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General First nameTeimuraz Irakleivich
LastnameKakuliya
GenderMale
CountryUSSR
Date of birth1947-04-26
Place of birthTbilisi, Georgia
Date of death2006-08-25
Place of deathTbilisi, Georgia


About

Teimuraz Kakulia was a Soviet tennis player and Soviet/Georgian tennis coach.
He started playing tennis at the age of 11. For the most part of his tennis career he remained in the shadow of his older colleague and friend, Alex Metreveli, losing to him five times in the singles finals of the USSR tennis championships. Together they took five men's doubles titles at the Soviet championships, and Kakulia also won the tournament once with Marina Chuvyrina in mixed doubles.

Other highlights of Kakulia's career were winning bronze medals in the mixed doubles exhibition event at the 1968 Olympic Games at the age of 21; winning the tennis tournament at the 1973 Summer Universiade in singles, men's doubles and mixed doubles; and reaching 1972 Australian Open semifinals in men's doubles (with Metreveli). In singles, his best achievements were reaching 4th round at the 1976 US Open as well as victories over Eddie Dibbs and Mark Edmondson. He also won the Wimbledon Plate tournament for the players making an early exit from the main Wimbledon Championships.

In addition, Kakulia has played an integral part in the Soviet Davis Cup team victories at the Europe Zone in 1974 and 1976 after which the team advanced to the Inter-Zonal stage. As a team member, Kakulia was also a four-time European amateur champion.

In 1977, Teimuraz Kakulia was awarded the Distinguished Master of Sport of the USSR rank, the highest in the Soviet sports classification. He was only the second Soviet tennis player to join WCT, with Metreveli being the first one.

After finishing his active playing career, Kakulia focused on coaching. He was a member of the Soviet national team coaching group. Leila Meskhi, bronze medalist at the 1992 Olympics, was the most successful among his trainees. During the last 10 years of his life illness prevented from coaching.

Media


Archive statistics Career1966 - 1980
Tournament wins7
Matches229
Match wins133


Tournament wins 1976 - European Amateur Championship (Amateur)
1974 - USSR All Union Championships (Open)
1974 - International Championships of Egypt-Alexandria (Open)
1974 - Wimbledon Plate (Consolation) (Open)
1973 - Moskwa International (Open)
1973 - World University Games (Amateur)
1972 - USSR International Championships (Open)


Tournaments King's Cup - Premier Division - 1980 USSR Nationals - 1978 European Amateur Championship - 1978 European Amateur Championship - 1977 Baltimore International Indoors - 1977 Dayton Classic - 1977 Miami Classic - 1977 Australian Open - 1976 Wimbledon - 1976 US Open - 1976 Kent Championships - 1976 Wimbledon Qualifying - 1976 US Open Qualifying - 1976 USSR Nationals - 1976 European Amateur Championship - 1976 Wimbledon - 1975 South Australian Championships - 1975 Roland Garros - 1975 New South Wales Championships - 1975 US International Indoor Championships - 1975 Queensland Championships - 1975 South of England Championships - 1975 Altamira International Invitation - 1975 Charlotte - 1975 USSR Nationals - 1975 Philadelphia Indoors - 1975 WCT - St. Louis - 1975 WCT- Sao Paulo - 1975 European Amateur Championship - 1975 Denver - 1975 WCT - La Costa - 1975 Washington Indoor - II - 1975 Dayton Classic - 1975 WCT - St. Petersburg - 1975 WCT - Orlando - 1975 Moscow International - 1975 Wimbledon - 1974 Roland Garros - 1974 US Open - 1974 International Championships of Egypt - Cairo - 1974 International Championships of Egypt-Alexandria - 1974 South of England Championships - 1974 Wimbledon Plate (Consolation) - 1974 USSR All Union Championships - 1974 USSR Nationals - 1974 Australian Open - 1973 Wimbledon - 1973 Roland Garros - 1973 New South Wales Championships - 1973 International Championships of Egypt - Cairo - 1973 Kent Championships - 1973 USSR Nationals - 1973 Moskwa International - 1973 World University Games - 1973 European Amateur Championship - 1973 USSR Masters - 1973 Queens Club - Qualifying - 1973 Tasmanian Championships - 1972-2 South Australian Championships - 1972(2) Wimbledon - 1972 Roland Garros - 1972 US Open - 1972 Eastern Grass Court Championships - 1972 Queens Club Tournament - 1972 Kent Championships - 1972 Roland Garros Qualifying - 1972 USSR International Championships - 1972 USSR Nationals - 1972 USSR Indoors - 1972 Russian Spring Outdoors - 1972 Roland Garros - 1971 Roland Garros Qualifying - 1971 USSR All Union Championships - 1971 USSR International Championships - 1971 USSR Nationals - 1971 Moskwa International - 1971 Roland Garros - 1970 USSR International Championships - 1970 USSR Nationals - 1970 USSR Indoors - 1970 USSR All Union Championships - 1969 USSR Nationals - 1969 Monte Carlo - 1968 Cannes Championships - 1968 Olympics, Olympic Games - 1968 South of France Championships - 1968 Menton - 1968 Asian Championships - 1968 USSR All Union Championships - 1968 USSR International Championships - 1968 Macomber Cup - Monte Carlo 23's - 1968 Moskwa International - 1968 Brussels Cup - 1968 Olympic Exhibition - 1968 Wimbledon Qualifying - 1967 Asian Championships - 1967 USSR Nationals - 1967 USSR Indoors - 1967 Moskwa International - 1967 USSR Nationals - 1966 Central India Championships - 1966 All India Hard Courts - 1966 National and Northern India Championships - 1966 Coupe de Galea - 1966 Pakistan International Championships - 1966