 | |
| Country (sports) |  Denmark |
|---|---|
| Residence | Monte Carlo, Monaco |
| Born | (1973-04-17)17 April 1973 (age 52) Copenhagen, Denmark |
| Height | 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) |
| Turned pro | 1992 |
| Retired | 2007 |
| Plays | Left-handed (one-handed backhand) |
| Prize money | $2,990,980 |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 266–288 (atATP Tour-level,Grand Slam-level, and inDavis Cup) |
| Career titles | 3 |
| Highest ranking | No. 41 (7 June 1993) |
| Grand Slam singles results | |
| Australian Open | 4R (1993) |
| French Open | 2R (1993,1994) |
| Wimbledon | 3R (1993,1994,2004) |
| US Open | 3R (1995) |
| Other tournaments | |
| Olympic Games | 3R (1996) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 40–62 (at ATP Tour-level, Grand Slam-level, and in Davis Cup) |
| Career titles | 0 |
| Highest ranking | No. 134 (5 April 2004) |
Kenneth Carlsen (born 17 April 1973) is aDanish former professionaltennis player, who was active between 1992 and 2007. Carlsen played left-handed with aone-handed backhand. His greatest asset was his powerful serve, and his game was therefore best suited to fast surfaces (grass and hardcourt)[citation needed]. For most of his long career, Carlsen was Denmark's best tennis player, and consistently among the few Danish players playing at the highest international level. He was awarded as best Danish "Tennis Player of the Year" seven times by the Danish Tennis Federation (first time in 1991, last time in 2005).[1] Two times the award went to the DanishDavis Cup team, of which Kenneth Carlsen until 2003 was a central part (having a 29–13 record in singles).[2]
Carlsen began playing tennis at age nine, and in his teens became one of the best juniors in the world. He finished as No. 3 in the world in 1991. He turned full-time professional in 1992, and his breakthrough as senior in a major tournament came at the Copenhagen Open where he beat top-20 playerAlexander Volkov in the first round. Later that year, he reached the final in Brisbane—it was only his fourthATP Tour tournament. His debut in the 1993Australian Open confirmed his position among the best players in the world as he went to the fourth round. The same year he reached his career-best singles ranking as world No. 41 in June. Since 1993, he was for most of the time ranked within the top 100. In 1994, he played the most famous match of his career when he beatStefan Edberg in five sets atWimbledon.
In 1996, he reached the final of the tournament that triggered his career, Copenhagen Open, but lost toCédric Pioline. The next year, he reached the final in Auckland, but this time lost toJonas Björkman. This saw his ranking shoot up 20 spots to world No. 52. In 1999, Carlsen reached the final in Newport, but lost toChris Woodruff.
In 2000, he suffered from a serious shoulder injury, and underwent surgery twice. As a result, he did not play any tournaments that year. His recovery was relatively slow, and he could not return to professional tennis until June 2001. His long absence from the sport, however, did not seem to affect his playing negatively. In 2002, he won his second ATP tournament in Tokyo, and in 2005 he won theRegions Morgan Keegan Championship in Memphis at almost 32 years old. His resurgence saw him in June 2005 become world No. 50.
Carlsen rarely played doubles, but reached three ATP doubles finals in his career: Copenhagen withFrederik Fetterlein in 1997 (lost toAndrei Olhovskiy/Brett Steven),Tashkent, Uzbekistan withSjeng Schalken in 1998 (lost toStefano Pescosolido/Laurence Tieleman), and Beijing with Michael Berrer in 2006 (lost toMario Ančić/Mahesh Bhupathi).
He played a total of 46Grand Slam events during his career, and used to hold the record for most first-round exits for a long time: 30. But he was surpassed byAlbert Montañés at2014 Australian Open where he reached 31 career Grand Slam first-round exits.[3]
On 27 June 2007 he announced that he would retire from professional tennis,[4] and he played his last ATP match in first round of theStockholm Open on 10 October 2007.[5] The week after, he played his final professional tennis match at a Challenger tournament inKolding, Denmark.
In November 2008, Carlsen was appointed captain of theDenmark Davis Cup team.[6] Under his guidance the Danes returned in2011 to the Europe/Africa Zone Group I.[7]
| Result | W-L | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 0–1 | Sep 1992 | Brisbane, Australia | Hard (i) |  Guillaume Raoux | 4–6, 6–7(10–12) |
| Loss | 0–2 | Mar 1996 | Copenhagen, Denmark | Carpet (i) | Cédric Pioline | 2–6, 6–7(7–9) |
| Loss | 0–3 | Jan 1997 | Auckland, New Zealand | Hard |  Jonas Björkman | 6–7(7–9), 0–6 |
| Win | 1–3 | Apr 1998 | Hong Kong, China | Hard |  Byron Black | 6–2, 6–0 |
| Loss | 1–4 | Jul 1999 | Newport, USA | Grass |  Chris Woodruff | 7–6(7–5), 4–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 2–4 | Sep 2002 | Tokyo, Japan | Hard | Magnus Norman | 7–6(8–6), 6–3 |
| Win | 3–4 | Feb 2005 | Memphis, USA | Hard (i) |  Max Mirnyi | 7–5, 7–5 |
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | DNQ | A | NH |
| Tournament | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | W–L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Open | 4R | 2R | 2R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | A | A | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | A | 5–12 |
| French Open | 2R | 1R | 2R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | A | A | A | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | A | 2–11 |
| Wimbledon | 3R | 3R | 2R | 1R | 1R | 1R | A | A | 2R | 1R | 1R | 3R | 1R | A | A | 8–11 |
| US Open | 1R | 1R | 3R | 2R | 2R | 1R | 2R | A | 1R | 2R | 2R | 1R | 1R | A | A | 7–12 |
| Win–loss | 6–4 | 3–4 | 5–4 | 1–4 | 1–4 | 0–4 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 1–4 | 2–4 | 0–4 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 22–46 |
