Nikola Mektić (born 24 December 1988) is a Croatian 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 is a former
world No. 1 in doubles.
He is a two-time
Grand Slam champion, having won the
2021 Wimbledon Championships
The 2021 Wimbledon Championships was a Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam tennis tournament that took place at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom, the first since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. N ...
in men's doubles partnering compatriot
Mate Pavić
Mate Pavić (; born 4 July 1993) is a Croatian professional tennis player. He is the current world No. 1 in doubles by the ATP. Pavić is one of only six men to complete the Career Golden Slam in doubles.
He is a seven-time Grand Slam champio ...
, and the
2020 Australian Open with
Barbora Krejčíková
Barbora Krejčíková (; born 18 December 1995) is a Czech professional tennis player. She has been WTA rankings, ranked as high as world No. 2 in singles and List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 in doubles by the Wome ...
in mixed doubles. Mektić also finished runner-up at the
2020 US Open with
Wesley Koolhof
Wesley Koolhof (; born 17 April 1989) is a Dutch former professional tennis player who was ranked World No. 1 in doubles.
He is a two-time Grand Slam champion, having won the 2023 Wimbledon Championships in men's doubles with Neal Skupski an ...
and at the
2022 Wimbledon Championships
The 2022 Wimbledon Championships was a Grand Slam (tennis), 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 gentleme ...
with Pavić in men's doubles, and the
2018 US Open with
Alicja Rosolska
Alicja Rosolska (; born 1 December 1985) is a Polish professional tennis player.
On 9 June 2003, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 636. On 10 June 2019, she peaked at No. 23 in the WTA rankings, doubles rankings.
Rosolska has w ...
in mixed doubles.
He became world No. 1 in men's doubles in October 2021, the second Croatian to reach this ranking. Mektić has won 30 doubles titles on the
ATP Tour
The ATP Tour (known as ATP World Tour between January 2009 and December 2018) is the sole worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) founded in 1990 that replaced the earlier dual Grand Prix ...
, including 10 at
Masters 1000 level with five different partners. He also won the
2020 ATP Finals with Koolhof. In singles, he reached his highest ranking of world No. 213 in May 2013. Mektić was part of the Croatian team which won the
2018 Davis Cup, and won men's doubles gold at the
2020 Olympic Games
The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...
alongside Pavić.
Early and personal life
Mektić was born in
Zagreb
Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...
, Yugoslavia (now Croatia) in 1988 to Mirko and Višnja Mektić. He began playing tennis at age 6 after his elder brother Luka took up the sport.
Career
After spending a better part of a decade on the ATP challenger tour and achieving a career high ranking of No. 213 in singles (on May 6, 2013), in 2016 Mektić decided to focus on doubles.
The same year he reached his first ATP men's doubles final as a wildcard at the
2016 Croatia Open Umag with his compatriot
Antonio Šančić. Since then, he has won 28 ATP men's doubles titles, including one doubles Grand Slam title, six Masters 1000 titles, one mixed doubles Grand Slam and the
2020 ATP Finals.
2018-2019: US Open mixed final, ATP 1000 doubles titles
In 2018 Mektic and
Alexander Peya
Alexander Peya (born 27 June 1980) is an Austrian tennis coach and a former professional player. His career-high doubles ranking was World No. 3, first achieved in August 2013. He also reached a career-high singles ranking of No. 92 in April 200 ...
qualified for the
2018 ATP Finals in London. The same year Mektić reached his first Grand Slam finals (in mixed doubles) at the
2018 US Open, partnering Alicja Rosolska, and won the
Davis Cup
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is organised by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and contested annually between teams from over 150 competing countries, making it the world's largest annual ...
playing for
Croatia
Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
. He also won three Masters 1000 with three different partners in Madrid (2018), Indian Wells (2019) and Monte Carlo (2019).
2020: ATP Finals doubles title, Australian Open mixed title
2020 was the most successful year for Mektić in his career thus far. He won the
2020 ATP Finals in doubles partnering
Wesley Koolhof
Wesley Koolhof (; born 17 April 1989) is a Dutch former professional tennis player who was ranked World No. 1 in doubles.
He is a two-time Grand Slam champion, having won the 2023 Wimbledon Championships in men's doubles with Neal Skupski an ...
and the
2020 Australian Open mixed doubles event partnering
Barbora Krejčíková
Barbora Krejčíková (; born 18 December 1995) is a Czech professional tennis player. She has been WTA rankings, ranked as high as world No. 2 in singles and List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 in doubles by the Wome ...
. He also reached the doubles final at the
2020 US Open partnering again with Wesley Koolhof. As a result he finished the year at No. 8 in the top 10 rankings in doubles and No. 3 in the doubles race with his partner Wesley Koolhof.
2021: Wimbledon, Olympics doubles champion, World No. 1
Starting 2021, Mektić partnered successfully with his compatriot
Mate Pavić
Mate Pavić (; born 4 July 1993) is a Croatian professional tennis player. He is the current world No. 1 in doubles by the ATP. Pavić is one of only six men to complete the Career Golden Slam in doubles.
