Johan Kriek

Johan Kriek

Country (sports)	South Africa   United States (1982–)
Residence	Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, Florida, U.S.
Born	(1958-04-05) April 5, 1958 (age 67) Pongola, South Africa
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Turned pro	1978
Retired	1994
Plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Prize money	$2,383,794
Singles
Career record	376–222 (62.9%)
Career titles	14
Highest ranking	No. 7 (September 10, 1984)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	W (1981, 1982)
French Open	SF (1986)
Wimbledon	QF (1981, 1982)
US Open	SF (1980)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals	QF (1982, 1983, 1984, 1985)
WCT Finals	F (1981)
Doubles
Career record	206–173 (54.4%)
Career titles	8
Highest ranking	No. 12 (August 15, 1988)

Johan Christiaan Kriek (born April 5, 1958) is a South African–American former professional tennis player. He won two Australian Open titles, beating Steve Denton in four sets in the 1981 final ^[1] and the same opponent in the 1982 final in straight sets, when he tamed Denton's cannonball serve and "relentlessly whipped winners past him from all angles of the court". ^[1] He reached the semifinals at the French Open and US Open, as well as the quarterfinals of the Wimbledon Championships. Kriek won 14 professional singles and eight doubles titles, reaching a career-high singles ranking of world No. 7 in September 1984.

He attended Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (Afrikaans High School for Boys, also known as Affies), a public school located in Pretoria.

Kriek became a naturalized American citizen in August 1982. He currently resides in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida with his wife, Daga and their children Karolina and Kristian. ^[2]

Grand Slam finals

Singles: (2 titles)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1981	Australian Open	Grass	Steve Denton	6–2, 7–6(7–1), 6–7(1–7), 6–4
Win	1982	Australian Open (2)	Grass	Steve Denton	6–3, 6–3, 6–2

Career finals

Singles (14 titles, 13 runner-ups)

Result	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1.	1978	Hartford, U.S.	Carpet	John McEnroe	2–6, 4–6
Win	1.	1979	Sarasota, U.S.	Carpet	Rick Meyer	7–6, 6–2
Loss	2.	1979	Basel, Switzerland	Hard (i)	Brian Gottfried	5–7, 1–6, 6–4, 3–6
Loss	3.	1980	Frankfurt, Germany	Carpet (i)	Stan Smith	6–2, 6–7, 2–6
Loss	4.	1980	Stowe, U.S.	Hard	Bob Lutz	3–6, 1–6
Win	2.	1981	Monterrey WCT, Mexico	Carpet (i)	Vitas Gerulaitis	7–6, 3–6, 7–6
Loss	5.	1981	WCT Finals, Dallas	Carpet (i)	John McEnroe	1–6, 2–6, 4–6
Win	3.	1981	Newport, U.S.	Grass	Hank Pfister	3–6, 6–3, 7–5
Win	4.	1981	Australian Open, Melbourne	Grass	Steve Denton	6–2, 7–6, 6–7, 6–4
Win	5.	1982	Memphis, U.S.	Hard (i)	John McEnroe	6–3, 3–6, 6–4
Loss	6.	1982	Monterrey, Mexico	Carpet	Jimmy Connors	2–6, 6–3, 3–6
Win	6.	1982	La Costa WCT, U.S.	Hard	Roscoe Tanner	6–0, 4–6, 6–0, 6–4
Win	7.	1982	Australian Open, Melbourne	Grass	Steve Denton	6–3, 6–3, 6–2
Loss	7.	1983	Los Angeles, U.S.	Hard	Gene Mayer	6–7, 1–6
Win	8.	1983	Tampa, U.S.	Carpet	Bob Lutz	6–2, 6–4
Win	9.	1983	Bristol, UK	Grass	Tom Gullikson	7–6, 7–5
Win	10.	1983	Johannesburg, South Africa	Hard	Colin Dowdeswell	6–4, 4–6, 1–6, 7–5, 6–3
Loss	8.	1984	Boca West, U.S.	Hard	Jimmy Connors	5–7, 4–6
Win	11.	1984	Bristol, UK	Grass	Brian Teacher	6–7, 7–6, 6–4
Win	12.	1984	Livingston, U.S.	Hard	Michael Westphal	6–2, 6–4
Win	13.	1985	Las Vegas, U.S.	Hard	Jimmy Arias	4–6, 6–3, 6–4, 6–2
Loss	9.	1985	London Queen's Club, UK	Grass	Boris Becker	2–6, 3–6
Loss	10.	1985	San Francisco, U.S.	Hard (i)	Stefan Edberg	4–6, 2–6
Win	14.	1987	Livingston, U.S.	Hard	Christian Saceanu	7–6, 3–6, 6–2
Loss	11.	1988	Schenectady, U.S.	Hard	Tim Mayotte	7–5, 3–6, 2–6
Loss	12.	1988	San Francisco, U.S.	Hard (i)	Michael Chang	2–6, 3–6
Loss	13.	1989	Memphis, U.S.	Hard (i)	Brad Gilbert	2–6, 2–6, ret.

