Blaž Kavčič
Introduction '''Blaž Kavčič''' (born 5 March 1987) is a Slovenian former professional tennis player. He was the highest ranked Slovenian male player ever, achieving a career-high of World No. 68 in August 2012, until Aljaž Bedene began to play for Slovenia again in January 2018, overtaking him with a career high ranking of 49.He became the first Slovenian ATP singles player to: achieve a Top 100 ranking, win a Grand Slam main draw match and perform at the Summer Olympics. He became the second Slovene ATP player earning over 2 million US dollars in prize money and is the second highest ever paid male Slovene player in history after Aljaž Bedene.
Tennis career ===2005–2007: Turning pro, Davis Cup debut===Kavčič turned professional in 2005 playing exclusively on the ATP Futures and ATP Challenger Series circuit for three seasons.In 2006, Kavčič made his Davis Cup debut for Slovenia.===2008–2009: ATP Challenger debut===In 2008 he qualified for the ATP event in Zagreb, where he lost to Roko Karanušić. In Pörtschach he defeated Teymuraz Gabashvili in the first round before losing to Igor Kunitsyn. He finished the year ranked No. 260.In 2009 he didn't play in any of ATP Tour main draws. He played in qualifications of three Grand Slams, but lost all of them. He also played in Davis Cup.===2010–2011: Major debut and first wins===In 2010 he reached the second round in Houston on clay, but lost to big serving Sam Querrey.Kavčič played in the 2010 French Open where he won his first grand slam match by defeating Eduardo Schwank. He became the first Slovenian male player to directly qualify for a Grand Slam tournament without having to go through qualifying rounds.Together with Slovenia Davis Cup Team he won the 2010 Davis Cup Europe/Africa Zone Group II, ensuring Slovenia to advance to Europe/Africa Zone Group I.In 2011 in Chennai he reached his first career quarterfinal on the ATP Tour. He lost there against Tomáš Berdych from Czech Republic.At the 2011 Australian Open he reached the second round for the first time in his career. He was the first Slovenian ATP player ever in the second round of the Major in Australia.As the first Slovenian player to participate in the ATP Masters 1000 series, he made his debut at 2011 Sony Ericsson Open in Miami and lost in three sets in the first round against Olivier Rochus.At the 2011 Serbia Open he lost his second quarterfinal match in straight sets against Novak Djokovic.At the 2011 Swedish Open he lost his third quarterfinal match against Tomáš Berdych.At the 2011 US Open he played his first tournament where he lost in the first round. He also played his first Grand Slam men's doubles and lost in the first round.===2012: Career high ranking, historic Olympics debut ===At the 2012 Australian Open he lost in the second round against Juan Martín del Potro.At the 2012 French Open he lost in straight sets in the second round against Novak Djokovic.At the 2012 Summer Olympics he reached second round where he lost against David Ferrer. He was the first Slovenian who competed in the men's singles tennis competition at the Olympic Games.===2013–2014: Two Grand Slam third rounds===At the 2013 Australian Open, Kavcic made it to the third round of a grand slam for the first time in his career, defeating the 29th seed Thomaz Bellucci and local wildcard James Duckworth, before losing to 7th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in straight sets.At the 2013 French Open he lost in five sets in the second round against Andreas Seppi.At the 2014 US Open he reached the third round for the first time at this Major, defeating Donald Young and 30th seed Jeremy Chardy on the way but withdrew from his third round match with third seed Stan Wawrinka.===2020–2021: Thirty Challenger finals and third doubles title===At the 2021 Zadar Open he won his third Challenger doubles title partnering his good friend Blaž Rola.At the 2021 Split Open he lost to Rola in his 31st Challenger singles final.===2022: Retirement===He officially announced his retirement in April at the end of the season in September after the Davis Cup.
ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals ===Singles: 36 (19–17)===Legend (singles)ATP Challenger Tour (17–14)ITF Futures Tour (2–3)Finals by surfaceHard (10–10)Clay (9–7)Grass (0–0)ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScoreWin1–0Croatia F4, ČakovecFuturesClay Predrag Rusevski6–3, 6–3Win2–0Croatia F6, ZagrebFuturesClay Rok Jark6–4, 7–5Loss2–1Tunisia F7, MégrineFuturesHard Malek Jaziri 6–4, 1–6, 4–6Loss2–2Bosnia and Herxegovina F4, PrijedorFuturesClay Predrag Rusevski3–6, 4–6Loss2–3Slovenia F3, KoperFuturesClay Grega Žemlja 6–2, 1–6, 2–6Loss2–4Sanremo, ItalyChallengerClay Kevin Anderson6–2, 2–6, 5–7Loss2–5Busan, South KoreaChallengerHard Danai Udomchoke2–6, 2–6Win3–5Alessandria, ItalyChallengerClay Jesse Levine7–5, 6–3Win4–5Constanța, RomaniaChallengerClay Julian Reister3–6, 6–3, 6–4Loss4–6Rijeka, CroatiaChallengerClay Paolo Lorenzi3–6, 6–7(2–7)Win5–6Qarshi, UzbekistanChallengerHard Michael Venus7–6(8–6), 7–6(7–5)Win6–6Rijeka, CroatiaChallengerClay Rubén Ramírez Hidalgo6–4, 3–6, 7–6(7–5)Win7–6Ljubljana, SloveniaChallengerClay David Goffin6–2, 4–6, 7–5Loss7–7Qarshi, UzbekistanChallengerHard Denis Istomin3–6, 6–1, 1–6Win8–7Banja Luka, Bosnia and HerzegovinaChallengerClay Pere Riba6–4, 6–1Loss8–8Florianópolis, BrazilChallengerClay Simone Bolelli3–6, 4–6Win9–8São Paulo, BrazilChallengerClay Júlio Silva6–3, 7–5Win10–8Fürth, GermanyChallengerClay Sergiy Stakhovsky6–3, 2–6, 6–2Win11–8Bangkok, ThailandChallengerHard Suk-Young Jeong6–3, 6–1Win12–8Fergana, UzbekistanChallengerHard Alexander Kudryavtsev6–4, 7–6(10–8)Win13–8Tianjin, ChinaChallengerHard Alexander Kudryavtsev6–2, 3–6, 7–5Loss13–9Nanchang, ChinaChallengerHard Go Soeda3–6, 6–2, 6–7(3–7)Win14–9Portorož, SloveniaChallengerHard Gilles Müller7–5, 6–7(4–7), 6–1Win15–9Shenzhen, ChinaChallengerHard André Ghem7–5, 6–4Loss15–10Batman, TurkeyChallengerHard Dudi Sela7–6(7–5), 3–6, 3–6Loss15–11Winnipeg, CanadaChallengerHard Go Soeda7–6(7–4), 4–6, 2–6Win16–11Bangkok, ThailandChallengerHard Go Soeda6–0, 1–0 ret.Loss16–12Bangkok, ThailandChallengerHard Janko Tipsarević3–6, 6–7(1–7)Loss16–13Kyoto, JapanChallengerHard Yasutaka Uchiyama3–6, 4–6Loss16–14Shenzhen, ChinaChallengerHard Yūichi Sugita6–7(6–8), 4–6Win17–14Winnipeg, CanadaChallengerHard Peter Polansky7–5, 3–6, 7–5Win18–14Granby, CanadaChallengerHard Peter Polansky6–3, 2–6, 7–5Win19–14Shanghai, ChinaChallengerHard Hiroki Moriya6–1, 7–6(7–1)Loss19–15Shenzhen, ChinaChallengerHard Miomir Kecmanović2–6, 6–2, 3–6Loss19–16Biella, ItalyChallengerClay Facundo Bagnis7–6(7–4), 4–6 ret.Loss19–17Split, CroatiaChallengerClay Blaž Rola 6–2, 3–6, 2–6===Doubles: 15 (5–9)===Legend (doubles)ATP Challenger Tour (3–5)ITF