Karol Kučera

Born: March 4, 1974 in Bratislava  (Západoslovenský kraj in Czechoslovakia)
Height: 1.87 m
Plays: Right-handed (two-handed backhand)

As a junior, he represented Czechoslovakia and was a member of the Galea Cup team in 1991-92. In those years he played his first ATP matches, in Praha. A protégé of Miloslav Mečíř, the gold medalist from Seoul ’88, he followed in the footsteps of his mentor, the “Big Cat,” with his own intelligent style of play – a style perfectly aligned with the technological advancements of the 1990s, which emphasized power, contrasting with the finesse and improvisation that defined Mečíř’s game a decade before. Nicknamed the “Little Cat,” Kučera became, alongside Dominik Hrbatý, the co-leader of the Slovakian squad for over a decade in various team competitions after Czechoslovakia’s dissolution in 1993 (he’s one of a few players born in the 70s to participate three times at the Olympics).
Kučera, like ten years older Mečíř, often seemed to play tennis in slow motion, yet with surgical precision. Despite not being one of the fastest players on tour, he was extremely difficult to outmaneuver from the baseline, as his anticipation allowed him to be well-prepared for his flat, well-placed strokes off both wings. Much like his tutor Mečíř, Kučera had no trouble adapting to faster surfaces (grass, carpet), frequently employing serve-and-volley tactics behind his first serve.
Early in his professional career, he was known for having a negative aces-to-double-faults ratio. This changed after he began working with Mečíř in 1997. Before that collaboration, Kučera had already claimed his first title, on grass at Rosmalen ’95, although never having won a professional match on the surface before. A year later, he pushed three-time defending champion Pete Sampras to four sets at Wimbledon, signaling his potential (just weeks after another tight four-set battle at Roland Garros against Jim Courier, during which he sprained his right ankle – a lingering injury that plagued him for the rest of his career, often forcing him to play with ankle protection).
The pinnacle of Kučera’s career came in 1998. In January, he was the hottest player on tour: first, he triumphed at the Hopman Cup (partnering with Karina Habšudová), then won the title in Sydney, and reached his only Grand Slam semifinal at the Australian Open, stunning (6-4, 6-2, 6-7, 6-3) Sampras in the quarterfinals. In the first two sets, he was passing the world’s best player with an ease that was unparalleled on hard courts in the mid-’90s. Later that year, at the US Open, he defeated the second-best player of the decade, Andre Agassi, in the fourth round (6-3, 6-3, 6-7, 1-6, 6-3). With those two victories, Kučera briefly stood atop the tennis world in a metaphorical sense. These wins gave him a legitimate belief that he could capture at least one big title. However, his best opportunity slipped away at the 1998 Grand Slam Cup in München. He lost a semifinal match he should have won against Agassi, while Marcelo Ríos awaited in the final. At the time, Kucera led their Head-to-Head 3:2, making it a golden opportunity. His most significant title ultimately came in Basel ’99, where he survived one of the tightest ATP finals of the decade, defeating his most frequent (6-5 H2H including a dead DC rubber) opponent Tim Henman 6-4, 7-6, 4-6, 4-6, 7-6 in a four-hour battle – despite winning three points fewer than the Brit.
By 2005, at the age of 31, he played his farewell season, actually only the second half of it. His previous year had been the least successful since 1993, and for years he had struggled with wrist and arm injuries. That final season was largely unremarkable, but in an unexpected twist, he nearly concluded his career in a dream scenario. Slovakia reached the Davis Cup final, primarily thanks to Hrbatý and Karol Beck (b. 1982). However, Beck was suspended for using illegal substances, forcing Kučera into the opening rubber against Ivan Ljubičić, which he lost quickly. On the deciding Sunday, with a chance to play his final match in a career-defining moment, his former coach Mečíř instead appointed Michal Mertiňák – a player with no experience at the highest level, who lost in straight sets to Mario Ančić. It marked the third time that a widely recognized player, in the twilight of his career, was not ready to compete in a crucial rubber that could have secured a Davis Cup title for his country (following Stefan Edberg 1996 and Patrick Rafter 2001).

Career record: 293–244 [ 237 events ]
Career titles: 6
Highest ranking: No. 6
Best GS results:
Australian Open (semifinal 1998; quarterfinal 1999)
US Open (quarterfinal 1998)
Hopman Cup champion 1998
World Team Cup champion 2000