Stefan Kozlov (Russian: Стефан Козлов, /ˈstɛfɑːn ˈkɒzlɒv/ STEF-ahn KOZ-lov;[1][2] born February 1, 1998) is an American professional tennis player of Russian descent. He has a career-high ATP ranking of world No. 103 achieved on 18 July 2022 and doubles ranking of world No. 180 on 19 June 2017.
.jpg) Kozlov at the 2022 BNP Paribas Primrose Bordeaux | |
| Country (sports) |  United States |
|---|---|
| Residence | Pembroke Pines, Florida, United States |
| Born | 1 February 1998 Skopje, Republic of Macedonia |
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) |
| Turned pro | 2013 |
| Plays | Right-handed (two-handed backhand) |
| Prize money | $1,005,853 |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 9–26 (25.7%) |
| Career titles | 0 |
| Highest ranking | No. 103 (July 18, 2022) |
| Current ranking | No. 653 (March 18, 2024) |
| Grand Slam singles results | |
| Australian Open | 2R (2022) |
| French Open | Q2 (2017) |
| Wimbledon | 1R (2022) |
| US Open | 1R (2022) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 0–5 |
| Career titles | 0 |
| Highest ranking | No. 180 (June 19, 2017) |
| Grand Slam doubles results | |
| US Open | 1R (2014) |
| Last updated on: March 30, 2024. | |
Kozlov made his ATP World Tour debut as a wildcard in 2013 Hall of Fame Tennis Championships at the age of 15. He reached two junior Grand Slam finals in 2014 and finished the year at World No. 3 in the ITF Junior Combined rankings.
Personal life
editHe is the son of Russian parents and his father Andrei is a tennis coach.[3][4]He has a brother, Boris, who is also a tennis player.
Junior career
editIn 2014, Kozlov reached two junior Grand Slam finals, where he lost to Alexander Zverev at the Australian Open and Noah Rubin at Wimbledon. This success led him to a career high junior ranking of No. 2.[5] Kozlov also competed at the U18 National Championships, finishing in third place in the singles tournament and winning the doubles tournament with Noah Rubin. With this victory, they earned a wildcard into the main draw of the 2014 US Open. He ended the year by winning the Orange Bowl junior tournament.[6]
In 2015, Kozlov reached the final of the U18 National Championships, where he lost to Frances Tiafoe in five sets.
Professional career
editEarly years
edit.jpg)
In 2013, Kozlov made his ATP World Tour debut as a wildcard at the Newport tournament and lost in the first round. At the age of 16, he defeated his first Top 100 player in Tim Smyczek to reach his first ATP Challenger final in 2014 in Sacramento, where he lost to Sam Querrey. He also reached seven career ITF Futures finals and won four of these finals.
2016-17: First ATP win and quarterfinal, Two Challenger titles
editIn April, Kozlov reached the final at the Open de Guadeloupe. In June, he won his first career ATP level match as a wildcard at the 2016 Ricoh Open in Den Bosch. He reached his first career quarterfinal by defeating Steve Johnson in the second round. Toward the end of the season, Kozlov reached a second Challenger final on the year at Suzhou. He won his first career Challenger event in Columbus. He won his second title at the 2017 Las Vegas Challenger.
2021: First three Challenger titles since 2017, return to top 200 since 2018
editIn September, at the 2021 Columbus Challenger, Kozlov won his first title in four years, defeating Max Purcell in the final in three sets.[7] At the same tournament he won also in doubles partnering Canadian Peter Polansky. He followed this by a final at the 2021 Las Vegas Challenger and a second Challenger title for the season at the 2021 Charlottesville Men's Pro Challenger, defeating another Australian Aleksandar Vukic. As a result, he returned to the top 200 in more than three years at No. 188 on November 8, 2021.[8] He ended the year with winning his third Challenger in Champaign, US. As a result he finished the year ranked World No. 159 on 22 November 2021.
