Johan Kriek
South African-US tennis player

Johan Kriek

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South African-US tennis player
A.K.A.
Deadbeat Dad, Cheater, Groper, Johan Christiaan Kriek
Gender:
Male
Places:
South AfricaUnited States of America
Is:
AthleteTennis player
Work field:
Sports
Birth:
5 April 1958(Pongola, uPhongolo Local Municipality, Zululand District Municipality, South Africa)
Star sign:
Aries
Residences
Palm Beach Gardens, Palm Beach County, Florida, United States
Education:
Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool
Pretoria, City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, South Africa
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The details
Biography

Introduction

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 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". 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.

Grand Slam finals

Singles: (2 titles)

Result Year Championship Surface Opponent Score
Win 1981 Australian Open Grass Steve Denton 6–2, 7–6, 6–7, 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 W/L Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Loss 0–1 Sep 1978 Hartford, U.S. Carpet John McEnroe 2–6, 4–6
Win 1–1 Feb 1979 Sarasota, U.S. Carpet Rick Meyer 7–6, 6–2
Loss 1–2 Oct 1979 Basel, Switzerland Hard (i) Brian Gottfried 5–7, 1–6, 6–4, 3–6
Loss 1–3 Mar 1980 Frankfurt, Germany Carpet (i) Stan Smith 6–2, 6–7, 2–6
Loss 1–4 Aug 1980 Stowe, U.S. Hard Bob Lutz 3–6, 1–6
Win 2–4 Jan 1981 Monterrey WCT, Mexico Carpet (i) Vitas Gerulaitis 7–6, 3–6, 7–6
Loss 2–5 May 1981 WCT Finals, Dallas Carpet (i) John McEnroe 1–6, 2–6, 4–6
Win 3–5 Jul 1981 Newport, U.S. Grass Hank Pfister 3–6, 6–3, 7–5
Win 4–5 Jan 1982 Australian Open, Melbourne Grass Steve Denton 6–2, 7–6, 6–7, 6–4
Win 5–5 Feb 1982 Memphis, U.S. Hard (i) John McEnroe 6–3, 3–6, 6–4
Loss 5–6 Feb 1982 Monterrey, Mexico Carpet Jimmy Connors 2–6, 6–3, 3–6
Win 6–6 Aug 1982 La Costa WCT, U.S. Hard Roscoe Tanner 6–0, 4–6, 6–0, 6–4
Win 7–6 Dec 1982 Australian Open, Melbourne Grass Steve Denton 6–3, 6–3, 6–2
Loss 7–7 Apr 1983 Los Angeles, U.S. Hard Gene Mayer 6–7, 1–6
Win 8–7 May 1983 Tampa, U.S. Carpet Bob Lutz 6–2, 6–4
Win 9–7 Jun 1983 Bristol, UK Grass Tom Gullikson 7–6, 7–5
Win 10–7 Nov 1983 Johannesburg, South Africa Hard Colin Dowdeswell 6–4, 4–6, 1–6, 7–5, 6–3
Loss 10–8 Mar 1984 Boca West, U.S. Hard Jimmy Connors 5–7, 4–6
Win 11–8 Jun 1984 Bristol, UK Grass Brian Teacher 6–7, 7–6, 6–4
Win 12–8 Aug 1984 Livingston, U.S. Hard Michael Westphal 6–2, 6–4
Win 13–8 May 1985 Las Vegas, U.S. Hard Jimmy Arias 4–6, 6–3, 6–4, 6–2
Loss 13–9 Jun 1985 London Queen's Club, UK Grass Boris Becker 2–6, 3–6
Loss 13–10 Sep 1985 San Francisco, U.S. Hard (i) Stefan Edberg 4–6, 2–6
Win 14–10 Jul 1987 Livingston, U.S. Hard Christian Saceanu 7–6, 3–6, 6–2
Loss 14–11 Jul 1988 Schenectady, U.S. Hard Tim Mayotte 7–5, 3–6, 2–6
Loss 14–12 Oct 1988 San Francisco, U.S. Hard (i) Michael Chang 2–6, 3–6
Loss 14–13 Feb 1989 Memphis, U.S. Hard (i) Brad Gilbert 2–6, 2–6, ret.

Doubles (8 titles, 7 runner-ups)

Result W/L Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1–0 Feb 1980 Richmond WCT, U.S. Carpet (i) Fritz Buehning Brian Gottfried
Frew McMillan 		3–6, 6–3, 7–6
Loss 1–1 Oct 1980 Sydney Indoor, Australia Hard (i) Tim Gullikson Peter Fleming
John McEnroe 		6–4, 1–6, 2–6
Loss 1–2 Jan 1981 Monterrey WCT, Mexico Carpet Russell Simpson Kevin Curren
Steve Denton 		6–7, 2–6
Loss 1–3 Jun 1981 Bristol, UK Grass John Austin Billy Martin
Russell Simpson 		6–3, 3–6, 10–12
Win 2–3 Aug 1981 Stowe, U.S. Hard Larry Stefanki Brian Gottfried
Bob Lutz 		2–6, 6–1, 6–2
Win 3–3 May 1982 Forest Hills WCT, U.S. Clay Tracy Delatte Dick Stockton
Erik van Dillen 		6–3, 7–6
Win 4–3 Aug 1982 La Costa WCT, U.S. Hard Fritz Buehning Bob Lutz
Raúl Ramírez 		3–6, 7–6, 6–3
Loss 4–4 Feb 1983 Delray Beach WCT, U.S. Clay Anand Amritraj Pavel Složil
Tomáš Šmíd 		6–7, 4–6
Loss 4–5 Apr 1983 Las Vegas, U.S. Hard Tracy Delatte Kevin Curren
Steve Denton 		3–6, 5–7
Win 5–5 May 1983 Forest Hills WCT, U.S. Clay Tracy Delatte Kevin Curren
Steve Denton 		7–6, 1–6, 6–1
Loss 5–6 Jun 1983 Bristol, UK Grass Tom Gullikson John Alexander
John Fitzgerald 		5–7, 4–6
Loss 5–7 Nov 1983 Stockholm, Sweden Hard (i) Peter Fleming Anders Järryd
Hans Simonsson 		6–7, 5–7
Win 6–7 Apr 1985 Chicago, U.S. Carpet (i) Yannick Noah Ken Flach
Robert Seguso 		3–6, 4–6, 7–5, 6–1, 6–4
Win 7–7 Feb 1988 Philadelphia, U.S. Carpet (i) Kelly Evernden Kevin Curren
Danie Visser 		7–6, 6–3
Win 8–7 Apr 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