Denis Kudla

American tennis player

Denis Kudla
Kudla at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships
Country (sports) United States
ResidenceArlington, Virginia & Tampa, Florida, U.S
Born (1992-08-17) August 17, 1992 (age 31)
Kyiv, Ukraine
Height5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Turned pro2010
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize moneyUS $4,537,150
Singles
Career record72–131 (35.5% in ATP World Tour and Grand Slam main draw matches, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 53 (23 May 2016)
Current rankingNo. 179 (4 March 2024)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open2R (2016, 2018, 2019, 2023)
French Open1R (2013, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2022)
Wimbledon4R (2015)
US Open3R (2019)
Other tournaments
Olympic Games1R (2016)
Doubles
Career record19–40 (32.2% in ATP World Tour and Grand Slam main draw matches, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 133 (27 August 2018)
Current rankingNo. 188 (4 March 2024)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open2R (2019)
French Open2R (2016)
WimbledonQF (2022)
US Open3R (2023)
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Wimbledon1R (2019)
US Open2R (2019, 2023)
Last updated on: 6 March 2024.

Denis Kudla (/ˈkdlə/ KOOD-lə;[1] born August 17, 1992) is a Ukrainian-American professional tennis player. A product of the Junior Tennis Champions Center, he has won nine Challenger singles and nine doubles titles in his career. His career-high ATP singles ranking is World No. 53, achieved in May 2016. His career-high ATP doubles ranking is World No. 133, achieved in August 2018.

Personal life

Kudla's family moved from Ukraine to Fairfax, Virginia on his first birthday. He began playing tennis at age 7, in part because his older brother Nikita played tennis, but also because many of his father's friends played. He would tag along as Nikita took informal lessons from their father in Fairfax's Van Dyck Park. Kudla's father, Vladimir Kudla, took his family out of Ukraine shortly after the Soviet Union collapsed. Kudla's parents came to the USA not speaking a word of English, but learned it within a few years.

His mother got permission to pick him up from elementary school one hour early so they could go from Fairfax to the Junior Tennis Champions Center (JTCC) [2] in College Park, Maryland, where she would wait through his two-hour practices, drive him home while he slept, then wake him for dinner and homework.

At age 13, his family moved to Arlington, where Kudla was set to matriculate at Washington-Lee High School. But six hours of court time each day left no room for traditional high school, so starting in ninth grade, he was home-schooled at JTCC and had to commute on his own to practice in College Park via Metro, lugging two racket bags and changing trains twice during rush hour. "My parents were strict, but not crazy strict. I was never spoiled. I wanted tennis. It was always my dream." One of Kudla's favorite experiences was visiting the White House for the 2013 Easter Egg Roll as he got to meet President Barack Obama, and NFL Pro Bowlers Anquan Boldin and Adrian Peterson. Early in his career, Kudla worked out with trainer Greg Petrosian in Boca Raton, Florida, where he still trains.

Junior tennis

By age ten, Kudla had enrolled at the US Tennis Association's prestigious regional training center at College Park, Maryland.

In 2008 as the number one seed, he won the 16-and-under age bracket at the Orange Bowl, beating future University of Virginia tennis player, Mitchell Frank. At the time, both players trained together at College Park. With the win, which was his first in major international competition, Kudla became the first American to win the Boys’ 16s title since Donald Young in 2003.

Kudla also participated in the 2008 BNP Paribas Showdown vs Junior A. Ore at Madison Square Garden, as they were the under-card for Roger Federer and Pete Sampras who competed against each other afterwards. Soon after, Kudla turned pro even though he had great interest from the University of Virginia as he was the 2nd ranked senior in the nation. Kudla reached a career-high combined junior ranking of world no. 3. He believes the turning point in his junior tennis career was when he came from behind to beat junior tennis prodigy Trey Hatcher of Knoxville, Tennessee 7–5, 7–6 at the Boys 12s National Hard Court Championships in 2003.[3]

His best result was reaching the final of the 2010 US Open for boys, where, despite taking the first set, he lost the final to Jack Sock.

Professional career

2008–2011: ATP debut

Kudla reached the semifinals of his second professional tour event, U.S.A. F15 ITF Futures event, held in New York in June 2008.

He first played an ATP Tour main-draw match six weeks later, in doubles at the 2008 Legg Mason Tennis Classic, partnering with fellow junior Junior A. Ore. The pair, a wildcard entry, lost their first-round match to Lucas Arnold Ker, and Eduardo Schwank. Two years later, he was given a wildcard for the singles main draw of the 2010 Campbell's Hall of Fame Tennis Championships and reached the second round, where he lost to fellow American Ryan Harrison.

