Jarkko Nieminen

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Jarkko Nieminen

Country (sports)	Finland
Residence	Masku, Finland
Born	(1981-07-23) 23 July 1981 (age 40) Masku, Finland
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Turned pro	2000
Retired	9 November 2015
Plays	Left-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	$7,743,345
Singles
Career record	408–348 (54.0%)
Career titles	2
Highest ranking	No. 13 (10 July 2006)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	QF (2008)
French Open	4R (2003)
Wimbledon	QF (2006)
US Open	QF (2005)
Other tournaments
Olympic Games	2R (2004, 2012)
Doubles
Career record	151–193 (43.9%)
Career titles	5
Highest ranking	No. 42 (28 January 2008)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	SF (2010)
French Open	2R (2003, 2008, 2014)
Wimbledon	2R (2007)
US Open	QF (2008)
Mixed doubles
Career record	1–1 (50.0%)
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
Wimbledon	2R (2007)
Team competitions
Davis Cup	PO (1999, 2002)

Jarkko Kalervo Nieminen (born 23 July 1981) is a Finnish former professional tennis player. His highest ranking of world No. 13, achieved in July 2006, is a Finnish record. He has won two ATP singles titles and five doubles titles in his career. His best performances in Grand Slam tournaments have been reaching the quarterfinals of the 2005 US Open, the 2006 Wimbledon Championships, and the 2008 Australian Open.

Statistically Finland's best player to date, Nieminen is also the first and so far only Finnish player to have won an ATP singles title and to have reached the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam singles event. He is also notable for winning the shortest recorded Masters Tour tennis match in Open Era history, defeating Bernard Tomic in just 28 minutes and 20 seconds in the first round of the 2014 Sony Open Tennis.^[1] He was ranked inside the Top 75 for 11 times in 14 years (2001 to 2014).^[2]

On 23 June 2015, he announced his retirement from professional tennis at the end of the season, playing 2015 Stockholm Open as his last event.

His wife, Anu Nieminen, is Finland's top-ranked badminton women's single player.^[2]

On April 2016, it was announced that Nieminen will compete in floorball in season 2016–2017 at Finnish Salibandyliiga representing .^[3]

Junior career[]

As a junior Nieminen reached as high as No. 9 in the world in 1999 (and No. 20 in doubles), and won the 1999 Jr US Open.^[2]

Career highlights[]

1999[]

• Defeated Kristian Pless of Denmark to win his first junior Grand Slam, the US Open.
• Finished the year at No. 11 in the world junior rankings.
• Made his Davis Cup debut against Italy, losing to Andrea Gaudenzi.^[2]

2000[]

• Won his first Davis Cup match, beating Mikael Tillström of Sweden in a dead-rubber.

2001: Breaking the top 100[]

• Became the first Finn to reach an ATP final since Leo Palin in 1981,^[2] beating Pless, Younes El Aynaoui, defending champion Thomas Johansson and three-time winner Thomas Enqvist, before losing to Sjeng Schalken in five sets in Stockholm.
• Posted a 38–12 Challenger record, winning four titles.
• Finished the year in the top 100 for the first time.^[2]

2002: Breaking the top 50[]

• Reached clay-court finals in Estoril and Majorca, losing to David Nalbandian and Gastón Gaudio, respectively.
• Became the first Finnish player to end the season in the top 50.^[2]

2003[]

• Reached his fourth career ATP final in Munich, losing to Roger Federer.^[2]
• Advanced to the fourth round at the 2003 French Open, losing to Fernando González.
• Achieved Finland's first Wimbledon seeding (30)^[4]
• Was at best ranked World No. 27, a career-high until 2006.

2004[]

• Represented Finland at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, losing to Max Mirnyi in the second round.
• Finished in the top 100 for the fourth consecutive year, despite missing nearly three months due to injury.

2005[]

• Defeated world no. 7 Andre Agassi in a first round five-setter at the 2005 French Open.
• Was defeated in five sets by Lleyton Hewitt in the quarterfinals of the 2005 U.S. Open, having become the first Finn to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal.