2022: Grand Slam debut & first win, second ATP quarterfinal & career-high ranking
editAt the 2022 Australian Open he made his debut as a wildcard and won his first Grand Slam match against Jiří Veselý. He lost in the second round to 7th seed Matteo Berrettini.[9]
As a qualifier at the 2022 Delray Beach Open, he reached his second career quarterfinal after defeating Emilio Gómez[10] and Steve Johnson.[11]
Ranked No. 130 at the 2022 Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco, he reached the main draw as lucky loser and defeated Grigor Dimitrov in a stunning upset in three sets after fighting cramps, in the longest match in Acapulco history. It was the biggest win in his career.[12][13]
At the 2022 Wimbledon Championships, he made his debut at this Major[14] when he entered the main draw as a lucky loser after the late withdrawal of Borna Ćorić.[15] Kozlov lost in straight sets to 12th seed Diego Schwartzman. He reached a new career high ranking of No. 103 on 18 July 2022.
ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals
editSingles: 18 (9–9)
edit
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|
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 0–1 | Oct 2014 | Sacramento, USA | Challenger | Hard |  Sam Querrey | 3–6, 4–6 |
| Loss | 0–2 | May 2015 | USA F15, Orange Park | Futures | Hard |  Darian King | 2–6, 6–3, 0–6 |
| Loss | 0–3 | May 2015 | Mexico F3, Mexico City | Futures | Hard |  Iván Endara | 1–6, 6–7(3–7) |
| Loss | 0–4 | Oct 2015 | Belarus F3, Minsk | Futures | Hard (i) |  Dzmitry Zhyrmont | 1–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 1–4 | Oct 2015 | Belarus F4, Minsk | Futures | Hard (i) | Dzmitry Zhyrmont | 6–1, 7–6(7–1) |
| Win | 2–4 | Jan 2016 | USA F1, Los Angeles | Futures | Hard |  Philip Bester | 7–6(9–7), 6–7(3–7), 6–3 |
| Win | 3–4 | Mar 2016 | Canada F2, Sherbrooke | Futures | Hard (i) |  Lloyd Glasspool | 4–6, 6–4, 6–4 |
| Loss | 3–5 | Apr 2016 | Le Gosier, Guadeloupe | Challenger | Hard |  Malek Jaziri | 2–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 4–5 | Apr 2016 | USA F13, Little Rock | Futures | Hard | Eric Quigley | 6–7(3–7), 6–3, 7–6(12–10) |
| Loss | 4–6 | Oct 2016 | Suzhou, China | Challenger | Hard |  Lu Yen-hsun | 0–6, 1–6 |
| Win | 5–6 | Nov 2016 | Columbus, USA | Challenger | Hard (i) | Tennys Sandgren | 6–1, 2–6, 6–2 |
| Win | 6–6 | Oct 2017 | Las Vegas, USA | Challenger | Hard | Liam Broady | 3–6, 7–5, 6–4 |
| Loss | 6–7 | Mar 2019 | M25 Calabasas, USA | World Tennis Tour | Hard | Alexander Ritschard | 2–6, 6–0, 6–7(5–7) |
| Win | 7–7 | Sep 2021 | Columbus, USA | Challenger | Hard (i) |  Max Purcell | 4–6, 6–2, 6–4 |
| Loss | 7–8 | Oct 2021 | Las Vegas, USA | Challenger | Hard | J. J. Wolf | 4–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 8–8 | Nov 2021 | Charlottesville, USA | Challenger | Hard (i) | Aleksandar Vukic | 6–2, 6–3 |
| Win | 9–8 | Nov 2021 | Champaign, USA | Challenger | Hard (i) | Aleksandar Vukic | 5–7, 6–3, 6–4 |
| Loss | 9–9 | Oct 2022 | Las Vegas, USA | Challenger | Hard | Tennys Sandgren | 5–7, 3–6 |
Doubles: 13 (6–7)
edit
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|
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 1–0 | Nov 2013 | USA F31, Bradenton | Futures | Clay | Sekou Bangoura | Devin McCarthy Tommy Mylnikov | 6–2, 6–4 |