Futures Tour (3–4)Finals by surfaceHard (2–3)Clay (4–6)Grass (0–0)ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreWin1–0Tunisia F4, SfaxFuturesHard Rok Jarc Gordan Peranec Carlos Rexach-Itoiz7–6(10–8), 6–1Loss1–1Portugal F4, AlbufeiraFuturesHard Grega Žemlja Vjekoslav Skenderovic Joško Topić3–6, 0–6Loss1–2Croatia F5, RovinjFuturesClay Jaroslav Pospíšil Nikola Martinovic Joško Topić3–6, 3–6Loss1–3Italy F11, PadovaFuturesClay Grega Žemlja Alejandro Fabbri Gabriel Trujillo Soler6–7(5–7), 2–6Loss1–4Bosnia and Herzegovina F3, BrčkoFuturesClay Daniel Danilović Lazar Magdinchev Predrag Rusevski4–6, 2–6Win2–4Slovenia F2, MariborFuturesClay Luka Ocvirk Ante Nakic-Alfirevic Antonio Veić6–3, 6–0Win3–4Bosnia and Herzegovina F5, MostarFuturesClay Jaroslav Pospíšil Matwé Middelkoop Francesco Piccari4–6, 6–3, 10–5Win4–4Florianópolis, BrazilChallengerClay Antonio Velc Javier Martí Leonardo Tavares6–3, 6–3Loss4–5Blumenau, BrazilChallengerClay Antonio Velc Marin Draganja Dino Marcan2–6, 0–6Loss4–6Montevideo, UruguayChallengerClay Franko Škugor Nikola Mektić Antonio Velc2–6, 7–5, 7–10Win5–6Sacramento, USAChallengerHard Grega Žemlja Daniel Brands Dustin Brown6–1, 3–6, 10–3Loss5–7Budapest, HungaryChallengerHard Franko Škugor Dino Marcan Tristan-Samuel Weissborn3–6, 6–3, 14–16Loss5–8Anning, ChinaChallengerClay Steven de Waard Dino Marcan Tristan-Samuel Weissborn7–5, 3–6, 7–10Loss5–9Charlottesville, USAChallengerHard Sekou Bangoura Mitchell Krueger Blaž Rola4–6, 2–6Win6-9Zadar, CroatiaChallengerClay Blaž Rola Lukáš Klein Alex Molčan2–6, 6–2, 10–3
Singles performance timeline Tournament2009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021SRW–LWin%'''Grand Slam tournaments'''Australian OpenQ21R2R2R3R2R1RAQ21RAQ2A0 / 75–7French OpenA2R2R2R2RQ21RAQ2Q1AQ1Q20 / 54–5WimbledonQ31R1R1R1RA2RQ1Q1AQ2NHQ10 / 51–5US OpenQ3A1R1RQ23R*AQ21RAQ2AQ10 / 42–3Win–loss0–01–32–42–43–33–11–30–00–10–10–00–00–00 / 2112–20'''ATP Tour Masters 1000'''Miami OpenAA1RA1RAAAAAANHA0 / 20–2Monte-Carlo MastersAAAAQ2AAAAAANHA0 / 00–0Italian OpenAAQ21RQ2AQ1AAAAAA0 / 10–1Win–loss0–00–00–10–10–10–00–00–00–00–00–00–00–00 / 30–3'''Olympic Games'''Summer OlympicsNot Held2RNot HeldANHA0 / 11–1'''Career statistics'''Overall win–loss3–27–813–186–15 11–157–73–100–01–22–80–00–10–00 / 9057–89Year-end ranking125112929210210515121797206345269293N/A