2006: First ATP title[]

• Won his first ATP singles title in January by defeating Mario Ančić in the final in Auckland.
• Recorded his career-best ATP Masters Series performance by reaching the quarterfinals of the Indian Wells Masters, but lost to Paradorn Srichaphan.
• Broke into the top 20 for the first time in his career in April.
• Reached the quarterfinals of the 2006 Wimbledon Championships, but lost to World No. 2 Rafael Nadal in straight sets.
• Broke into the top 15 for the first time in his career in July after his Wimbledon success.
• Reached the quarterfinals of the Canada Masters, losing to Andy Murray.
• Reached his sixth career ATP final in Stockholm, losing to James Blake.
• Finished the season by reaching the quarterfinals of the Paris Masters, where he lost to Tommy Robredo.

2007: 200 wins[]

• Won his first ATP doubles title in September, paired with Robert Lindstedt. They beat Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and Rohan Bopanna in Mumbai, India on hard courts.
• His best singles performance in 2007 came at Davidoff Swiss Indoors, where he was beaten in the finals by World No. 1 Roger Federer in straight sets, 6–3, 6–4. En route to the finals, he had beaten Robby Ginepri, Guillermo Cañas, World No. 8 Fernando González, and Marcos Baghdatis.

2008[]

• Lost to Michaël Llodra in the final at the Adelaide International, 3–6, 4–6.
• Made the quarter-finals at the Australian Open, losing in straight sets to Rafael Nadal.
• Represented Finland at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, losing to Swede Thomas Johansson in the first round.

2009[]

• Defeated top seed Novak Djokovic in the 2009 Medibank International semifinal, 6–4, 7–6. He lost to David Nalbandian in the final, 4–6, 7–6, 2–6.
• Withdrew from the 2009 Australian Open halfway through his first-round clash with 28th seed Paul-Henri Mathieu.
• Underwent surgery for a wrist injury and sidelined for three months, thus missing Roland Garros and Wimbledon.
• Returned to professional tennis at the New Haven tournament in the US in August.
• Defeated Frenchman Stéphane Robert in the ATP Challenger tournament final in Jersey, United Kingdom in November.

2010[]

• Defeated Nick Lindahl in the first round of the Australian Open, before losing a tight five-set match to Florent Serra in the second round after having two match points in the fourth set. In the doubles competition, he reached the semifinals with partner Michael Kohlmann, losing to the top seeds Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan.
• Reached his first semifinal of the season at the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships, beating Paolo Lorenzi, 6–3, 6–4, in the first round, Evgeny Korolev, 5–7, 6–1, 6–0, in the second round, winning 12 consecutive games to close out the match, and finally third seed Benjamin Becker in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, he lost against Ernests Gulbis of Latvia, who ended up winning the tournament against Ivo Karlović in the final.
• Won his second doubles title with Swede Johan Brunström in Gstaad, Switzerland on clay courts.
• Lost to Guillermo García-López in the PTT Thailand Open final, 6–4, 3–6, 6–4.

2011: 300 wins[]

• Reached his 11th career ATP final in Stockholm, losing to Gaël Monfils.

2012: 2nd ATP Title[]

• Nieminen won the Sydney International for his second career title against Julien Benneteau. He was a finalist in doubles in the same tournament with Matthew Ebden against Mike Bryan and Bob Bryan.
• He was a quarterfinalist at the Open Sud de France and in Rotterdam.
• In the 2012 Summer Olympics, Nieminen lost to Andy Murray in the second round, who went on to win Gold in the singles and Silver in the mixed doubles.

2013[]

• Nieminen was the runner-up at the Power Horse Cup in Düsseldorf, beating no. 14 Tommy Haas.
• Nieminen reached a Masters quarterfinal for the first time since 2006 after beating no. 7 Juan Martín del Potro in the third round of the Monte-Carlo Masters. He also reached the third round in Indian Wells and Miami.
• Nieminen was a quarterfinalist at the Valencia Open 500, the Japan Open, and the Sydney International.
• He was semifinalist at the Open Sud de France, losing to Richard Gasquet.
• He won the Helsinki Challenger.
• He won his third doubles title at the BMW Open with Dmitry Tursunov.

