Johan Kriek

Johan Christiaan Kriek (born April 5, 1958) is a South African–American former professional tennis player. He won two Australian Open titles, beating Steve Denton in four sets in the 1981 final and the same opponent in the 1982 final in straight sets, when he tamed Denton's cannonball serve and "relentlessly whipped winners past him from all angles of the court". He reached the semifinals at the French Open and US Open, as well as the quarterfinals of the Wimbledon Championships. Kriek won 14 professional singles and eight doubles titles, reaching a career-high singles ranking of world No. 7 in September 1984.

Johan Kriek

Country (sports)	South Africa United States (1982–)
Residence	Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, Florida, U.S.
Born	(1958-04-05) April 5, 1958 Pongola, South Africa
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Turned pro	1978
Retired	1994
Plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Prize money	$2,383,794
Singles
Career record	376–222 (62.9%)
Career titles	14
Highest ranking	No. 7 (September 10, 1984)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	W (1981, 1982)
French Open	SF (1986)
Wimbledon	QF (1981, 1982)
US Open	SF (1980)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals	QF (1982, 1983, 1984, 1985)
WCT Finals	F (1981)
Doubles
Career record	206–173 (54.4%)
Career titles	8
Highest ranking	No. 12 (August 15, 1988)

He attended Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (Afrikaans High School for Boys, also known as Affies), a public school located in Pretoria.

Kriek became a naturalized American citizen in August 1982. He currently resides in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida with his wife, Daga and their children Karolina and Kristian.

Career

Johan Kriek turned professional in 1978 at the age of 20. Kriek made his first Grand Slam appearance at Wimbledon’s in 1978, reaching the second round. In the 1978 US Open, Kriek advanced to the quarterfinals. The following year, in 1979, he reached the Quarter-Finals at the US Open for the second consecutive year, losing to American Vitas Gerulaitis.

1980 saw Kriek make the semi-finals of the US Open. Going into the tournament unseeded, he was beaten by Bjorn Borg in the semi-final despite winning the first two sets. By the end of 1980, he had risen to No.18 in the singles rankings, marking the first time he had entered the top 20. This marked the first of six consecutive years of Kriek being inside the top 20.

Going into the 1981 Australian Open Kriek was seeded fourth. He won his first two matches in straight sets, before beating Chris Lewis in five sets in the third round. This saw him the eight seed American Tim Mayotte in the quarter final, who he beat in straight sets. He comprehensively beat former champion Mark Edmondson in the semi-final to set up a final with the American Steve Denton. Kriek won the final in four sets. In doing so, Kriek became the first African and South African to win a Grand Slam tournament. Kriek reached the quarte-finals at the 1981 edition of Wimbledon as an unseeded player.

1982 also saw Kriek defeat John McEnroe in the Memphis Open. He won the La Costa WCT, beating Roscoe Tanner in the final. 1982 saw Kriek record his highest end of year ranking, reaching No.12. He one again reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon, losing to John McEnroe in four sets. Kriek went into the Australian Open of 1982 as defending Champion and top seed. He reached the Quarter-Finals of the competition after dropping only one set. He beat American Drew Gitlin to advance through the semi-finals. After beating Paul McNamee in the semis, he once again beat Steve Denton in the final, to make it back to back Australian Open titles. He qualified for the Volvo Masters for the first time, beating Steve Denton once again in the first round, before being eliminated by Jimmy Connors in the second round of the competition.

Kriek continued to enjoy success at grass tournaments, winning the Bristol Open in 1983, and reaching the final of the doubles tournament. He also won the Johannesburg Open in the country of his birth, beating British player Colin Dowdeswell in the final. In the 1983 Volvo Masters he reached the quart-finals stage, losing to eventual winner John McEnroe.

He reached the semi-final stage of the 1984 Australian Open but was unable to add to his previous successes, losing to eventual winner Mats Wilander.He did however record his second success at Bristol. In September 1984 Kriek reached his highest ever position in the ranking at No.7. He reached the quarter-finals of the end of years Masters, losing to Mats Wilander.

Kriek partnered fellow Grand Slam winner Yannick Noah in the 1985 Chicago doubles and the pair won the tournament. Kriek lost in the 1985 final of Queens to Boris Becker. He was unable to reach the latter stages of that year’s Wimbledon, losing in the fourth round to Paul Annacone. He again competed in the end of year Masters Tournament, managing a victory over Stefan Edberg in the first round of the competition, but was once again unable to progress past the quarter-finals. Kriek recorded his best finish in the 1986 Roland Garros. He beat Guillermo Villas in the quarter-final, before suffering a straight sets defeat to Ivan Lendl in the semi-final.