His first tour-level doubles match win came in reaching the second round in doubles at the 2011 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships in Houston, Texas partnering Donald Young. Kudla reached the quarterfinals in singles at the 2011 Campbell's Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, having knocked off big-serving Ivo Karlović in three sets, and then second seed Grigor Dimitrov. Kudla lost to qualifier Michael Yani in three sets in the quarterfinals.

Kudla played his first Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington, D.C. in 2011, losing in the first round to Tobias Kamke.

2012–2013: Grand Slam debut

In 2012, Kudla qualified for the main draw of a Grand Slam for the first time at the Australian Open. He lost in the first round to Tommy Haas. He qualified for the 2012 SAP Open in San Jose, California and beat Jack Sock in the first round. In March 2012, Denis Kudla lost to Roger Federer in the second round of Indian Wells Masters tournament.

In 2013 at the Australian Open he lost in the first round of qualifying to Julian Reister. Then at the French Open he qualified for the main draw before losing to Jan Hájek. At Wimbledon he again qualified for the main draw and won his first grand slam match against James Duckworth. He could not repeat the victory, losing to Ivan Dodig while plagued with a back injury throughout the three sets. At the 2013 US Open, he beat Jiří Veselý in four sets before losing to Tomáš Berdych.

2014–2015: Wimbledon fourth round

After a lackluster start to the 2014 season, he was able to qualify and win his first match at Wimbledon against Marsel İlhan, before falling to Kei Nishikori. The following week, he returned to the US and won the 2014 Winnetka Challenger. He had a bout with mononucleosis, however, that caused him to miss most of the fall schedule. He returned to form in the 2015 grass-court season, making the finals of the 2015 Aegon Surbiton Trophy Challenger, before avenging his finals loss the following week to defeat Matthew Ebden and win the first edition of the 2015 Aegon Ilkley Trophy Challenger. Based on this success, he was rewarded with a wildcard into the main draw of Wimbledon. He began the tournament by defeating 28th seed Pablo Cuevas despite losing the first two sets. In the following rounds, he defeated Alexander Zverev in four sets and Santiago Giraldo in five sets. Kudla was narrowly beaten in the fourth round by US Open champion Marin Čilić.[4]

2016–2018: High career singles and doubles rankings

In 2016, Kudla made it to the second round of the Australian Open and lost in the first round of the year's remaining three Slams. He reached his career-high singles ranking of No. 53 on May 23, 2016.[5] He also competed in singles at the 2016 Rio Olympics for the United States. In 2017, Kudla failed to qualify for any of the Grand Slam Tournaments.

At the 2018 Australian Open, post-qualifying, Kudla beat compatriot Steve Johnson in the first round of the tournament, and took the first two sets off of the fifth seed Dominic Thiem in the second round. Kudla made the main draw of the 2018 French Open when he beat Jürgen Zopp in the final round of qualifying.[6] However he lost to the 26th seed Damir Džumhur in the first round.[7] He reached his career-high doubles ranking of No. 133 on August 27, 2018.

He finished the year 2018 with a singles high ranking of No. 63 his best year-end ranking in his career.

2019–2021: US Open and Wimbledon third rounds

Kudla made the third round of the 2019 US Open for the first time in his career defeating No. 27 seed Dušan Lajović before losing to World No. 1 Novak Djokovic.[8]

In January 2021, Kudla tested positive for COVID-19 during the Australian Open qualifying event in Doha.[9] In June at the 2021 Wimbledon Championships, he reached the third round as a qualifier, for the first time since 2015 when he reached the fourth round which was his best showing at any Grand Slam. He defeated 30th seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in a five set match and veteran Andreas Seppi in the second round. He was eventually ousted by Novak Djokovic but not before giving a tough fight to the world No. 1 in all three sets played.[10]

2022: Back to top 100, Miami Masters third round, Major doubles quarterfinal

He returned to the top 100 at World No. 84 on 21 March 2022 following his eight Challenger title at the 2022 Arizona Tennis Classic in Phoenix. At the same tournament he also won in doubles partnering Treat Huey.[11] He followed that performance by a third round showing as a qualifier at the 2022 Miami Open for the first time in his career at the Masters level defeating Shang Juncheng and 19th seed Lorenzo Sonego before losing to fellow qualifier Thanasi Kokkinakis.[12]

With partner Jack Sock he reached his first Grand Slam quarterfinal at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships.