He is a seven-time Grand Slam champio ...
. They won four ATP titles including the doubles title at the
2021 Miami Open in the beginning of April and reached the
2021 Australian Open
The 2021 Australian Open was a Grand Slam tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park, on 8–21 February 2021. It was the 109th edition of the Australian Open, the 53rd in the Open Era, and the first Major tournament of the year. It w ...
doubles semifinals and
2021 Dubai Tennis Championships final in the first three months of the year. Following these results, Mektić returned to his No. 4 high-career ranking on April 5.
On April 18, Mektić clinched his fifth ATP Masters 1000 in a row and second Masters title of the year at the
2021 Monte-Carlo Masters where the pair defeated, for the second time in the final of a Masters in 2021, the British pair of
Neal Skupski
Neal Skupski (born 1 December 1989) is a British professional tennis player who specializes in doubles. He has a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 1. He achieved this milestone in November 2022, topping the rankings jointly with long-ti ...
and
Dan Evans.
Seeded No. 2 the pair also reached the final at the
2021 Mutua Madrid Open Masters where they lost to the No. 3 seeded pair
Horacio Zeballos
Horacio Zeballos Jr. (, ; born 27 April 1985) is an Argentine professional tennis player. He reached a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 1 on 6 May 2024, becoming the first Argentinian man to achieve the feat. He is a Grand Slam champion ...
and
Marcel Granollers
Marcel Granollers Pujol (; ; born 12 April 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He reached a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 1 on 6 May 2024, becoming the second Spanish man to achieve the feat (after Emilio Sánchez Vicari ...
and the final of the
Italian Open where they won the title defeating No. 5 seeded pair
Rajeev Ram
Rajeev Ram ( ; born March 18, 1984) is an American professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 1 in men's doubles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Ram is a six-time major champion, having won the 2020 Australian O ...
and
Joe Salisbury
Joe Salisbury ( ; born 20 April 1992) is a British professional tennis player who is a former world No. 1 in doubles.
He is a six-time Grand Slam champion, having won the 2020 Australian Open and the 2021, 2022 and 2023 US Opens in men's do ...
. After the win, Mektić moved to his career-high ranking of World No. 2 on 17 May 2021.
In their first Grand Slam doubles final, top seeds Mektić and Pavić had the biggest victory of their 2021 season as a team defeating Granollers and Zeballos to triumph in doubles at the
2021 Wimbledon Championships
The 2021 Wimbledon Championships was a Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam tennis tournament that took place at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom, the first since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. N ...
.
They became the first Croatian players to win the Wimbledon men's doubles title. They are also the first players from their country to win at the All England Club since Goran Ivanisevic's 2001 victory in singles and Ivan Dodig's 2019 mixed doubles win with Latisha Chan.
At the
Olympics
The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...
he won the gold medal with Pavić in an all-Croatian final defeating
Ivan Dodig
Ivan Dodig (; born 2 January 1985) is a Croatian professional tennis player who specializes in doubles. He reached his career-high doubles ranking of World No. 2 in September 2023.
He is a seven-time Grand Slam champion, having won men's double ...
and
Marin Cilic. It was the country's first gold medal in the sport and the third time in the
Olympics
The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...
men's doubles' history that the same country won both gold and silver, and the first one since
1908
This is the longest year in either the Julian or Gregorian calendars, having a duration of 31622401.38 seconds of Terrestrial Time (or ephemeris time), measured according to the definition of mean solar time.
Events
January
* January ...
.
On 18 October 2021, following a quarterfinal showing with Pavic at the
2021 BNP Paribas Open, Mektić became world No. 1 in doubles. He became only the second Croatian tennis player in history to be ranked No.1 in the World in doubles.
2022: Italian Open title, Wimbledon finalist
The Croatian pair won their second
Italian Open Masters crown and defended their 2021 title.
At the
2022 Geneva Open the pair won their second title for the season.
At the ATP 500
2022 Queen's Club Championships Mektic won his third title for the season with Pavic and twentieth overall in his career. The pair also successfully defended their title at the
2022 Eastbourne International.
At the
2022 Wimbledon Championships
The 2022 Wimbledon Championships was a Grand Slam (tennis), 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 gentleme ...
the Croatian pair reached the semifinals in straight sets with a win over 11th seeds
Kevin Krawietz
Kevin Krawietz (born 24 January 1992) is a German professional tennis player who specializes in doubles. He achieved his career-high doubles ranking of world No. 5 on 10 February 2025. Krawietz has won eleven doubles titles on the ATP Tour, inclu ...
and
Andreas Mies and the final defeating six seeded Columbian pair of
Robert Farah (tennis)
Robert Charbel Farah Maksoud (; born 20 January 1987) is a Colombian former professional tennis player. A List of ATP number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 in doubles, he also reached a career-high singles ranking of No. 163 in J ...
and
Juan-Sebastian Cabal in a five sets with a fifth set super tiebreak over 4 hours match.