Davis Cup ===Singles performances (17–9)===EditionRoundDateAgainstSurfaceOpponentResultOutcome2006 Europe/Africa Zone Group II7-Apr-2006 AlgeriaClayRachid Baba-Aisa6–0, 6–1Win2008 Europe/Africa Zone Group II1R11-Apr-2008 CyprusHardMarcos Baghdatis4–6, 3–6, 4–6Lose13-Apr-2008Photos Kallias6–1, 6–1Win20-Jul-2008 TunisiaClayHaithem Abid6–3, 3–6, 3–6, 7–5, 6–2Win2009 Europe/Africa Zone Group II1R6-Mar-2009 EgyptCarpetKarim Maamoun6–0, 6–2, 6–2Win8-Mar-2009Mahmoud Ezz3–6, 7–6(7–5), 6–4Win10-Jul-2009 LithuaniaClayGvidas Sabeckis6–2, 6–3, 6–1Win20-Sep-2009 LatviaCarpetAndis Juška3–6, 4–6, 2–6Lose2010 Europe/Africa Zone Group II5-Mar-2010 NorwayHardStian Boretti6–2, 6–4, 6–2WinQF9-Jul-2010 BulgariaClayGrigor Dimitrov1–6, 6–1, 6–0, 6–3Win11-Jul-2010Todor Enev6–2, 6–1WinSF17-Sep-2010 LithuaniaHardRičardas Berankis6–3, 2–6, 6–7(9–11), 4–6Lose19-Sep-2010Laurynas Grigelis6–4, 7–6(7–4), 7–6(7–5)Win2011 Europe/Africa Zone Group I1R4-Mar-2011 FinlandClayHarri Heliövaara4–6, 6–2, 6–3, 6–4Win6-Mar-2011Jarkko Nieminen3–6, 4–6, 6–4, 4–6Lose2R8-Jul-2011 ItalyClayPotito Starace6–3, 3–6, 2–6, 4–6Lose2012 Europe/Africa Zone Group I10-Feb-2012 DenmarkHardFrederik Nielsen6–2, 6–4, 6–4Win2R6-Apr-2012 South AfricaHardRuan Roalofse6–7(5–7), 6–1, 6–1, 6–3Win8-Apr-2012Izak van der Merwe6–7(3–7), 4–6, 4–6Lose2013 Europe/Africa Zone Group I1R1-Feb-2013 PolandHard (I)Jerzy Janowicz3–6, 3–6, 5–7LosePO13-Sep-2013 South Africa ClayRuan Roalofse6–1, 6–3, 6–4Win2014 Europe/Africa Zone Group I1R31-Jan-2014 PortugalHard (I)Gastão Elias7–6(16–14), 6–1, 6–4Win2-Feb-2014João Sousa7–5, 7–5, 6–2Win4-Apr-2014 IsraelClayAmir Weintraub6–4, 5–7, 3–6, 6–3, 4–6Lose2017 Europe/Africa Zone Group II5-Feb-2017 MonacoHardLucas Catarina6–4, 2–6, 6–2, 6–4Win2020 World Group I Play-offs7-Mar-2020 PakistanGrassAqeel Khan6–0, 6–7(6–8), 4–6Lose===Doubles performances (5–4)===EditionRoundDatePartneringAgainstSurfaceOpponentResultOutcome2011 Europe/Africa Zone Group I2R9-Jul-2011Grega Žemlja ItalyClayPotito StaraceDaniele Bracciali6–7(3–7), 6–7(4–7), 2–6Lose2012 Europe/Africa Zone Group I1R11-Feb-2012Grega Žemlja DenmarkHardThomas KromannFrederik Nielsen6–4, 6–7(7–5), 6–4, 7–5Win2R7-Apr-2012Grega Žemlja South AfricaHardRaven Klaasen Izak van der Merwe7–6(7–5), 6–7(4–7), 1–6, 4–6Lose2013 Europe/Africa Zone Group I1R2-Feb-2013Grega Žemlja PolandHard (I)Mariusz FyrstenbergMarcin Matkowski6–3, 2–6, 6–2, 4–6, 13–11WinPO13-Sep-2013Blaž Rola South AfricaClay  Raven KlaasenNikala Scholtz7–5, 6–1, 7–6(7–4)Win2014 Europe/Africa Zone Group I1R1-Feb-2014Grega Žemlja PortugalHard (I)Gastão EliasJoão Sousa6–3, 7–5, 7–6(7–5)Win2015 Europe/Africa Zone Group IRPO1-Nov-2015Blaž Rola LithuaniaHard (I)Laurynas GrigelisLukas Mugevicius6–4, 7–6(7–1), 6–4Win2017 Europe/Africa Zone Group II1R5-Feb-2017Grega Žemlja MonacoHardRomain Arneodo Benjamin Balleret2–6, 4–6, 3–6Lose2020 World Group I Play-offs7-Mar-2020Tom Kočevar-Dešman PakistanGrassAqeel Khan Aisam Qureshi3–6, 6–7(7–9)Lose
References
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