The Open Era
United States · born Pongola, South Africa, 1958 · American citizen from 1982 · twice Australian Open champion on the grass of Kooyong
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2
Australian Open titles, both won in 1982 against Steve Denton
5
Singles titles on grass
14
Career singles titles
2
Wimbledon quarter-finals, 1981 and 1982
4
Wimbledon over-45 invitation doubles titles with Kevin Curren, 2003 to 2006
Johan Christiaan Kriek was born in Pongola, South Africa, on 5 April 1958 and went to school in Pretoria. He arrived in Florida in March 1978 on a one-year visitor's visa and that September reached the US Open quarter-finals as a qualifier. In 1980 he reached the US Open semi-finals and led Björn Borg by two sets before losing in five.
His best results came on fast courts. He won the 1981 Australian Open, played at Kooyong and finished on 3 January 1982, and in December 1982 he won it again, beating Steve Denton in both finals; he had become an American citizen in August 1982. He reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals in 1981 and 1982, losing each time to John McEnroe, won Newport in 1981 and Bristol in 1983 and 1984, and lost the 1985 Queen's final to Boris Becker. He seldom played the French Open but reached its semi-finals in 1986.
He won 14 singles and eight doubles titles and reached the world top ten. A torn elbow ligament ended his US Open career after 1989, and he retired in 1992. He went on to coach, ran a tennis academy in Florida and worked for the Global Water Foundation; on the grass at Wimbledon he won the over-45 invitation doubles four years running with Kevin Curren.
| Australian Open finals | 1981 (played to 3 January 1982): beat Steve Denton 6-2, 7-6, 6-7, 6-4. December 1982: beat Denton 6-3, 6-3, 6-2, after a 7-6, 7-6, 4-6, 3-6, 7-5 semi-final against Paul McNamee. He is the only man to win the same major twice in one calendar year |
|---|---|
| Wimbledon | Quarter-finals 1981, lost to John McEnroe 1-6, 5-7, 1-6; 1982, lost to McEnroe 6-4, 5-7, 2-6, 3-6 |
| Other grass finals | Newport 1981: beat Hank Pfister 3-6, 6-3, 7-5. Bristol 1983: beat Tom Gullikson 7-6, 7-5. Bristol 1984: beat Brian Teacher 6-7, 7-6, 6-4. Queen's 1985: lost to Boris Becker 2-6, 3-6 |
| Australian Open after 1982 | Lost to Mats Wilander in 1983, 1984 and 1985, once in the semi-finals and twice in the quarter-finals |
| Wimbledon invitation doubles | Over-45 champion with Kevin Curren 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006; 2006 final against Peter McNamara and Paul McNamee 7-5, 6-7, 7-6 |
| Australian Championships | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Men's singles Australian Open | |
| 1982 | Men's singles Australian Open | |
| Bristol (West of England) | ||
| 1983 | Men's singles Bristol Open | |
| 1984 | Men's singles Bristol Open | |
| Newport, Rhode Island | ||
| 1981 | Men's singles Hall of Fame Open | |
Leading grass titles only: the grass majors, tour-level grass events since 1968 and the leading grass championships before 1968. †single source; ‡ sources disagree. Roll of champions
"I went from a nobody to top ten in the world in less than a year."
The person behind the player.
Florida, 1978
He landed in Florida in March 1978 with a one-year visitor's visa, $230 in his wallet and a Greyhound ticket to Vero Beach for the first event of a satellite circuit. He failed to qualify for the first two weeks, hitchhiked to tournaments and stayed with families who would house the players.
Source: Johan Kriek, Tennis ProseUS Open 1978
After he qualified and reached the quarter-finals at the first Open at Flushing Meadows, an IMG agent walked up while he was having lunch, flipped a business card at him and said, "If you need us call us."
Source: Johan Kriek, Tennis ProseUS Open 1980
In the semi-finals he won the first two sets against Björn Borg 6-4, 6-4, then, as he told it, the wind came up and wrecked his serve and volley; Borg lost three games in the last three sets. "It hurt," he wrote.
Source: Johan Kriek, Tennis ProseKooyong, 1982
He won the 1981 Australian Open in a final that finished on 3 January 1982, and on 13 December 1982 won the next one, again against Steve Denton, the man with the hardest serve of the time. The rain-hit 1982 event had to shorten its third and fourth rounds to best of three sets.
Source: Tennis MajorsWimbledon, 2003 to 2006
McEnroe stopped him in the Wimbledon quarter-finals in 1981 and 1982, but in his forties he won the over-45 invitation doubles four years running with Kevin Curren.
Source: Wimbledon Compendium 2025; CBS12Free membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
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