as ...
. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 80 and a doubles ranking of No. 245 reached in 2018. He is currently the No. 4 Slovak player.


Career


2010–2014: First Challenger title

Kovalík together with Filip Horanský won bronze medal in doubles at
2010 Summer Youth Olympics The 2010 Summer Youth Olympics, ) officially known as the I Summer Youth Olympic Games, and commonly known as Singapore 2010, were the inaugural edition of the Youth Olympic Games (YOG), an Olympic Games-based event for young athletes. Held ...
. He won his first Challenger title on 17 August 2014, after beating second seed Andrey Kuznetsov. He became the fourth player to win an
ATP Challenger The ATP Challenger Tour (known until the end of 2008 as the ATP Challenger Series) is a series of international men's professional tennis tournaments. It was founded in 1976 as a replacement for the ILTF Satellite Circuit (founded in 1971) as ...
title while ranked outside the top 300.


2016: ATP, Masters & Grand Slam debuts

He played his first match at ATP level on 5 January 2016 in
Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...
, where he lost in the first round. He played his first match at a Grand Slam at the
2016 Australian Open The 2016 Australian Open was a List of tennis tournaments, tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park between 18 and 31 January 2016. It was the 104th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam tourname ...
, where he lost to fellow qualifier Marco Trungelliti in the first round. At the
2016 BNP Paribas Open The 2016 BNP Paribas Open (also known as the 2016 Indian Wells Open) was a professional tennis tournament played at Indian Wells, California in March 2016. It was the 43rd edition of the men's event and 28th of the women's event, and was class ...
Kovalík won his first match at ATP level, defeating another qualifier
Pierre-Hugues Herbert Pierre-Hugues Herbert (; born 18 March 1991) is a French professional tennis player. In doubles, he has completed the Grand Slam (tennis)#Career Grand Slam, Career Grand Slam with titles at the 2015 US Open – Men's doubles, 2015 US Open, the 20 ...
in the first round. He lost in two tight tie-breaks in the subsequent round, to fellow up-and-coming talent
Dominic Thiem Dominic Thiem (; born 3 September 1993) is an Austrian former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 3 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he first achieved in March 2020. Thiem won 17 ATP Tour-level s ...
. Despite the loss his tennis was of an extremely high quality as he was able to win cheap points off his first serve, utilised an effective kicking second serve, and consistently hit his groundstrokes with great accuracy, power and depth. In addition he remained mentally composed on key points and played intelligent tennis throughout. During the match he was watched by fellow Slovak and coach of Novak Djokovic, Marián Vajda. Kovalík won the 2016 Capri Watch Cup, his second title on the ATP Challenger Tour.


2017–2020: Roland Garros, Wimbledon & Top 100 debuts

At the 2018 Sofia Open he had his best ATP tournament, reaching the semifinals and losing to
Marius Copil Marius Copil (born 17 October 1990) is a Romanian professional tennis player, competing currently on the ATP Challenger Tour. His career-high singles ranking is No. 56 achieved on 28 January 2019. Copil is known for his Fastest recorded tennis s ...
in straight sets, 6–4, 6–2. Kovalík reached another ATP level semifinal at 2018 German Open in Hamburg, where he lost to the defending champion Leonardo Mayer. After the tournament, Kovalík made his Top 100 debut on 30 July 2018.


2024: Challenger titles, first Major wins, back to top 125

He won his first Challenger title of the season and first since 2022 in
Zadar Zadar ( , ), historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian, ; see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Croatia. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar ...
, Croatia defeating Adrian Andreev in the final. Following a third final showing for the season at the 2024 Upper Austria Open in Mauthausen, where he lost to Lucas Pouille, Kovalik returned in the top 150 in the rankings on 20 May 2024. At 31 years old, he entered the main draw of the 2024 French Open as a lucky loser, after more than three years of absence at the Grand Slam level and recorded his first Major wins over
Marcos Giron Marcos Andres Giron ( ; born July 24, 1993; ) is an American professional tennis player. He has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 37 achieved on August 5, 2024 and a doubles ranking of No. 194 achieved on August 1, 2022. Giron won the s ...
and 18th seed Karen Khachanov. As a result, he returned to No. 119 on 10 June 2024 and to No. 102 a month later on 15 July 2024.


Performance timelines


Singles

''Current through the 2024 French Open.''


Doubles

''Current through the 2022 Melbourne Summer Set 1.''


ATP Challenger and ITF Tour finals


Singles 31: (19–12)


Doubles


Wins over top 10 players

* Kovalík's match record against players who were, at the time the match was played, ranked in the top 10.


References


External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kovalik, Jozef 1992 births Living people Tennis players from Bratislava Slovak male tennis players Tennis players at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics 21st-century Slovak sportsmen