2014[]

• Nieminen started the year 13th time in a row in the top 100.^[2]
• He reached the Open Sud de France and Malaysian Open semifinals and the third round of the Indian Wells Masters and the Madrid Masters.
• He played the shortest recorded Masters tennis match, defeating Bernard Tomic at the Miami Masters in 28 minutes and 20 seconds.^[5][6]
• Reached the second round in three of the four Grand Slams, one of the longest Wimbledon tiebreakers losing to ninth seed John Isner.
• He won his fourth doubles title at the Bet-at-home Cup Kitzbühel, the first by an all-Finnish team, with Henri Kontinen.

2015: 400 wins and retirement[]

At Wimbledon, Nieminen, who had already announced his retirement at the end of the season, played Lleyton Hewitt in the first round, with Hewitt also stating his intention to retire before the 2016 event. Nieminen earned his first win over Hewitt in five gruelling sets. At the US Open, Nieminen faced Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the first round, with Tsonga prevailing in straight sets despite Jarkko's best efforts. Afterwards, he confirmed that this was his last match at a grand slam.

Nieminen played his final ATP match on 20 October at the 2015 Stockholm Open, losing 6–3, 6–7, 4–6 to Nicolas Almagro. Jarkko had match points in the second-set tiebreaker but narrowly missed one and was very unlucky to lose the other. Fellow Scandinavian tennis player Robin Söderling was in attendance to pay tribute to Jarkko and the Finn was visibly moved as he gave his farewell speech.^[7] His final official match was against his old friend and rival Roger Federer at the Hartwall Arena, Helsinki on the ninth of November.

2016: Comeback at the Davis Cup[]

Nieminen came out of retirement in order to play for his country at the Davis Cup against Zimbabwe. He won his singles tie with a so-called triple bagel.^[8]

ATP career finals[]

Singles: 13 (2 titles, 11 runner-ups)[]

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	0–1	Oct 2001	Stockholm Open, Sweden	International	Hard (i)	Sjeng Schalken	6–3, 3–6, 3–6, 6–4, 3–6
Loss	0–2	Apr 2002	Estoril Open, Portugal	International	Clay	David Nalbandian	4–6, 6–7(5–7)
Loss	0–3	May 2002	Majorca Open, Spain	International	Clay	Gastón Gaudio	2–6, 3–6
Loss	0–4	May 2003	Bavarian Championships, Germany	International	Clay	Roger Federer	1–6, 4–6
Win	1–4	Jan 2006	Auckland Open, New Zealand	International	Hard	Mario Ančić	6–2, 6–2
Loss	1–5	Oct 2006	Stockholm Open, Sweden	International	Hard (i)	James Blake	4–6, 2–6
Loss	1–6	Oct 2007	Swiss Indoors, Switzerland	International	Hard (i)	Roger Federer	3–6, 4–6
Loss	1–7	Jan 2008	Adelaide International, Australia	International	Hard	Michaël Llodra	3–6, 4–6
Loss	1–8	Jan 2009	Sydney International, Australia	250 Series	Hard	David Nalbandian	3–6, 7–6(11–9), 2–6
Loss	1–9	Oct 2010	Thailand Open, Thailand	250 Series	Hard (i)	Guillermo García López	4–6, 6–3, 4–6
Loss	1–10	Oct 2011	Stockholm Open, Sweden	250 Series	Hard (i)	Gaël Monfils	5–7, 6–3, 2–6
Win	2–10	Jan 2012	Sydney International, Australia	250 Series	Hard	Julien Benneteau	6–2, 7–5
Loss	2–11	May 2013	Düsseldorf Open, Germany	250 Series	Clay	Juan Mónaco	4–6, 3–6

Doubles: 9 (5 titles, 4 runner-ups)[]