2023–2024: United Cup champion, out of top 150

He was selected as the No. 3 ATP player as part of the 2023 United Cup United States winning team.

He entered the 2023 Australian Open as a lucky loser[13] where he defeated Russian Roman Safiullin to reach the second round for the fourth time at this Major. At the 2023 Delray Beach Open he won his opening match against Jordan Thompson.[14] In October 2023, he was selected again this time as the No. 2 ATP player at the 2024 United Cup as part of the US team.

He qualified for the 2024 Dallas Open as a lucky loser and won his first round match against Radu Albot before losing this time to Jordan Thompson.[15] Ranked No. 179, he also qualified for the 2024 BNP Paribas Open.

Performance timelines

Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# P# DNQ A Z# PO G S B NMS NTI P NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

Singles

Current through the 2024 BNP Paribas Open.

Tournament 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 SR W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A 1R Q1 1R 1R 2R Q3 2R 2R Q2 Q2 1R 2R Q2 0 / 8 4–8
French Open A A Q2 1R Q1 Q1 1R Q3 1R 1R Q1 Q2 1R Q1 0 / 5 0–5
Wimbledon A A Q3 2R 2R 4R 1R Q3 1R 2R NH 3R 1R Q3 0 / 8 8–8
US Open A Q3 1R 2R A 1R 1R Q1 2R 3R 1R 2R 1R Q1 0 / 9 5–9
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–2 2–3 1–2 3–3 1–4 0–0 2–4 4–4 0–1 3–2 0–4 1–1 0–0 0 / 30 17–30
National representation
Summer Olympics NH A NH 1R NH A NH A 0 / 1 0–1
ATP Masters 1000
Indian Wells Masters A Q1 2R Q1 A 1R 2R Q2 Q1 1R NH 1R Q2 Q1 1R 0 / 6 2–6
Miami Open A A 1R A Q1 Q1 2R Q1 Q2 1R NH 2R 3R 1R 0 / 6 4–6
Monte-Carlo Masters A A A A A 1R A A A A NH A A A 0 / 1 0–1
Madrid Open A A A A A A 2R A A Q1 NH A Q1 A 0 / 1 1–1
Italian Open A A A A A A Q2 A A Q1 A A Q1 A 0 / 0 0–0
Canadian Open A A A Q2 A 1R 1R A A A NH A Q1 A 0 / 2 0–2
Cincinnati Masters A A A Q1 A 1R A A 1R 1R Q1 A Q1 A 0 / 3 0–3
Shanghai Masters A A A A A A A A Q1 A NH A 0 / 0 0–0
Paris Masters A A A Q1 A A A A Q2 A A A A A 0 / 0 0–0
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 1–2 0–0 0–0 0–4 3–4 0–0 0–1 0–3 0–0 1–2 2–1 0–1 0–1 0 / 19 7–19
Career statistics
Tournaments 1 2 6 11 5 14 20 1 14 22 1 11 16 5 2 131
Overall win–loss 1–1 2–2 2–6 5–11 3–5 8–14 8–20 1–1 11–14 11–22 0–1 9–11 6–16 4–5 1–2 72–131
Year-end ranking 496 276 137 114 121 69 131 174 63 113 114 105 106 163 35.47%

Doubles

Tournament 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 SR W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A A A A 1R A A 2R A A A A 0 / 2 1–2
French Open A A A A A 2R A A 1R A A 1R A 0 / 3 1–3
Wimbledon A A 1R Q2 A 1R A Q1 A NH A QF A 0 / 3 3–3
US Open 1R A 2R A 1R 1R A A A A A 1R 3R 0 / 6 3–6
Win–loss 0–1 0–0 1–2 0–0 0–1 1–4 0–0 0–0 1–2 0–0 0–0 3–3 2–1 0–0 0 / 14 8–14

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals

Singles: 23 (11–12)

