Lukas Dlouhy

PERSONAL

Began playing tennis at age five. Older sister, Barbara was Czech Republic national champion when growing up and is now a tennis coach so he followed her example. Enjoyed playing hockey as a teenager and chose tennis over hockey at age 15. In his spare time, likes roller-skating, going to cinema and playing hockey every week when at home during winter. Father, Ales, works in business management and mother, Natasha, is a school teacher. Both parents made sacrifices by moving with him to Prague to support his tennis career. Grew up playing on clay courts. Favorite shot is drop shot. Idol growing up was Yevgeny Kafelnikov and also admires Canadian hockey player Mario Lemieux. Has a 3-3 career Davis Cup record (2-2 in singles) in four ties. Fitness trainer is Joe Ivanko and coached by Martin Stepanek.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

2000 -- Won doubles title in first event at Austria Futures #3 (w/Babej).

2001 -- Compiled 17-15 record in Futures and 5-4 in Challengers, including SF at Prague. Doubles winner at one Futures and one Challenger.

2002 -- Won two Futures titles in three finals. In doubles, won one title in three finals.

2003 -- Reached a pair of SF at Czech Futures. Captured two doubles titles and reached another final.

2004 -- Won four Futures titles to go 23-3 at those events. Reached back-to-back Challenger finals in Helsinki and Prague. Was 19-5 in Challengers. In doubles, claimed one Futures and one Challenger title.

2005 -- Climbed over 140 ranking positions to finish in the year-end Top 100 for the first time on the strength of a 30-18 Challenger record. Claimed Challenger titles in Ostrava and Trani. Made Grand Slam debut as a qualifier at Roland Garros (d. Enqvist, l. to Safin). Reached first ATP QF in Umag. In doubles, was 1-6 in ATP events. In Challengers, was 43-16 with five titles and four runner-up finishes.

2006 -- Claimed Challenger title at Wroclaw (d. Zib) and reached the Bratislava final (l. to Mertinak). Played all four Slams for the first time, reaching 3rd RD at Roland Garros (l. to Robredo) and 2nd RD at Wimbledon (l. to Bjorkman). Had 2nd RD showings at Bsstad, Umag and Sopot. In doubles, teamed (w/coach Vizner) for a 30-15 match record. Titled at Costa do Sauipe and Estoril and reached final in Valencia. Reached SF at Roland Garros. Also two Challenger finals. Finished as No. 10 duo and No. 11 individually.

2007 -- Reached two Grand Slam doubles finals with countryman Pavel Vizner to finish at a career-high No. 5 in Stanford ATP Doubles Race and No. 9 individually. Defended Costa do Sauipe title and reached SF in Buenos Aires and final in Acapulco. Made a run to Roland Garros final, and followed with Wimbledon QF. Won Umag title (w/Mertinak), and reunited with Vizner to reach Cincinnati SF and US Open final. During European indoor circuit, reached St. Petersburg SF. Qualified for first Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai and went 2-1 in round robin play. In singles, finished with a 7-15 record in ATP action. Posted a 16-14 fifth set victory in his 1st RD match at the Australian Open (d. Gabashvili), before losing in five sets to compatriot Stepanek. Reached Challenger final at Ostrava (l. to Ulihrach). Earned a career-high $515,540.

2008 -- The Czech Republic native reached his third Grand Slam final with Leander Paes to finish No. 8 in ATP Doubles Race and a No. 13 individually in ATP Doubles Rankings. Captured Prague Challenger title (w/Pala) before joining forces with Paes at Roland Garros. Reached successive finals at Halle (l. to Youzhny-Zverev) and 's- Hertogenbosch (l. to Ancic-Melzer). Made SF runs at Wimbledon (l. to Nestor-Zimonjic) and AMS Toronto (l. to Nestor-Zimonjic) before reaching US Open final (l. to Bryans). Individually it was Dlouhy's third Grand Slam final (0-3 record) and second straight runner-up finish at US Open. Clinched fifth career doubles title in Bangkok (d. Lipsky-Martin) and finalists in Tokyo (l. to Youzhny-Zverev). Qualified for Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai and went 0-3 in round robin play. Compiled a season-long 25-13 record (w/Paes).

2009

The Czech Republic native teamed with Indian veteran Leander Paes to earn his first Grand Slam crown at Roland Garros (d. Moodie-Norman)...Also reached the SFs at the Australian Open and Monte Carlo (w/Paes).