Nicolas Kiefer

Began playing tennis at age six...Nicknamed "Kiwi"...His father, Wolfgang, is a teacher...Mother, Nicole, is French... Had excellent junior career, winning the 1995 Australian Open (d. J.-M. Lee) and US Open juniors (d. Seetzen)... Reached final at Wimbledon juniors (l. to Mutis) and SF at Roland Garros Juniors...Finished as No. 2 junior in world in '95 (behind Zabaleta of Argentina)...Also 1993 German junior champion...Considers hard and grass courts as favorite surfaces...Passed his high school oral exam on June 16, 1997 in German and French subjects...His priority was to finish school before turning pro full-time...Enjoyed playing in front of hometown crowd in his first ATP Tour World Championship in 1999 and more than 200 friends and family members attended each of his matches in Hannover... Has worked out with Olympic pole vaulter Sergei Bubka...Big fan of Hannover soccer team...Made an appearance for his favorite soccer team on July 1, 2005, scoring a goal in 14-0 victory in a friendly match..."It was like a dream come through", he said...Enjoys golf, soccer and basketball...Favorite move is Rocky and favorite actors are Julia Roberts and Will Smith...Has a 10-13 career Davis Cup record (9-11 in singles) in 13 ties since 1998...Fitness trainer is Ralf Nonnemann and coached by Sascha Nensel (since December 2005).

1995 -- Won first Challenger title in Garmisch (d. D. Norman)...Reached first ATP QF in St. Petersburg...

1996 -- Qualified for first Grand Slam at Australian Open...Finalist at Lubeck Challenger (l. to Knippschild)...Advanced to ATP QF in Kitzbuhel...

1997 -- Finished as No. 1 German for first time, ending reign of Becker, who was top German in 12 of past 13 years...Reached first Grand Slam QF at Wimbledon (d. No. 6 Kafelnikov for first Top 10 win)...Also had Top 10 victories over Rios and Rusedski...Injured right ankle in Stuttgart and underwent surgery July 16 to repair two torn ligaments (missed seven weeks)...Captured first ATP title in Toulouse (d. Philippoussis) and two weeks later reached final in Singapore (l. to Gustafsson)...

1998 -- Best ATP result was SF in Toulouse and advanced to QF at Australian Open (l. to Escude in five sets)...Captured first ATP doubles title in Ostrava (w/Prinosil)...

1999 -- The top German for second time in three years finished No. 6, to, at time, join Becker and Stich as only Germans to finish in Top 10 in history of ATP Rankings (Haas later joined in 2001)... Reached first of three Asian finals in Dubai (l. to Golmard)...Captured titles in Tokyo (d. W. Ferreira) and Halle (d. Kulti)...Reached SF at AMS Montreal (d. No. 2 Rafter, l. to Johansson) and Washington (l. to Kafelnikov)...Turned in a strong two-month stretch by capturing title in Tashkent (d. Bastl), reaching SF in Basel (d. Rusedski, l. to Kucera) and final in Vienna (d. Kafelnikov in QF, Krajicek in SF), losing to Rusedski in five-set battle after holding a two-set lead and one match point...Tore ligaments in his left ankle on Oct. 26 in opening round match in Stuttgart (vs. Pavel) and did not return until ATP Tour World Championship in Hannover where he advanced to SF (l. to eventual champion Sampras)...Became first German since Becker in 1996 to qualify for year-end championship... Posted a career-best 10-9 record vs. Top 10 opponents...Compiled 41-15 record on hard, 6-1 on grass, 4-5 on carpet and 3-4 on clay...Earned a career-high $1,232,268...

2000 -- Despite an injury-marred season, finished as No. 1 German...Reached SF in Doha, QF at Australian Open (d. Ferreira, l. to Norman), won title in Dubai (d. Ferrero) and QF in Rotterdam (l. to Pioline)...In March, tore ligaments in his right ankle at AMS Indian Wells where he lost in 1st RD to Santoro...Played in Miami and lost in opening round to Fromberg, then missed two months...Returned May 22 in St. Poelten and retired due to recurring ankle injury in 1st RD vs. Gaudenzi... Reached SF in Washington (d. Coria, Manta, Gambill, l. to eventual champion Corretja)...Reached his first QF at US Open (d. M. Norman in 4th RD, l. to eventual winner Safin)...Lost in 1st RD at Sydney Olympics to eventual bronze medalist Di Pasquale...Won second title of year in Hong Kong (d. Lapentti, Henman, Philippoussis in row)...Did not play rest of year due to a stress fracture in his right wrist...In his final four tournaments, finished year way he began with a 12-3 record...Compiled a 27-11 record on hard, 2-2 on grass and 1-3 on clay...

2001 -- Advanced to final in Moscow (d. Federer, Golmard, Rosset and Hrbaty, l. to Kafelnikov)...Reached 4th RD at Wimbledon (l. to Agassi)...In Davis Cup play, won fifth and decisive rubber in 1st RD vs. Romania's Gabriel Trifu...

2002 -- Reached lone ATP final in Halle (l. to Kafelnikov)...Reached QF in Los Angeles...At US Open, lost to No. 2 seed Safin in five-setter that lasted 4 hours, 32 minutes (tied for longest match of year) and suffered bad leg cramps towards end of fifth set...Helped Germany seal place in '03 Davis Cup World Group with win over Venezuela's Orellana en route to 5-0 victory...In doubles, won second career title in Los Angeles (w/Grosjean)... Went 2-2 in Davis Cup play (1-2 singles)...

