Stefan Koubek

Last updated
Stefan Koubek
Stefan Koubek 1.jpg
Country (sports)Flag of Austria.svg  Austria
Residence Vienna, Austria
Born (1977-01-02) 2 January 1977 (age 48)
Klagenfurt, Austria
Height1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Turned pro1994
Retired2011
PlaysLeft-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money $3,365,024
Singles
Career record215–253
Career titles3
Highest rankingNo. 20 (13 March 2000)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open QF (2002)
French Open 4R (1999)
Wimbledon 2R (2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009)
US Open 3R (2004, 2007)
Doubles
Career record20–41
Career titles1
Highest rankingNo. 94 (23 July 2007)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open 1R (2007, 2008)
French Open 1R (2007)
Wimbledon 1R (2009)
US Open 1R (2003, 2007)
Last updated on: 17 April 2022.

Stefan Koubek (born 2 January 1977) is a retired tennis player from Austria. Koubek played left-handed with a double-handed backhand. His idol when growing up was Thomas Muster. Koubek won three titles, two of which came on hardcourts; despite this, he said his favorite surface was clay. [1]

Contents

Koubek reached the quarterfinals of the 2002 Australian Open and the 2002 Hamburg Masters, attaining a career-high singles ranking of World No. 20 in March 2000. Koubek tested positive for glucocorticosteroids at the 2004 French Open after receiving an injection for an injured wrist; he was subsequently suspended for three months.

His nickname is Cooley or Stef.

Early life

Koubek had his first experience on the tennis court as a 2.5-year-old, where his parents were playing as a hobby. He started practicing with a coach at the age of six on the Villacher Arbeitersportverein (VAS) courts in St. Martin, Villach. Koubek won his first smaller tournament at the age of nine and later won the national vice championship title in the U10 class. After completing his elementary and secondary school education in Villach, Koubek went to a business school in Klagenfurt for a year while training at Sportunion Klagenfurt. Koubek became a national indoors champion in the U16 class, gaining an entry into the Austrian Tennis Association. [2]

Tennis career

Koubek turned professional in 1994, losing his first match in St Pölten. Between 1994 and 1998, Koubek mostly played in ATP Futures and ATP Challenger Series events.

In 1997 he jumped up 184 positions in the rankings, thanks to good results in Challenger tournaments, reaching finals in Ulm and Alpirsbach. 1998 saw Koubek win his first Challenger event in Alpirsbach; later that same year he lost to Younes El Aynaoui in the final of Maia. Koubek compiled a 33–20 record for the year.

Koubek won his first ATP title in 1999 in Atlanta as a qualifier. He achieved this losing only one set in the whole tournament, overcoming Sébastien Grosjean in the final in straight sets. Koubek reached the fourth round in his French Open debut, losing to Àlex Corretja; to date, this is his best performance at this event. Koubek made the final of Bournemouth, losing to Adrian Voinea, and helped his country Austria back into the World Group of Davis Cup by defeating Sweden 3–2 in a promotion tie. Koubek was second only to Albert Costa in wins on clay during the 1999 season, with 28 match victories.

In 2000 Koubek won his second title in the hardcourts at Delray Beach, defeating Álex Calatrava. He reached the semi-finals at Mexico City, losing to Juan Ignacio Chela. He reached his highest singles rank to date on March 13, 2000, when he became World No. 20. At the 2000 French Open, in his match against Attila Sávolt (the score being 2-1 sets and 5-2 games in favour of his opponent), after having already received three warnings for various transgressions, Koubek was disqualified due to throwing his racket and accidentally hitting a ball boy. [3]

Koubek started off 2002 with his best ever performance at a Grand Slam tournament by making the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. In the first round, Koubek came back from a 0–6 1–6 1–4 15–40 deficit to eventually defeat Cyril Saulnier, 0–6 1–6 7–6 6–4 8–6. In the next round, he again came back from two sets to love down against James Blake, winning in five sets. Koubek then defeated Kristian Pless and Fernando González in the third and fourth rounds, before losing to Jiří Novák in the quarterfinals.

In the remainder of 2002, Koubek's best result was a quarterfinal appearance at the Hamburg Masters, losing to Tommy Robredo. Koubek then finished the year with seven consecutive first-round losses.

Koubek rebounded in 2003 by winning his third career title in Doha. Koubek won the tournament without dropping a set, defeating Jan-Michael Gambill in the final, and briefly holding the top spot in the ATP Champions Race. Koubek's form remained inconsistent, again losing seven consecutive first-round matches after his victory in Doha, before making the semi-finals in Munich, where he lost to Roger Federer. In Davis Cup, Koubek defeated the Belgian brothers Christophe and Olivier Rochus to help return Austria to the World Group.