| Loss | 1–1 | May 2014 | Spain F10, Vic | Futures | Clay | Noah Rubin |  Sergio Martos Gornés Pol Toledo Bagué | 2–6, 5–7 |
| Win | 2–1 | Jan 2015 | Maui, USA | Challenger | Hard | Jared Donaldson | Chase Buchanan Rhyne Williams | 6–3, 6–4 |
| Loss | 2–2 | Oct 2015 | Croatia F18, Solin | Futures | Clay |  Nino Serdarušić |  Zdeněk Kolář Tomas Toman | 4–6, 6–2, [6–10] |
| Win | 3–2 | Mar 2016 | Canada F1, Gatineau | Futures | Hard (i) |  Kaichi Uchida |  Sebastian Fanselow Adrian Sikora | 7–6(7–5), 6–3 |
| Win | 4–2 | Jul 2016 | Winnetka, USA | Challenger | Hard | John-Patrick Smith | Sekou Bangoura David O'Hare | 6–3, 6–3 |
| Loss | 4–3 | Sep 2016 | Cary, USA | Challenger | Hard | Austin Krajicek | Philip Bester Peter Polansky | 2–6, 2–6 |
| Loss | 4–4 | Oct 2016 | Ningbo, China | Challenger | Hard | Akira Santillan |  Jonathan Eysseric Sergiy Stakhovsky | 4–6, 6–7(4–7) |
| Loss | 4–5 | Apr 2017 | Sarasota, USA | Challenger | Clay | Peter Polansky | Scott Lipsky Jürgen Melzer | 2–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 5–5 | Jul 2021 | Lexington, USA | Challenger | Hard | Liam Draxl | Alex Rybakov Reese Stalder | 6–2, 6–7(5–7), [10–7] |
| Loss | 5–6 | Sep 2021 | Cary, USA | Challenger | Hard | Peter Polansky | William Blumberg Max Schnur | 4–6, 6–1, [4–10] |
| Win | 6–6 | Sep 2021 | Columbus, USA | Challenger | Hard (i) | Peter Polansky | Andrew Lutschaunig James Trotter | 7–5, 7–6(7–5) |
| Loss | 6–7 | Mar 2024 | Mérida, Mexico | Challenger | Clay | Boris Kozlov | Thomas Fancutt Hunter Reese | 5–7, 3–6 |
Junior Grand Slam finals
editSingles: 2 (2 runner-ups)
edit| Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 2014 | Australian Open | Hard | Alexander Zverev | 3–6, 0–6 |
| Loss | 2014 | Wimbledon | Grass | Noah Rubin | 6–4, 4–6, 3–6 |
Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)
edit| Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 2014 | Wimbledon | Grass |  Andrey Rublev |  Orlando Luz Marcelo Zormann | 4–6, 6–3, 6–8 |
References
edit- ^ "The pronunciation by Stefan Kozlov himself". ATPWorldTour.com. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
- ^ RacquetComedy (January 27, 2015). "AFULL INTERVIEW: Stefan Kozlov". YouTube. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
- ^ Michelle Kaufman (July 9, 2013). "Floridian Kozlov on the rise". Miami Herald. Retrieved October 27, 2017.
- ^ Konigsberg, Eric (August 22, 2014). "Can U.S. Men's Tennis Rise Again?". The New York Times.
- ^ "Stefan Kozlov junior profile". Retrieved October 27, 2017.
- ^ Michelle Kaufman (December 14, 2014). "Kozlov wins long-awaited Orange Bowl". Miami Herald. Retrieved October 27, 2017.
- ^ "Kozlov Returns to Winners' Circle in Columbus". September 27, 2021.
- ^ "Challenger Chat: Inside Kozlov's Journey Back to Titletown | ATP Tour | Tennis".
- ^ "Matteo Berrettini Sinks Stefan Kozlov, Sets Carlos Alcaraz Clash in Melbourne | ATP Tour | Tennis".
- ^ "Sebastian Korda Defeats Thanasi Kokkinakis in Delray Opener | ATP Tour | Tennis".
- ^ "Stefan Kozlov hopes to break out of American tennis hopefuls".
- ^ "Stefan Kozlov Beats Grigor Dimitrov in Acapulco Marathon | ATP Tour | Tennis".
- ^ "Kozlov's Acapulco Odyssey: Jet Ski Rescue, Borrowed Clothes & Standing up Rafa | ATP Tour | Tennis".
- ^ "Stefan Kozlov Advances to Final Day of Wimbledon Qualifying | ATP Tour | Tennis".
- ^ "Coric withdraws from Wimbledon with shoulder injury". Reuters. June 25, 2022.