The pair won another ATP 500 title at the
2022 Astana Open making it fifth for the season.
2023: Third successive Eastbourne title
He won his 25th career and third straight title at the
2023 Eastbourne International with partner Mate Pavić.
2024: 30th doubles title, back to top 10
After reuniting with
Wesley Koolhof
Wesley Koolhof (; born 17 April 1989) is a Dutch former professional tennis player who was ranked World No. 1 in doubles.
He is a two-time Grand Slam champion, having won the 2023 Wimbledon Championships in men's doubles with Neal Skupski an ...
for the 2024 season, he won his fourth ATP 500 title at the
2024 ABN AMRO Open in Rotterdam, his second at this tournament.
Unseeded, he won the
2024 BNP Paribas Open with Wesley Koolhof defeating
Marcel Granollers
Marcel Granollers Pujol (; ; born 12 April 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He reached a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 1 on 6 May 2024, becoming the second Spanish man to achieve the feat (after Emilio Sánchez Vicari ...
and
Horacio Zeballos
Horacio Zeballos Jr. (, ; born 27 April 1985) is an Argentine professional tennis player. He reached a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 1 on 6 May 2024, becoming the first Argentinian man to achieve the feat. He is a Grand Slam champion ...
in the final.
Also unseeded at the
2024 Rolex Shanghai Masters, they reached the semifinals defeating
Nathaniel Lammons
Nathaniel Lammons (born August 12, 1993) is an American professional tennis player who specializes in doubles. He has a career-high ATP ranking of world No. 17 in doubles, achieved on 27 January 2025. He has won 10 ATP doubles titles.
A former ...
and
Jackson Withrow and kept their position of No. 8 above their opponents in the
ATP doubles race. Following reaching the final with a win over
Santiago González and
Édouard Roger-Vasselin
Édouard Roger-Vasselin (; born 28 November 1983) is a French professional tennis player who specializes in doubles.
He won two Grand Slam titles in doubles at the 2014 French Open, partnering Julien Benneteau, and mixed doubles at the 2024 ...
, the duo Mektić and Koolhof climbed a position up to No. 7 in the ATP Live doubles race. They won their fourth title for the season defeating Argentinian duo of
Máximo González
Máximo González Mereira (; born July 20, 1983) is an Argentine professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is World No. 58, achieved in July 2009 and his career-high doubles ranking is World No. 10 achieved on 11 September 2023 ...
and
Andrés Molteni. It was Mektić's 29th title.
Mektić and Koolhof won their fifth title of the season at the
Paris Masters
The Paris Masters (formerly known as the Paris Open, and currently called the Rolex Paris Masters for sponsorship reasons) is an annual indoor tennis tournament for male professional players held in Paris, France at the Accor Arena, in the neighb ...
, defeating
Lloyd Glasspool
Lloyd Glasspool (born 19 November 1993) is a British professional tennis player who specialises in doubles. He has a career-high doubles ranking of No. 7 reached in June 2023 and a singles ranking of No. 282 reached in July 2016.
Glasspool has w ...
and
Adam Pavlásek in the final which went to a deciding champions tiebreak. It was Mektić's 30th doubles title and 10th Masters title.
2025: Auckland doubles title
Partnering with
Michael Venus, Mektić won the doubles title at the
Auckland Classic, receiving a walkover in the final when scheduled opponents
Christian Harrison and
Rajeev Ram
Rajeev Ram ( ; born March 18, 1984) is an American professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 1 in men's doubles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Ram is a six-time major champion, having won the 2020 Australian O ...
withdrew due to Ram suffering an arm injury.
At the
2025 Miami Open the pair reached the semifinals but lost to top seeds and world No. 1 players
Marcelo Arevalo and
Mate Pavic.
[ ]
Performance timeline
Doubles
''Current through the
2025 Mutua Madrid Open.''
Mixed doubles
Grand Slam tournament finals
Doubles: 3 (1 title, 2 runner-ups)
Mixed doubles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)
Other significant finals
Olympic finals
Doubles: 1 (1 Gold medal)
Year-end championships
Doubles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)
Masters 1000 finals
Doubles: 12 (10 titles, 2 runner-ups)
ATP Tour finals
Doubles: 49 (31 titles, 18 runner-ups)
ATP Challenger and ITF Tour titles
Singles (15)
Doubles (15)
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mektic, Nikola
1988 births
Living people
Croatian male tennis players
Tennis players from Zagreb
Australian Open (tennis) champions
Wimbledon champions
Tennis players at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Olympic medalists for Croatia in tennis
Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Olympic gold medalists for Croatia
ATP number 1 ranked doubles tennis players
ITF World Champions
21st-century Croatian sportsmen
Tennis players at the 2024 Summer Olympics
Olympic tennis players for Croatia