Doubles (8 titles, 7 runner-ups)

Result	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1.	1980	Richmond WCT, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Fritz Buehning	Brian Gottfried Frew McMillan	3–6, 6–3, 7–6
Loss	1.	1980	Sydney Indoor, Australia	Hard (i)	Tim Gullikson	Peter Fleming John McEnroe	6–4, 1–6, 2–6
Loss	2.	1981	Monterrey WCT, Mexico	Carpet	Russell Simpson	Kevin Curren Steve Denton	6–7, 2–6
Loss	3.	1981	Bristol, UK	Grass	John Austin	Billy Martin Russell Simpson	6–3, 3–6, 10–12
Win	2.	1981	Stowe, U.S.	Hard	Larry Stefanki	Brian Gottfried Bob Lutz	2–6, 6–1, 6–2
Win	3.	1982	Forest Hills WCT, U.S.	Clay	Tracy Delatte	Dick Stockton Erik van Dillen	6–3, 7–6
Win	4.	1982	La Costa WCT, U.S.	Hard	Fritz Buehning	Bob Lutz Raúl Ramírez	3–6, 7–6, 6–3
Loss	4.	1983	Delray Beach WCT, U.S.	Clay	Anand Amritraj	Pavel Složil Tomáš Šmíd	6–7, 4–6
Loss	5.	1983	Las Vegas, U.S.	Hard	Tracy Delatte	Kevin Curren Steve Denton	3–6, 5–7
Win	5.	1983	Forest Hills WCT, U.S.	Clay	Tracy Delatte	Kevin Curren Steve Denton	7–6, 1–6, 6–1
Loss	6.	1983	Bristol, UK	Grass	Tom Gullikson	John Alexander John Fitzgerald	5–7, 4–6
Loss	7.	1983	Stockholm, Sweden	Hard (i)	Peter Fleming	Anders Järryd Hans Simonsson	6–7, 5–7
Win	6.	1985	Chicago, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Yannick Noah	Ken Flach Robert Seguso	3–6, 4–6, 7–5, 6–1, 6–4
Win	7.	1988	Philadelphia, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Kelly Evernden	Kevin Curren Danie Visser	7–6, 6–3
Win	8.	1988	Tokyo Outdoor, Japan	Hard	John Fitzgerald	Steve Denton David Pate	6–4, 6–4

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

Key

W

F

SF

QF

#R

RR

Q#

DNQ

A

NH

(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

	South Africa					United States
Tournament	1977	1978	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	SR	W–L
Australian Open	A/A	A	A	A	W	W	QF	SF	QF	NH	2R	2R	3R	A	A	A	A	A	2 / 8	25–6
French Open	A	A	1R	A	A	A	A	A	A	SF	1R	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 3	4–3
Wimbledon	A	2R	3R	3R	QF	QF	3R	4R	3R	2R	4R	1R	1R	A	1R	A	A	A	0 / 13	24–13
US Open	A	QF	QF	SF	3R	3R	4R	3R	2R	3R	3R	3R	1R	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 12	29–12
Win–loss	0–0	5–2	6–3	7–2	12–2	12–2	8–3	9–3	6–3	7–3	5–4	3–3	2–3	0–0	0–1	0–0	0–0	0–0	2 / 36	82–34
Year-end ranking	278	27	35	18	13	12	15	13	14	23	48	39	52	413	274	1097	1178	861

References

1. "Johan Kriek wins Australian Open". Gainesville Sun . December 14, 1982. Retrieved August 23, 2025.
2. "Kriek Tops Gullikson". The New York Times. June 20, 1983. Retrieved September 21, 2013.

External links

• Johan Kriek at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Johan Kriek at the International Tennis Federation
• bio - file interview with John Kriek