Legend
ATP Challenger (9–12)
ITF Futures (2–0)
Finals by surface
Hard (9–9)
Clay (1–0)
Grass (1–3)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Win 1–0 Oct 2010 USA F26, Houston Futures Hard United States Tyler Hochwalt 7–5, 6–1
Win 2–0 Oct 2011 USA F25, Laguna Niguel Futures Hard United States Dennis Lajola 6–4, 6–0
Win 3–0 Jul 2012 Lexington, US Challenger Hard Canada Érik Chvojka 5–7, 7–5, 6–1
Win 4–0 Nov 2012 Charlottesville, US Challenger Hard (i) United States Alex Kuznetsov 6–0, 6–3
Loss 4–1 Mar 2013 Dallas, US Challenger Hard Austria Jürgen Melzer 4–6, 6–2, 1–6
Win 5–1 May 2013 Tallahassee, US Challenger Clay Germany Cedrik-Marcel Stebe 6–3, 6–3
Loss 5–2 Mar 2014 Guadalajara, Mexico Challenger Hard Luxembourg Gilles Müller 2–6, 2–6
Win 6–2 Jul 2014 Winnetka, US Challenger Hard Uzbekistan Farrukh Dustov 6–2, 6–2
Loss 6–3 Jun 2015 Surbiton, UK Challenger Grass Australia Matthew Ebden 7–6(7–4), 4–6, 6–7(5–7)
Win 7–3 Jun 2015 Ilkley, UK Challenger Grass Australia Matthew Ebden 6–3, 6–4
Loss 7–4 Oct 2015 Tiburon, US Challenger Hard United States Tim Smyczek 6–1, 1–6, 6–7(7–9)
Loss 7–5 Oct 2016 Monterrey, Mexico Challenger Hard United States Ernesto Escobedo 4–6, 4–6
Loss 7–6 Nov 2017 Knoxville, US Challenger Hard (i) Canada Filip Peliwo 4–6, 2–6
Win 8–6 Mar 2018 Drummondville, Canada Challenger Hard France Benjamin Bonzi 6–0, 7–5
Loss 8–7 Apr 2018 Le Gosier, Guadeloupe Challenger Hard Serbia Dušan Lajović 4–6, 0–6
Loss 8–8 Feb 2020 Dallas, US Challenger Hard (i) Austria Jurij Rodionov 5–7, 6–7(10–12)
Win 9–8 Nov 2020 Cary, US Challenger Hard India Prajnesh Gunneswaran 3–6, 6–3, 6–0
Loss 9–9 Apr 2021 Orlando, US Challenger Hard United States Jenson Brooksby 3–6, 3–6
Loss 9–10 Jun 2021 Nottingham, UK Challenger Grass United States Frances Tiafoe 1–6, 3–6
Win 10–10 Mar 2022 Phoenix, US Challenger Hard Germany Daniel Altmaier 2–6, 6–2, 6–3
Loss 10–11 May 2022 Surbiton, UK Challenger Grass Australia Jordan Thompson 5–7, 3–6
Win 11–11 Sep 2023 Columbus, US Challenger Hard (i) Canada Alexis Galarneau 6–2, 6–1
Loss 11–12 Nov 2023 Knoxville, US Challenger Hard (i) United States Alex Michelsen 5–7, 6–4, 2–6

Doubles: 21 (11–10)