Kriek’s final singles title came at the Livingston Open in the US, where he beat German Christian Saceanu in the final in 1987. Following persistent injuries, Kriek had dropped down to no. 52 by 1989. While Kriek did not win another singles title, he reached his career high ranking of No. 12 in doubles in 1988. He enjoyed success at two more doubles events, winning the Philadelphia Open and the Tokyo Open at the start of 1989. The final three single finals he reached all ended in defeat, the last of which was the 1989 Memphis final. Kriek made his final appearance at a Grand Slam at Wimbledon in 1991, where he was eliminated in the first round.

Kriek retired having won 14 singles titles, including two Grand Slams. He also won 8 doubles titles.

Post tennis

After retiring from tennis, Kriek transitioned into coaching, setting up the Johan Kriek Tennis Academy. He has also worked on several philanthropic projects including helping to supply citizens of developing nations with clean drinking water.

Style of play

Due to his stature, Kriek relied on speed rather than physical strength. He was known for being able to retrieve difficult shots which would often results in long rallies. Kriek grew up on the hard courts of South Africa, but he was perhaps most effective on grass, being an effective serve and volleyer which made him a dangerous opponent on grass, resulting in him winning back to back Australian Opens.

Grand Slam finals

Singles: (2 titles)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1981	Australian Open	Grass	Steve Denton	6–2, 7–6(7–1), 6–7(1–7), 6–4
Win	1982	Australian Open (2)	Grass	Steve Denton	6–3, 6–3, 6–2

Career finals

Singles (14 titles, 13 runner-ups)

Result	W/L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	0–1	Sep 1978	Hartford, U.S.	Carpet	John McEnroe	2–6, 4–6
Win	1–1	Feb 1979	Sarasota, U.S.	Carpet	Rick Meyer	7–6, 6–2
Loss	1–2	Oct 1979	Basel, Switzerland	Hard (i)	Brian Gottfried	5–7, 1–6, 6–4, 3–6
Loss	1–3	Mar 1980	Frankfurt, Germany	Carpet (i)	Stan Smith	6–2, 6–7, 2–6
Loss	1–4	Aug 1980	Stowe, U.S.	Hard	Bob Lutz	3–6, 1–6
Win	2–4	Jan 1981	Monterrey WCT, Mexico	Carpet (i)	Vitas Gerulaitis	7–6, 3–6, 7–6
Loss	2–5	May 1981	WCT Finals, Dallas	Carpet (i)	John McEnroe	1–6, 2–6, 4–6
Win	3–5	Jul 1981	Newport, U.S.	Grass	Hank Pfister	3–6, 6–3, 7–5
Win	4–5	Jan 1982	Australian Open, Melbourne	Grass	Steve Denton	6–2, 7–6, 6–7, 6–4
Win	5–5	Feb 1982	Memphis, U.S.	Hard (i)	John McEnroe	6–3, 3–6, 6–4
Loss	5–6	Feb 1982	Monterrey, Mexico	Carpet	Jimmy Connors	2–6, 6–3, 3–6
Win	6–6	Aug 1982	La Costa WCT, U.S.	Hard	Roscoe Tanner	6–0, 4–6, 6–0, 6–4
Win	7–6	Dec 1982	Australian Open, Melbourne	Grass	Steve Denton	6–3, 6–3, 6–2
Loss	7–7	Apr 1983	Los Angeles, U.S.	Hard	Gene Mayer	6–7, 1–6
Win	8–7	May 1983	Tampa, U.S.	Carpet	Bob Lutz	6–2, 6–4
Win	9–7	Jun 1983	Bristol, UK	Grass	Tom Gullikson	7–6, 7–5
Win	10–7	Nov 1983	Johannesburg, South Africa	Hard	Colin Dowdeswell	6–4, 4–6, 1–6, 7–5, 6–3
Loss	10–8	Mar 1984	Boca West, U.S.	Hard	Jimmy Connors	5–7, 4–6
Win	11–8	Jun 1984	Bristol, UK	Grass	Brian Teacher	6–7, 7–6, 6–4
Win	12–8	Aug 1984	Livingston, U.S.	Hard	Michael Westphal	6–2, 6–4
Win	13–8	May 1985	Las Vegas, U.S.	Hard	Jimmy Arias	4–6, 6–3, 6–4, 6–2
Loss	13–9	Jun 1985	London Queen's Club, UK	Grass	Boris Becker	2–6, 3–6
Loss	13–10	Sep 1985	San Francisco, U.S.	Hard (i)	Stefan Edberg	4–6, 2–6
Win	14–10	Jul 1987	Livingston, U.S.	Hard	Christian Saceanu	7–6, 3–6, 6–2
Loss	14–11	Jul 1988	Schenectady, U.S.	Hard	Tim Mayotte	7–5, 3–6, 2–6
Loss	14–12	Oct 1988	San Francisco, U.S.	Hard (i)	Michael Chang	2–6, 3–6
Loss	14–13	Feb 1989	Memphis, U.S.	Hard (i)	Brad Gilbert	2–6, 2–6, ret.