Koubek made the third round at the 2004 French Open before losing to David Nalbandian. In Thomas Muster's debut as Davis Cup captain, Koubek was instrumental in preserving Austria's status in the World Group, winning both singles matches over Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski.

Koubek tested positive for glucocorticosteroids at the 2004 French Open after receiving an injection for an injured wrist; he was subsequently suspended for three months. The ITF rejected Koubek's appeal of the suspension, but acknowledged that Koubek had not used the drugs to enhance performance. [4] Koubek forfeited his points and prize money from Roland Garros, but his results before Roland Garros were not disqualified. [5]

As a result of injuries and his suspension, Koubek struggled in 2005, and his ranking fell outside the top 100. Koubek spent most of the year playing events on the Challenger circuit. His best results on the tour were a third round in Kitzbühel, losing to Nicolás Massú, and a semifinal in the Helsinki Challenger, where he lost to Björn Rehnquist.

At the start of 2006, Koubek was ranked 182nd in the world. Koubek played a mixture of Challengers and ATP events during the year; as a qualifier, Koubek made the final of the ATP event in Zagreb, losing in straight sets to local favourite Ivan Ljubičić. Koubek reached the third round in Stuttgart and the Generali Open, and the semifinals in Mumbai. He finished the year ranked number 80. In doubles Koubek won his first title at the Generali Open with Philipp Kohlschreiber.

Koubek finished the 2007 season ranked in the top 50. The year began in 2007 by making the final in Chennai, losing to Xavier Malisse. At the Australian Open, he was knocked out in the first round by Wayne Arthurs, in Arthurs' final Australian Open appearance; Koubek lost the match despite leading two sets to love. He played in Austria's first-round defeat in Davis Cup, losing 4–1 to Argentina in Linz. In Sopot Koubek came back from a 6–0 4–0 deficit to defeat Agustín Calleri in three sets, where Calleri served for the match three times and saved five match points in the process, which broke a streak 21 consecutive games lost after losing 6–4 6–0 to Daniel Köllerer in Kitzbühel. Koubek was disqualified in Metz against Sébastien Grosjean while leading 4–2 in the final set after using abusive language to the tournament supervisor Thomas Karlberg while disputing a call. Koubek said he directed the "Fuck you" at the situation and not at Karlberg personally. [6]

Koubek started 2008 by making the third round at the Australian Open before falling to Paul-Henri Mathieu in five sets, a match in which he led a break of serve in each set, but was not able to close the match out. In March Koubek suffered back problems and will have surgery to alleviate bulging discs, which is a potentially career threatening injury. [7]

Koubek announced his retirement from tennis in May 2011. [8]

ATP career finals

Singles: 6 (3 titles, 3 runner-ups)

Legend
Grand Slam Tournaments (0–0)
ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
ATP Masters 1000 Series (0–0)
ATP 500 Series (0–0)
ATP 250 Series (3–3)
Finals by surface
Hard (2–1)
Clay (1–1)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–1)
Finals by setting
Outdoors (3–2)
Indoors (0–1)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScore
Win1–0 Apr 1999 Atlanta, United StatesInternational SeriesClay Flag of France.svg Sébastien Grosjean 6–1, 6–2
Loss1–1 Sep 1999 Bournemouth, United KingdomInternational SeriesClay Flag of Romania.svg Adrian Voinea 6–1, 5–7, 6–7(2–7)
Win2–1 Feb 2000 Delray Beach, United StatesInternational SeriesHard Flag of Spain.svg Álex Calatrava 6–1, 4–6, 6–4
Win3–1 Dec 2002 Doha, QatarInternational SeriesHard Flag of the United States.svg Jan-Michael Gambill 6–4, 6–4
Loss3–2 Jan 2006 Zagreb, CroatiaInternational SeriesCarpet Flag of Croatia.svg Ivan Ljubičić 3–6, 4–6
Loss3–3 Jan 2007 Chennai, IndiaInternational SeriesHard Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Xavier Malisse 1–6, 3–6

Doubles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)

Legend
Grand Slam Tournaments (0–0)
ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
ATP Masters Series (0–0)
ATP Championship Series (0–0)
ATP International Series (1–1)
Finals by surface
Hard (1–1)
Clay (0–0)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Finals by setting
Outdoors (1–1)
Indoors (0–0)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Loss0–1 Jan 2004 Doha, QatarInternational SeriesHard Flag of the United States.svg Andy Roddick Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Martin Damm
Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Cyril Suk
2–6, 4–6
Win1–1 Jul 2006 Kitzbühel, AustriaInternational SeriesHard Flag of Germany.svg Philipp Kohlschreiber Flag of Austria.svg Oliver Marach
Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Cyril Suk
6–2, 6–3

