player – Tennisarchives.com

General First nameKurt
LastnameNielsen
GenderMale
CountryDenmark
Date of birth1930-11-19
Place of birthCopenhagen, Denmark
Date of death2011-06-11
Place of deathCopenhagen, Denmark

About

Kurt Nielsen was born in the Danish capital, Copenhagen, in November 1930. He was the son of Emil Wilhelm Nielsen (1899-1986) and Vera Alfi Nielsen (née Jensen; b. 1902). As a teenager, Kurt Nielsen won the boys’ singles event at Wimbledon in 1947, beating the Swedish player Sven Davidson in the final by the score of 8-6, 6-1, 9-7. One year later, in 1948, Nielsen also won the boys’ singles event at the International French Championships in Paris.

In 1953, at the age of 22, Nielsen reached the men’s singles final at Wimbledon as an unseeded player, notably beating the top seed, Ken Rosewall, and the no. 4 seed, Jaroslav Drobny, along the way. In the final Nielsen was beaten by the no. 2 seed, Vic Seixas, 9-7, 6-3, 6-4. This was the first time any Danish player had reached the final of a main event at one of the four majors.

Two years later, in 1955, Nielsen again reached the final of the men’s singles event at Wimbledon as an unseeded player, again beating Rosewall, who was the no. 2 seed, along the way. In the final Nielsen was defeated by the top seed, Tony Trabert, 6-3, 7-5, 6-1.

Together with Althea Gibson, Nielsen notably won the mixed doubles event at the U.S. Championships in 1957. In the final they beat Darlene Hard and Robert Howe, 6-3, 9-7. This made Nielsen the first Dane to win a title at one of the four majors. In 1958, he and Gibson also reached the final of the mixed doubles event at Wimbledon, where they lost to Lorraine Coghlan and Howe. That same year, Nielsen, the no. 6 seed, reached the semi-finals of the men’s singles event at Wimbledon where he lost to the no. 4 seed, Neale Fraser, in four sets.

Kurt Nielsen was Denmark’s top male player for most of the period extending from 1948 to 1960. During this time, he won 49 titles at the Danish National Championships (indoor and outdoor tournaments combined). At the indoor tournament, he won the men’s singles and the men’s doubles titles eight times each, and the mixed doubles title nine times. At the outdoor tournament, he won the men’s singles, men’s doubles and mixed doubles title eight times each. Nielsen also represented his country in the Davis Cup during the same period, winning 43 singles and 11 doubles matches. He turned professional in 1960.

After retiring from professional tennis Nielsen worked for a number of tennis associations and was also the supervisor and referee at some of the four major tournaments. He also worked as a commentator for Eurosport in Denmark until late 2006.

In July 2012, one year after Kurt Nielsen’s death, his grandson Frederik Løchte Nielsen became the second Danish player to win a title at one of the majors when he and Jonathan Marray, a wildcard team, won seven matches and beat four seeded teams to claim the men’s doubles title at Wimbledon.

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