Doubles (8 titles, 7 runner-ups)

Result	W/L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1–0	Feb 1980	Richmond WCT, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Fritz Buehning	Brian Gottfried Frew McMillan	3–6, 6–3, 7–6
Loss	1–1	Oct 1980	Sydney Indoor, Australia	Hard (i)	Tim Gullikson	Peter Fleming John McEnroe	6–4, 1–6, 2–6
Loss	1–2	Jan 1981	Monterrey WCT, Mexico	Carpet	Russell Simpson	Kevin Curren Steve Denton	6–7, 2–6
Loss	1–3	Jun 1981	Bristol, UK	Grass	John Austin	Billy Martin Russell Simpson	6–3, 3–6, 10–12
Win	2–3	Aug 1981	Stowe, U.S.	Hard	Larry Stefanki	Brian Gottfried Bob Lutz	2–6, 6–1, 6–2
Win	3–3	May 1982	Forest Hills WCT, U.S.	Clay	Tracy Delatte	Dick Stockton Erik van Dillen	6–3, 7–6
Win	4–3	Aug 1982	La Costa WCT, U.S.	Hard	Fritz Buehning	Bob Lutz Raúl Ramírez	3–6, 7–6, 6–3
Loss	4–4	Feb 1983	Delray Beach WCT, U.S.	Clay	Anand Amritraj	Pavel Složil Tomáš Šmíd	6–7, 4–6
Loss	4–5	Apr 1983	Las Vegas, U.S.	Hard	Tracy Delatte	Kevin Curren Steve Denton	3–6, 5–7
Win	5–5	May 1983	Forest Hills WCT, U.S.	Clay	Tracy Delatte	Kevin Curren Steve Denton	7–6, 1–6, 6–1
Loss	5–6	Jun 1983	Bristol, UK	Grass	Tom Gullikson	John Alexander John Fitzgerald	5–7, 4–6
Loss	5–7	Nov 1983	Stockholm, Sweden	Hard (i)	Peter Fleming	Anders Järryd Hans Simonsson	6–7, 5–7
Win	6–7	Apr 1985	Chicago, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Yannick Noah	Ken Flach Robert Seguso	3–6, 4–6, 7–5, 6–1, 6–4
Win	7–7	Feb 1988	Philadelphia, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Kelly Evernden	Kevin Curren Danie Visser	7–6, 6–3
Win	8–7	Apr 1988	Tokyo Outdoor, Japan	Hard	John Fitzgerald	Steve Denton David Pate	6–4, 6–4

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

Key

W

F

SF

QF

#R

RR

Q#

DNQ

A

NH

(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

	South Africa					United States
Tournament	1977	1978	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	SR	W–L
Australian Open	A/A	A	A	A	W	W	QF	SF	QF	NH	2R	2R	3R	A	A	A	A	A	2 / 8	25–6
French Open	A	A	1R	A	A	A	A	A	A	SF	1R	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 3	4–3
Wimbledon	A	2R	3R	3R	QF	QF	3R	4R	3R	2R	4R	1R	1R	A	1R	A	A	A	0 / 13	24–13
US Open	A	QF	QF	SF	3R	3R	4R	3R	2R	3R	3R	3R	1R	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 12	29–12
Win–loss	0–0	5–2	6–3	7–2	12–2	12–2	8–3	9–3	6–3	7–3	5–4	3–3	2–3	0–0	0–1	0–0	0–0	0–0	2 / 36	82–34
Year-end ranking	278	27	35	18	13	12	15	13	14	23	48	39	52	413	274	1097	1178	861

External links

• Johan Kriek at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Johan Kriek at the International Tennis Federation
• bio - file interview with John Kriek