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals

Singles: 7 (2–5)

Legend
ATP Challenger (2–5)
ITF Futures (0–0)
Finals by surface
Hard (0–2)
Clay (2–3)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
ResultW–L   Date   TournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScore
Loss0-1Jul 1997 Ulm, GermanyChallengerClay Flag of Romania.svg Dinu-Mihai Pescariu 5–7, 1–6
Loss0-2Aug 1997 Alpirsbach, GermanyChallengerClay Flag of Italy.svg Fabio Maggi 4–6, 7–5, 4–6
Win1-2Sep 1998 Alpirsbach, GermanyChallengerClay Flag of Bulgaria.svg Orlin Stanoytchev 7–6, 6–4
Loss1-3Oct 1998 Oporto, PortugalChallengerClay Flag of Morocco.svg Younes El Aynaoui 6–4, 3–6, 4–6
Win2-3Nov 1998 Lima, PeruChallengerClay Flag of Argentina.svg Juan Ignacio Chela 6–3, 2–6, 6–0
Loss2-4Feb 2008 East London, South AfricaChallengerHard Flag of Croatia.svg Ivan Ljubičić 6–7(2–7), 4–6
Loss2-5Nov 2010 Bratislava, SlovakiaChallengerHard Flag of Slovakia.svg Martin Kližan 6–7(4–7), 2–6

Doubles: 1 (0–1)

Legend
ATP Challenger (0–1)
ITF Futures (0–0)
Finals by surface
Hard (0–1)
Clay (0–0)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Loss0–1Feb 2008 East London, South AfricaChallengerHard Flag of Sweden.svg Thomas Johansson Flag of Sweden.svg Jonas Björkman
Flag of Zimbabwe.svg Kevin Ullyett
2–6, 2–6

Performance timeline

Key
W F SFQF#RRRQ#DNQANH
(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.

Singles

Tournament 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 SRW–LWin%
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open AAA 1R 3R 2R QF 1R 1R A Q2 1R 3R 2R 3R Q2 0 / 1012–1055%
French Open A Q2 A 4R 2R 1R 1R 2R 3R 1R Q2 2R A 1R Q1 A0 / 98–947%
Wimbledon AAA 1R 2R 1R 2R 2R 2R 1R A 1R A 2R 1R A0 / 105–1033%
US Open AAA 1R 2R 1R 1R 2R 3R 1R 1R 3R A Q3 Q2 A0 / 96–940%
Win–loss0–00–00–03–45–41–45–43–45–40–30–13–42–12–32–20–00 / 3831–3845%
ATP World Tour Masters 1000
Indian Wells AAAA 1R 1R 2R 1R Q2 A Q1 1R AA 1R Q1 0 / 61–614%
Miami A Q1 Q1 A 2R 1R 1R 1R 2R 1R Q2 1R 1R 1R Q2 A0 / 91–910%
Monte Carlo AAAA 1R A 2R 1R A Q2 AAAA Q1 A0 / 31–325%
Rome AAAA 1R A 1R 1R 1R AAAAAAA0 / 40–40%
Hamburg Masters Q3 AAA 1R 1R QF 1R Q1 A Q1 Q2 AAAA0 / 43–443%
Madrid Not Held 1R A 2R AA 3R AAAA0 / 33–350%
Canada AAAA 2R A 3R AAAAAAAAA0 / 23–260%
Cincinnati AAAA 3R 3R 1R 1R A 1R AAAAAA0 / 54–544%
Stuttgart AAA Q2 A 2R AAAAAAAAAA0 / 11–150%
Paris AAA 2R AA 1R Q1 A Q2 Q1 AAAAA0 / 21–233%
Win–loss0–00–00–01–13–73–57–90–62–30–20–02–30–10–10–10–00 / 3918–3932%

References

  1. "Stefan Koubek profile". ATP. 2008-05-15.[ permanent dead link ]
  2. Fischer, Nicole (10 January 2022). "Zum Tennisspielen in die Heimat". MeinBezirk (in German). Regionalmedien Austria . Retrieved 16 November 2024.
  3. "Koubek DQ'd after racket hits ballboy". espn.com. 2 June 2000. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  4. "Koubek suspended after drugs test". BBC News. 2008-05-15.
  5. "Decision in the Case of Stefan Koubek". International Tennis Federation. 2008-05-15.
  6. "Die Disqualifikation war einfach nur lächerlich" (in German). Tennis Fabrik. 2008-05-15.
  7. "Bandscheiben stoppen Koubek" (in German). ORF. 2008-05-15.
  8. "Austrian Stefan Koubek retires from tennis". United Press International . 6 May 2011. Retrieved 30 August 2012.