Kurt Nielsen, a winner of 49 international titles from 1949 to 1960, reached the Wimbledon singles final in 1953 and 1955. He won the US Championships mixed doubles with American Althea Gibson in 1957 and the pair were finalists at Wimbledon in 1958.

Super-fit, both mentally and physically, he possessed a powerful serve and solid defence.

Nielsen, who grew up in Hellerup, Copenhagen, was groomed to become a tennis player by his father. By the age of 17 he was Denmark's best player. He won the 1947 Wimbledon junior title beating Swede Sven Davidson and the Roland Garros junior title the following year.

In 1953, he beat top seed Ken Rosewall in the Wimbledon quarter-finals en route to the final where he lost to second seed Vic Seixas 9-7, 6-3, 6-4. Two years later, he lost to another American, Tony Trabert, 6-3, 7-5, 6-1 in the title match at the All England Club.

Nielsen played 96 Davis Cup rubbers for Denmark (53-43 overall) and won a record 50 national championships.

In retirement, Nielsen coached in Denmark, Spain and Germany. He was also a supervisor and referee at many Grand Slam championships. He was a television commentator for the Danish version of Eurosport until late 2006. He died, aged 80, on 11 June 2011. Bio: James Buddell