Karol
Kucera
Male
Slovakia
1974-03-04
Bratislava, Czechoslovakia
He achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 6 in September 1998, reaching the semi-finals of the Australian Open the same year.
Kučera turned professional in 1992. He was a member of the Czechoslovakian Galea Cup teams in 1991 and 1992 and the 1992 European championship squad. In 1993 he qualified for his first Grand Slam at Roland Garros.
In 1995 when Kučera won his first ATP title in Rosmalen. In 1996 he played in the Summer Olympics in Atlanta where he lost to eventual gold medalist Andre Agassi.
A year later he won his second ATP title in Ostrava defeating Magnus Norman. He was runner-up in two other tournaments in Nottingham on grass to Greg Rusedski and Stuttgart Outdoor to Álex Corretja on clay.
Kučera's best year was in 1998, where he finished the year in the top 10, ranked World No. 8, which qualified him in the ATP Tour World Championship in Hannover. During the year Kučera won 2 titles in Sydney defeating Tim Henman and New Haven defeating Goran Ivanišević.
He reached another two finals, losing to Gustavo Kuerten in Stuttgart Outdoor and to World No. 1 Pete Sampras in Vienna. Overall in 1998, Kučera compiled a career high 53 match victories and earning $1,402,557.
Kučera achieved his best Grand Slam result in 1998 reaching the semi-finals of Australian Open where on his way he defeated Sergi Bruguera, Daniel Vacek, Daniel Nestor, Richard Fromberg and defending champion Pete Sampras in the quarter-finals, losing to eventual champion Petr Korda in 4 sets.
In 1999, Kučera won his fifth ATP title in Basel defeating Tim Henman in the final. After 1999, Kučera struggled with form due to a right wrist and arm injury.
After some injury plagued years, Kučera found some form again in 2003 when he finished in the top 50 for the first time since 1999. During the year he won his sixth and final tour title in Copenhagen defeating Olivier Rochus in the final.
Recently, Kučera was one of the contributing members on the Slovakian team which reached the final of the Davis Cup in 2005, eventually losing to Croatia 2–3. He announced his retirement after the final.
1993 - 2003
0
27
11
Quarterfinals
Andrew Stephen (Andy) Roddick 1 *
Karol Kucera
7-6(5)
6-3
Round 1
Karol Kucera 1 *
Wayne Hamilton Black
6-2
6-2
6-4
Round 2
Pete Sampras 1 *
Karol Kucera
7-6(9)
3-6
6-3
6-4
Quarterfinals
Cedric Adrien Pioline 1 *
Karol Kucera
6-2
6-4
Round 1
Maxim Nikolaevich Mirnyi 1 *
Karol Kucera
7-6(3)
6-3
7-6(3)
Round 4
Karol Kucera 1 *
Wayne Richard Ferreira
6-3
6-1
7-5
Quarterfinals
Nicolas Alexander Lapentti 1 *
Karol Kucera
7-6(4)
6-7(6)
6-2
0-6
8-6
Round 1
Karol Kucera 1 *
Alejandro Hernandez Julia
6-1
6-1
6-2
Round 2
Karol Kucera 1 *
André Rezende Sa
7-6(4)
6-3
6-2
Round 3
Karol Kucera 1 *
Daniel Vacek
6-1
6-3
3-6
7-6(4)
Round 4
Cedric Adrien Pioline 1 *
Karol Kucera
6-4
5-7
7-6(5)
4-6
6-3
Quarterfinals
Gustavo Kuerten 1 *
Karol Kucera
3-6
6-4
7-5
Quarterfinals
Carlos Moya 1 *
Karol Kucera
6-4
6-4
Round 4
Karol Kucera 1 *
Richard Fromberg
6-2
3-6
6-2
7-5
Quarterfinals
Karol Kucera 1 *
Pete Sampras
6-4
6-2
6-7(5)
6-3
Semifinals
Petr Korda 1 *
Karol Kucera
6-1
6-4
1-6
6-2
Round 1
Vladimir Voltchkov 1 *
Karol Kucera
7-6(6)
6-3
6-4
Round 4
Karol Kucera 1 *
Andre Kirk Agassi
6-3
6-3
6-7(5)
1-6
6-3
Quarterfinals
Pete Sampras 1 *
Karol Kucera
6-3
7-5
6-4
Round 1
Marc Rosset 1 *
Karol Kucera
7-5
6-2
6-3
Round 1
Karol Kucera 1 *
Karim Alami
6-3
6-3
6-3
Round 2
Karol Kucera 1 *
Byron Hamish Black
4-6
6-1
5-7
6-3
6-3
Round 3
Pete Sampras 1 *
Karol Kucera
6-4
6-1
6-7(5)
7-6(3)
Round 1
Karol Kucera 1 *
Marcos Ondruska
6-1
6-4
7-5
Round 2
Aaron Krickstein 1 *
Karol Kucera
6-0
7-6(5)
7-6(6)
Round 1
Brad Gilbert 1 *
Karol Kucera
6-3
7-6
4-6
6-2
Round 1
Yevgenni Kafelnikov 1 *
Karol Kucera
6-3
6-4
6-4