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	0–1	Sep 2003	Thailand Open, Thailand	International	Hard (i)	Andrew Kratzmann	Jonathan Erlich Andy Ram	3–6, 6–7(4–7)
Win	1–1	Sep 2007	Mumbai Open, India	International	Hard	Robert Lindstedt	Rohan Bopanna Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi	7–6(7–3), 7–6(7–5)
Loss	1–2	Feb 2009	Pacific Coast Championships, US	250 Series	Hard (i)	Rohan Bopanna	Tommy Haas Radek Štěpánek	2–6, 3–6
Win	2–2	Aug 2010	Swiss Open, Switzerland	250 Series	Clay	Johan Brunström	Marcelo Melo Bruno Soares	6–3, 6–7(4–7), [11–9]
Loss	2–3	Oct 2010	Stockholm Open, Sweden	250 Series	Hard (i)	Johan Brunström	Eric Butorac Jean-Julien Rojer	3–6, 4–6
Loss	2–4	Jan 2012	Sydney International, Australia	250 Series	Hard	Matthew Ebden	Bob Bryan Mike Bryan	1–6, 4–6
Win	3–4	May 2013	Bavarian Championships, Germany	250 Series	Clay	Dmitry Tursunov	Marcos Baghdatis Eric Butorac	6–1, 6–4
Win	4–4	Aug 2014	Austrian Open Kitzbühel, Austria	250 Series	Clay	Henri Kontinen	Daniele Bracciali Andrey Golubev	6–1, 6–4
Win	5–4	Mar 2015	Argentina Open, Argentina	250 Series	Clay	André Sá	Pablo Andújar Oliver Marach	4–6, 6–4, [10–7]

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals[]

Singles: 15 (10–5)[]

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1–0	Feb 2001	Wolfsburg, Germany	Challenger	Carpet	Andy Fahlke	3–6, 6–2, 7-5
Loss	1–1	May 2001	Great Britain F5, Newcastle	Futures	Clay	Sebastien de Chaunac	4–6, 2–6
Loss	1–2	May 2001	Budapest, Hungary	Challenger	Clay	Giorgio Galimberti	4–6, 7–5, 1-6
Win	2–2	Jul 2001	Tampere, Finland	Challenger	Clay	Mattias Hellstrom	6–1, 6-0
Win	3–2	Aug 2001	Cordoba, Spain	Challenger	Hard	Paul-Henri Mathieu	6–4, 2-6, 6-3
Win	4–2	Sep 2001	Maia, Portugsl	Challenger	Clay	Feliciano Lopez	5–7, 6-3, 6-4
Win	5–2	Jul 2002	Tampere, Finland	Challenger	Clay	Richard Gasquet	7–5, 7-6(7-2)
Win	6–2	Nov 2002	Helsinki, Finland	Challenger	Hard	Lovro Zovko	7–5, 4-6, 7-5
Win	7–2	Jun 2005	Prostejov, Czech Republic	Challenger	Clay	Ivo Minar	6–1, 6-3
Win	8–2	Nov 2009	Jersey, Great Britain	Challenger	Hard	Stephane Robert	4–6, 6-1, 7-5
Loss	8–3	Dec 2009	Salzburg, Austria	Challenger	Hard	Michael Berrer	7–6(7-4), 4-6, 4-6
Win	9–3	Mar 2010	Marrakesh, Morocco	Challenger	Clay	Alexandr Dolgopolov	6–3, 6-2
Loss	9–4	Nov 2012	Helsinki, Finland	Challenger	Hard	Lukas Lacko	3-6, 4-6
Win	10–4	Nov 2013	Helsinki, Finland	Challenger	Hard	Ricardas Berankis	6-3, 6-1
Loss	10–5	Jul 2014	Tampere, Finland	Challenger	Clay	David Goffin	6-7(3-7), 3-6

Doubles: 14 (6–8)[]

