The Open Era
Sweden · born Stockholm, 1971 · right-handed · Wimbledon boys' champion 1989 and Halle champion 1996
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No. 1
World junior ranking in 1989, the year he won the Wimbledon boys' singles
2
Halle singles finals: won in 1996, lost in 1999
3
ATP singles titles
13
ATP doubles titles, Halle 2000 among them
2
Davis Cup titles with Sweden, 1997 and 1998
Nicklas Kulti was born in Stockholm in 1971 and was the best junior in the world in 1989, when he won the boys' singles at the Australian Open and Wimbledon and reached the final of the US Open. He turned professional the same year.
He won his first tour title in Adelaide in 1991 and three singles titles in all, and reached a career-high No. 32 in May 1993. His best Grand Slam run came on clay at the 1992 French Open, where he beat John McEnroe and Michael Chang on the way to the quarter-finals before losing to Henri Leconte.
Doubles brought more. He won 13 tour titles, including the Monte Carlo Masters in 1994 with Magnus Larsson and the Paris Masters in 2000 with Max Mirnyi, reached the French Open final in 1995 with Larsson and the US Open final in 1997 with Jonas Björkman, and rose to No. 11 in September 1997. He played in three straight Davis Cup finals for Sweden, losing in 1996 and winning in 1997 and 1998, when he and Björkman won the doubles rubber in each final. After his playing days he founded the Good to Great Tennis Academy with Magnus Norman and Mikael Tillström.
| Wimbledon boys' final 1989 | As top seed, beat the second seed Todd Woodbridge 6-4, 6-3 |
|---|---|
| Halle 1996 | Beat Yevgeny Kafelnikov 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 in the final, a fortnight after the Russian had won the French Open |
| Halle 1999 | Reached a second Halle final and lost to Nicolas Kiefer 6-3, 6-2 |
| Halle doubles 2000 | Won the title with Mikael Tillström, beating Mahesh Bhupathi and David Prinosil 7-6, 7-6 |
| Wimbledon | Second round in singles in 1992 and 1997; semi-finalist in the men's doubles in 2000 |
| Halle | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Men's singles | |
| 2000 | Men's doubles | with Mikael Tillström |
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
"Our goal is to regain our position as one of the world's leading tennis nations."
The person behind the player.
Wimbledon 1989 · Boys' singles
Seeded first, Kulti beat the second seed, Todd Woodbridge, 6-4, 6-3 in the boys' final. With the Australian Open junior title already won and a US Open junior final to follow, he finished 1989 as the No. 1 junior.
Source: Wimbledon Compendium 2025 (AELTC)Halle, June 1996
Kafelnikov had won his first major, the French Open, against Michael Stich on 9 June. In the Halle final a fortnight later Kulti lost a first-set tie-break and won the next two sets 6-3, 6-4. Kafelnikov also lost the doubles final that week.
Source: WikipediaParis, 1992
His deepest run at a major came on clay: at the 1992 French Open he beat John McEnroe, Markus Zillner, Michael Chang and Diego Pérez before losing to Henri Leconte in the quarter-finals.
Source: WikipediaMalmö, December 1996
Stefan Edberg hurt his foot on the first day of the Davis Cup final against France, and Kulti had to replace him in the deciding fifth rubber against Arnaud Boetsch. Kulti led 7-6 in the fifth set and had three match points at 0-40 on Boetsch's serve; Boetsch saved them all and won 7-6, 2-6, 4-6, 7-6, 10-8 to give France the Cup.
Source: Tennis MajorsStockholm
With Magnus Norman and Mikael Tillström, his Halle doubles partner of 2000, Kulti founded the Good to Great Tennis Academy, set up to bring Swedish players back to the top of the game.
Source: Catella press release, 2015Free membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
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