Legend
ATP Challenger (9–6)
ITF Futures (2–4)
Finals by surface
Hard (8–8)
Clay (3–1)
Grass (0–1)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 0–1 Oct 2009 USA F24, Laguna Niguel Futures Hard United States Raymond Sarmiento United States Ryan Harrison
United States Michael Venus
2–6, 4–6
Loss 0–2 Nov 2009 USA F28, Niceville Futures Clay United States Sekou Bangoura Armenia Tigran Martirosyan
Russia Artem Sitak
4–6, 5–7
Win 1–2 May 2010 USA F11, Orange Park Futures Clay United States Andrea Collarini United States Mitchell Frank
United States Junior A. Ore
7–6(8–6), 6–3
Win 2–2 May 2010 USA F12, Tampa Futures Clay United States Junior A. Ore Brazil Clayton Almeida
United States Blake Strode
4–6, 6–3, [10–8]
Loss 2–3 Oct 2010 USA F27, Mansfield Futures Hard United States Andrea Collarini Bulgaria Dimitar Kutrovsky
United States Joshua Zavala
3–6, 2–6
Loss 2–4 Nov 2010 USA F29, Niceville Futures Hard United States Andrea Collarini United States Robbye Poole
Norway Erling Tveit
6–7(4–7), 2–6
Win 3–4 Jan 2014 Maui, US Challenger Hard Japan Yasutaka Uchiyama United States Daniel Kosakowski
United States Nicolas Meister
6–3, 6–2
Win 4–4 Jul 2014 Winnetka, US Challenger Hard Australia Thanasi Kokkinakis United States Evan King
United States Raymond Sarmiento
6–2, 7–6(7–4)
Win 5–4 Oct 2016 Monterrey, Mexico Challenger Hard United States Evan King Australia Jarryd Chaplin
New Zealand Ben McLachlan
6–7(4–7), 6–4, [10–2]
Loss 5–5 Oct 2016 Las Vegas, US Challenger Hard United States Bjorn Fratangelo United States Brian Baker
Australia Matt Reid
1–6, 5–7
Loss 5–6 Jun 2017 Surbiton, UK Challenger Grass Philippines Treat Huey New Zealand Marcus Daniell
Pakistan Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi
3–6, 6–7(0–7)
Win 6–6 Jul 2017 Binghamton, US Challenger Hard United States Daniel Nguyen Australia Jarryd Chaplin
Australia Luke Saville
6–3, 7–6(7–5)
Win 7–6 Sep 2017 Columbus, US Challenger Hard (i) Germany Dominik Köpfer United Kingdom Luke Bambridge
Republic of Ireland David O'Hare
7–6(8–6), 7–6(7–3)
Loss 7–7 Oct 2017 Stockton, US Challenger Hard Latvia Miķelis Lībietis United Kingdom Brydan Klein
United Kingdom Joe Salisbury
2–6, 4–6
Win 8–7 Nov 2017 Charlottesville, US Challenger Hard (i) United States Danny Thomas Australia Jarryd Chaplin
Latvia Miķelis Lībietis
6–7(4–7), 1–4 ret.
Loss 8–8 Jan 2018 Newport Beach, US Challenger Hard Philippines Treat Huey United States James Cerretani
India Leander Paes
4–6, 5–7
Win 9–8 Apr 2018 Tallahassee, US Challenger Clay United States Robert Galloway Spain Enrique López Pérez
India Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan
6–3, 6–1
Win 10–8 Mar 2020 Indian Wells, US Challenger Hard United States Thai-Son Kwiatkowski United States Sebastian Korda
United States Mitchell Krueger
6–3, 2–6, [10–6]
Win 11–8 Mar 2022 Phoenix, US Challenger Hard Philippines Treat Huey Germany Oscar Otte
Germany Jan-Lennard Struff
7–6(12–10), 3–6, [10–6]
Loss 11–9 Oct 2023 Fairfield, US Challenger Hard United States Vasil Kirkov United States Evan King
United States Reese Stalder
5–7, 3–6
Loss 11–10 Oct 2023 Charlottesville, US Challenger Hard (i) United States Thai-Son Kwiatkowski Australia John-Patrick Smith
Netherlands Sem Verbeek
6–3, 3–6, [5–10]

Junior Grand Slam finals

Singles: 1 (1 runner-up)

Outcome Year Championship Surface Opponent Score
Loss 2010 US Open Hard United States Jack Sock 6–3, 2–6, 2–6

References

  1. ^ RhabitSports (July 25, 2017). "Olympian Denis Kudla teaches the backhand". YouTube. Retrieved January 16, 2018.
  2. ^ Clarke, Liz (June 25, 2013). "Arlington's Denis Kudla advances to second round of Wimbledon". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 30, 2016.
  3. ^ "Denis Kudla". tennisinformation.com. Retrieved October 30, 2016.
  4. ^ "Arlington Tennis Star Denis Kudla Just Wants Some Respect".
  5. ^ "Denis Kudla | Overview | ATP Tour | Tennis".
  6. ^ "KUDLA INTO FINAL ROUND OF 2018 FRENCH OPEN QUALIES".
  7. ^ "Damir Dzumhur ready for potential clash against Alexander Zverev". May 29, 2018.
  8. ^ Borden, Jeremy (August 30, 2019). "No. 1 Novak Djokovic beats Denis Kudla in 2019 US Open third round". usopen.org. Retrieved September 22, 2022.
  9. ^ "Tomic advances as Australian Open hopeful gets COVID-positive result mid-match". January 11, 2021.
  10. ^ "Sebastian Korda Leads American Charge at Wimbledon | ATP Tour | Tennis".
  11. ^ "Denis Kudla wins singles and doubles titles at Arizona Tennis Classic". March 20, 2022.
  12. ^ "Qualifiers Thanasi Kokkinakis, Denis Kudla star in Miami Open's Best Picture". March 28, 2022.
  13. ^ "Kyrgios Withdraws From The Australian Open".
  14. ^ "Denis Kudla Wins Decisive Tie-Break in Delray Beach | ATP Tour | Tennis".
  15. ^ "THOMPSON SETS NEW HIGHS AS DALLAS QUARTERFINALIST".

External links

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