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	0–1	Jul 1999	Tampere, Finland	Challenger	Clay	Timo Nieminen	Petr Dezort Radomir Vasek	1–6, 1–6
Win	1–1	Mar 2000	Japan F2, Shirako	Futures	Carpet	Scott Barron	Mitsura Takada Akira Matsushita	6–3, 6–3
Win	2–1	May 2000	Austria F2, Telfs	Futures	Clay	Scott Barron	Stefan Leiner Patrick Sommer	7–6(7-2), 6–1
Loss	2–2	Jun 2000	Ireland F1, Dublin	Futures	Carpet	Kristian Pless	Gilles Elseneer Jean-Michel Pequery	6–7(2-7), 6–4, 3-6
Win	3–2	Jul 2000	Tampere, Finland	Challenger	Clay	Ville Liukko	Steven Randjelovic Dusan Vemic	6–0, 4–6, 6-3
Loss	3–3	Oct 2000	Finland F2, Helsinki	Futures	Carpet	Tero Vilen	Karol Beck Igor Zelenay	2–6, 4–6
Loss	3–4	Jul 2001	Tampere, Finland	Challenger	Clay	Tuomas Ketola	Stephen Huss Lee Pearson	5–7, 7–6(7-5), 4-6
Win	4–4	Sep 2001	Budapest, Hungary	Challenger	Clay	Oliver Marach	Yuriy Schukin Orest Tereshchuk	6–2, 6-2
Loss	4–5	Jul 2002	Tampere, Finland	Challenger	Clay	Tuomas Ketola	Doug Bohaboy Nick Rainey	4–6, 2–6
Loss	4–6	Nov 2009	Jersey, United Kingdom	Challenger	Hard	Henri Kontinen	Frederik Nielsen Joseph Sirianni	5–7, 6–3, [2-10]
Loss	4–7	Nov 2009	Helsinki, Finland	Challenger	Hard	Henri Kontinen	Rohan Bopanna Aisam Qureshi	2–6, 6–7(7-9)
Loss	4–8	Nov 2010	Helsinki, Finland	Challenger	Hard	Henri Kontinen	Dustin Brown Martin Emmrich	6–7(17-19), 6–0, [7–10]
Win	5–8	Nov 2013	Helsinki, Finland	Challenger	Hard	Henri Kontinen	Dustin Brown Philipp Marx	7–5, 5–7, [10–5]
Win	6–8	Nov 2014	Helsinki, Finland	Challenger	Hard	Henri Kontinen	Jonathan Marray Philipp Petzschner	7–6(7–2), 6–4

Junior Grand Slam finals[]

Singles: 1 (1 title)[]

Result	Year	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1999	US Open	Hard	Kristian Pless	6–7, 6–3, 6–4

Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)[]

Result	Year	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	1999	Wimbledon	Grass	Todor Enev	Guillermo Coria David Nalbandian	5–7, 4–6

Performance timelines[]

Singles[]

Doubles[]

Top 10 wins[]

#	Player	Rank	Event	Surface	Rd	Score
2002
1.	Marat Safin	7	Estoril, Portugal	Clay	QF	4–6, 7–5, 6–3
2003
2.	Paradorn Srichaphan	10	Rome, Italy	Clay	1R	6–1, 6–2
3.	Carlos Moyá	6	Bangkok, Thailand	Hard (i)	QF	6–7(5–7), 6–4, 6–4
2004
4.	David Nalbandian	8	Dubai, United Arab Emirates	Hard	1R	6–3, 6–4
2005
5.	Andre Agassi	7	French Open, Paris, France	Clay	1R	7–5, 4–6, 6–7(6–8), 6–1, 6–0
2007
6.	Tommy Robredo	7	Cincinnati, United States	Hard	2R	6–4, 6–1
7.	Fernando González	8	Basel, Switzerland	Hard (i)	QF	6–3, 7–5
2009
8.	Novak Djokovic	3	Sydney, Australia	Hard	SF	6–4, 7–6(7–3)
2010
9.	Tomáš Berdych	6	Stockholm, Sweden	Hard (i)	2R	6–1, 6–4
2011
10.	David Ferrer	6	Rotterdam, Netherlands	Hard (i)	1R	6–3, 6–4
2013
11.	Juan Martín del Potro	7	Monte Carlo, Monaco	Clay	3R	6–4, 4–6, 7–6(7–4)

Records[]

• These records were attained in the Open Era of tennis.

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jarkko Nieminen.

• Jarkko Nieminen's official website
• Jarkko Nieminen at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Jarkko Nieminen at the International Tennis Federation
• Jarkko Nieminen at the Davis Cup
• Nieminen World ranking history