Jarkko Nieminen

Jarkko Nieminen
Country (sports)	Finland
Residence	Masku, Finland
Born	23 July 1981; 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 SC Classic.[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)

Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0)
ATP World Tour 500 Series (0–0)
ATP World Tour 250 Series (2–11)

Titles by surface
Hard (2–7)
Clay (0–4)
Grass (0–0)

Titles by setting
Outdoor (2–6)
Indoor (0–5)

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)

Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0)
ATP World Tour 500 Series (0–0)
ATP World Tour 250 Series (5–4)

Titles by surface
Hard (1–4)
Clay (4–0)
Grass (0–0)

Titles by setting
Outdoor (5–1)
Indoor (0–3)

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]

Singles performance timeline

**Key**
W	F	SF	QF	#R	RR	Q#	A	P	Z#	PO	G	F-S	SF-B	NMS	NH

(W) Won; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (A) absent; (P) postponed; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (F-S) silver or (SF-B) bronze Olympic medal; a (NMS) downgraded Masters Series/1000 tournament; (NH) not held. SR=strike rate (events won/competed)

To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

Tournament	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	W–L	Win %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	A	1R	3R	2R	3R	3R	2R	QF	1R	2R	1R	1R	2R	2R	3R	17–14	54.84
French Open	A	3R	4R	A	2R	1R	3R	3R	A	1R	1R	2R	2R	2R	1R	13–12	52.00
Wimbledon	A	2R	3R	A	1R	QF	3R	2R	A	2R	1R	2R	1R	2R	2R	14–12	53.85
US Open	Q3	1R	2R	1R	QF	1R	1R	3R	2R	1R	1R	2R	2R	1R	1R	10–14	41.67
Win–Loss	0–0	3–4	8–4	1–2	7–4	6–4	5–4	9–4	1–2	2–4	0–4	3–4	3–4	3–4	3–4	54–52	50.94
ATP Masters Series
Indian Wells Masters	A	A	1R	2R	2R	QF	3R	2R	2R	A	2R	1R	3R	3R	2R	12–12	50.00
Miami Masters	A	2R	3R	2R	2R	3R	4R	2R	2R	A	1R	1R	3R	2R	2R	11–13	45.83
Monte Carlo Masters	A	A	3R	2R	A	1R	1R	2R	Q2	1R	2R	2R	QF	1R	Q1	9–9	50.00
Rome Masters	A	A	3R	A	A	2R	1R	1R	A	Q2	3R	1R	1R	A	A	5–7	41.67
Madrid Masters	A	2R	1R	Q1	A	1R	1R	2R	A	A	A	A	A	3R	A	4–6	40.00
Canada Masters	A	2R	1R	A	A	QF	2R	1R	A	1R	1R	A	1R	A	A	5–8	38.46
Cincinnati Masters	A	3R	2R	A	A	1R	3R	1R	A	Q2	Q1	1R	2R	A	A	6–7	46.15
Shanghai Masters	Not Masters Series								A	A	A	1R	1R	A	A	0–2	00.00
Paris Masters	A	2R	1R	A	1R	QF	2R	1R	A	2R	Q2	A	1R	Q2	A	5–8	38.46
Hamburg Masters	A	A	2R	A	A	3R	3R	2R	Not Masters Series							6–4	60.00
Win–Loss	0–0	6–5	7–9	1–2	2–3	12–9	9–9	3–9	2–2	1–3	4–5	1–6	8–8	5–4	2–2	63–76	45.32
Career statistics
Titles–Finals	0–1	0–2	0–1	0–0	0–0	1–2	0–1	0–1	0–1	0–1	0–1	1–1	0–1	0–0	0–0	2–13	15.38
Year End Ranking	61	40	36	77	28	15	27	37	88	39	77	41	39	73	153	$7,743,345

Doubles performance timeline

Tournament	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	W–L	Win %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	1R	A	2R	2R	1R	2R	2R	SF	2R	1R	2R	2R	1R	11–11	50.00
French Open	2R	A	A	1R	1R	2R	A	1R	1R	1R	A	2R	1R	3–9	25.00
Wimbledon	1R	A	A	1R	2R	A	A	1R	1R	1R	1R	1R	A	1–8	11.11
US Open	A	A	1R	3R	2R	QF	2R	2R	1R	1R	1R	1R	A	8–10	44.44
Win–Loss	1–3	0–0	1–1	3–4	2–4	5–3	2–2	5–4	1–4	0–4	1–3	2–4	0–2	23–38	37.70

Top 10 wins

Season	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	Total
Wins	0	0	1	2	1	1	0	2	0	1	1	1	0	1	0	0	11

#	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.

Tournament	Year	Record accomplished	Player tied
Sony Open Tennis	2014	Won the shortest recorded tennis match in Open Era history (28m20s)[5][6]	Stands alone

References

"Bernard Tomic thrashed by Jarkko Nieminen in shortest-ever ATP match at Miami Masters". ABC. 21 March 2014. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
"Jarkko Nieminen Bio". ATP World Tour. ATP. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
"Jarkko Nieminen pelaamaan salibandya Tampereen Classiciin!". floorball.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 11 April 2016.
Parsons, John (2003). The Official Wimbledon Annual 2003. 2 Puddle Dock London: Hazelton Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-903135-29-X.
Courtney Nguyen (21 March 2014). "Better ways for Bernard Tomic to spend 28 minutes and 20 seconds of his time". www.si.com. Sports Illustrated.
"Bernard Tomic KO'd quickly in return". espn.go.com. ESPN. 21 March 2014.
James Buddell (21 October 2015). "Emotional Nieminen Calls It A Career In Stockholm". Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).
Tandon, Kamakshi (5 March 2016). "Nieminen comes out of retirement for Davis Cup to score triple bagel win". Tennis.com. Retrieved 19 November 2019.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[shortest-1] "Bernard Tomic thrashed by Jarkko Nieminen in shortest-ever ATP match at Miami Masters". ABC. 21 March 2014. Retrieved 15 January 2017.

[ATP_BIO-2] "Jarkko Nieminen Bio". ATP World Tour. ATP. Retrieved 15 January 2017.

[3] "Jarkko Nieminen pelaamaan salibandya Tampereen Classiciin!". floorball.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 11 April 2016.

[4] Parsons, John (2003). The Official Wimbledon Annual 2003. 2 Puddle Dock London: Hazelton Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-903135-29-X.

[si2014-5] Courtney Nguyen (21 March 2014). "Better ways for Bernard Tomic to spend 28 minutes and 20 seconds of his time". www.si.com. Sports Illustrated.

[espn2014-6] "Bernard Tomic KO'd quickly in return". espn.go.com. ESPN. 21 March 2014.

[7] James Buddell (21 October 2015). "Emotional Nieminen Calls It A Career In Stockholm". Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).

[8] Tandon, Kamakshi (5 March 2016). "Nieminen comes out of retirement for Davis Cup to score triple bagel win". Tennis.com. Retrieved 19 November 2019.