2003 -- Finished in Top 100 for seventh consecutive year...Left heel injury forced him to miss Australian Open having played in 20 consecutive Grand Slams prior to that...Made comeback in Delray Beach in March (l. to Gambill in 1st RD)...Went 1-5 before arriving at Roland Garros, where he reached 2nd RD (l. to Coria)...Reached final in Halle (l. to Federer)...Reached QF in Indianapolis (l. Thomann) and back-to-back SF in Los Angeles (l. to Hewitt) and Long Island (l. to eventual champion Srichaphan)... Finished year with QF in Vienna (l. to Moya)...In doubles, won Tokyo title (w/Gimelstob)...

2004 -- The No. 2 German (behind Haas) reached four ATP finals and finished at No. 20...After beginning season 0-4, reached consecutive finals in Memphis (l. to J. Johansson) and Scottsdale (l. to Spadea)...Also reached QF in Miami (d. No. 7 Schuettler, l. to Coria)...Did not win consecutive matches on clay but reached QF on grass in Halle (l. to Schuettler)...After a 19-14 start through Wimbledon, went 18-6 from July through US Open...Advanced to back-to-back finals in Los Angeles (l. to Haas) and Indianapolis (l. to Roddick) and reached SF at AMS Toronto (d. Safin, No. 4 Moya; l. to Roddick)...Followed with 3rd RD at Athens Olympics (l. to Youzhny) and 4th RD at US Open where he retired with a right wrist injury in fifth set against Henman...Did not play rest of season...Had an 18-8 mark in tie-breaks and 5-0 against left-handers...In doubles, earned silver medal (w/Schuettler) after losing gold medal match to Chile's Gonzalez-Massu in five sets (held 4 M.P.)...

2005 -- The No. 1 German for first time since 2000...In first half of season, compiled a 17-13 record with his best result QF showings in Adelaide, Dubai and AMS Indian Wells (l. to Federer)...Advanced to 4th RD at Roland Garros for first time in nine appearances... On grass, reached 3rd RD at Wimbledon and only player to take a set off eventual champion Federer...In final five months, put together a 17-10 mark with QF in Indianapolis, 4th RD at US Open for second straight year (l. to Federer) and runner-up finishes in October in Moscow (l. to Andreev) and St. Petersburg (l. to T. Johansson)... Has lost his last nine finals appearances since his last ATP title in Hong Kong in 2000...Went 4-7 vs. Top 10 opponents...

2006 -- The German No. 2 (behind No. 11 Haas) finished in Top 50 for eighth time in last 10 years...Had his season shortened after suffering a left wrist injury at Roland Garros...Played final match on June 2 (vs. Berdych in 3rd RD) and retired after losing first set but suffered injury round before in four hour, 50 minute five-set win (11-9) over Gicquel...Underwent surgery on July 17 in Germany and underwent a second surgery on Oct. 2...During first five months of play, compiled a 16-10 record, highlighted by a career-best Grand Slam SF at Australian Open...Posted wins over Ferrero (3rd) and Chela (4th) before putting together a four-hour, 48-minute victory over Grosjean in QF (8-6 in fifth set)...Then lost to No. 1 and eventual champion Federer in four sets...In March, advanced to 4th RD at AMS Miami (d. Gonzalez, l. to Calleri)...Helped lead Germany to ATP World Team Chp. final by posting singles wins over Volandri and No. 10 Gaudio in round robin competition...

2007 -- Despite playing only five months, came back to finish in Top 50 after falling off the ATP Rankings in June...Returned from a left wrist injury in mid-June that kept him out of second half of 2006 season without a ranking...In second tournament back at Wimbledon reached 3rd RD (l. to Djokovic in four sets) and following month advanced to SF in Los Angeles (withdrew vs. Stepanek due to knee injury).. Finished season with an 11-5 mark, highlighted by SF in Beijing (l. to Robredo) and AMS Madrid (d. Youhzny, Karlovic, No. 6 Gonzalez, l. to Federer) and QF in Mumbai (l. to O. Rochus) and Basel (l. to Federer)...Went 1-6 vs. Top 10 opponents and 15-7 on hard courts.

2008

The German finished in Top 50 for fifth straight year highlighted by reaching his first ATP Masters Series final...On home soil, reached QF at AMS Hamburg with back-to-back Top 10 wins over No. 10 Wawrinka and No. 4 Davydenko before losing to Seppi...In June, turned in SF result in Halle where he lost to eventual champion Federer...In Grand Slam play, advanced to 3rd RD at Wimbledon (l. to Nadal)...In July, advanced to first AMS final in Toronto where he posted wins over No. 4 Davydenko (3rd RD) and No. 8 Blake (QF) before falling to Nadal in final...At Beijing Olympics, reached 3rd RD (l. to Mathieu)... Retired in 1st RD at US Open (vs. Minar) due to fatigue and finished with a 1-4 mark... Went 4-6 vs. Top 10 opponents and compiled marks of 13-11 on hard, 5-2 on grass and 5-5 on clay.