Stefan Koubek

Country (sports)	Austria
Residence	Vienna, Austria
Born	(1977-01-02)2 January 1977 (age 48) Klagenfurt, Austria
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Turned pro	1994
Retired	2011
Plays	Left-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	$3,365,024
Singles
Career record	215–253
Career titles	3
Highest ranking	No. 20 (13 March 2000)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	QF (2002)
French Open	4R (1999)
Wimbledon	2R (2000,2002,2003,2004,2009)
US Open	3R (2004,2007)
Doubles
Career record	20–41
Career titles	1
Highest ranking	No. 94 (23 July 2007)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	1R (2007,2008)
French Open	1R (2007)
Wimbledon	1R (2009)
US Open	1R (2003,2007)
Last updated on: 17 April 2022.

Stefan Koubek (born 2 January 1977) is a retiredtennis player from Austria. Koubek played left-handed with a double-handed backhand. His idol when growing up wasThomas Muster. Koubek won three titles, two of which came onhardcourts; despite this, he said his favorite surface wasclay.^[1]

Koubek reached the quarterfinals of the2002 Australian Open and the2002 Hamburg Masters, attaining a career-high singles ranking of World No. 20 in March 2000. Koubek tested positive forglucocorticosteroids at the 2004French Open after receiving an injection for an injured wrist; he was subsequently suspended for three months.

His nickname isCooley orStef.

Koubek had his first experience on the tennis court as a 2.5-year-old, where his parents were playing as a hobby. He started practicing with a coach at the age of six on the Villacher Arbeitersportverein (VAS) courts in St. Martin,Villach. Koubek won his first smaller tournament at the age of nine and later won the national vice championship title in the U10 class. After completing his elementary and secondary school education in Villach, Koubek went to a business school in Klagenfurt for a year while training at Sportunion Klagenfurt. Koubek became a national indoors champion in the U16 class, gaining an entry into the Austrian Tennis Association.^[2]

Koubek turned professional in 1994, losing his first match inSt Pölten. Between 1994 and 1998, Koubek mostly played inATPFutures andATP Challenger Series events.

In 1997 he jumped up 184 positions in the rankings, thanks to good results in Challenger tournaments, reaching finals inUlm andAlpirsbach. 1998 saw Koubek win his firstChallenger event inAlpirsbach; later that same year he lost toYounes El Aynaoui in the final ofMaia. Koubek compiled a 33–20 record for the year.

Koubek won his first ATP title in 1999 inAtlanta as a qualifier. He achieved this losing only one set in the whole tournament, overcomingSébastien Grosjean in the final in straight sets. Koubek reached the fourth round in hisFrench Open debut, losing toÀlex Corretja; to date, this is his best performance at this event. Koubek made the final ofBournemouth, losing toAdrian Voinea, and helped his country Austria back into the World Group ofDavis Cup by defeating Sweden 3–2 in a promotion tie. Koubek was second only toAlbert Costa in wins on clay during the 1999 season, with 28 match victories.

In 2000 Koubek won his second title in the hardcourts atDelray Beach, defeatingÁlex Calatrava. He reached the semi-finals atMexico City, losing toJuan Ignacio Chela. He reached his highest singles rank to date on March 13, 2000, when he became World No. 20. At the2000 French Open, in his match againstAttila Sávolt (the score being 2-1 sets and 5-2 games in favour of his opponent), after having already received three warnings for various transgressions, Koubek was disqualified due to throwing his racket and accidentally hitting aball boy.^[3]

Koubek started off 2002 with his best ever performance at aGrand Slam tournament by making the quarterfinals of theAustralian Open. In the first round, Koubek came back from a 0–6 1–6 1–4 15–40 deficit to eventually defeatCyril Saulnier, 0–6 1–6 7–6 6–4 8–6. In the next round, he again came back from two sets to love down againstJames Blake, winning in five sets. Koubek then defeatedKristian Pless andFernando González in the third and fourth rounds, before losing toJiří Novák in the quarterfinals.

In the remainder of 2002, Koubek's best result was a quarterfinal appearance at theHamburg Masters, losing toTommy Robredo. Koubek then finished the year with seven consecutive first-round losses.

Koubek rebounded in 2003 by winning his third career title inDoha. Koubek won the tournament without dropping a set, defeatingJan-Michael Gambill in the final, and briefly holding the top spot in theATP Champions Race. Koubek's form remained inconsistent, again losing seven consecutive first-round matches after his victory inDoha, before making the semi-finals inMunich, where he lost toRoger Federer. InDavis Cup, Koubek defeated the Belgian brothersChristophe andOlivier Rochus to help return Austria to the World Group.

Koubek made the third round at the 2004French Open before losing toDavid Nalbandian. InThomas Muster's debut asDavis Cup captain, Koubek was instrumental in preserving Austria's status in the World Group, winning both singles matches overTim Henman andGreg Rusedski.

Koubek tested positive forglucocorticosteroids at the 2004French Open after receiving an injection for an injured wrist; he was subsequently suspended for three months. TheITF rejected Koubek's appeal of the suspension, but acknowledged that Koubek had not used the drugs to enhance performance.^[4]Koubek forfeited his points and prize money fromRoland Garros, but his results before Roland Garros were not disqualified.^[5]

As a result of injuries and his suspension, Koubek struggled in 2005, and his ranking fell outside the top 100. Koubek spent most of the year playing events on the Challenger circuit. His best results on the tour were a third round inKitzbühel, losing toNicolás Massú, and a semifinal in theHelsinki Challenger, where he lost toBjörn Rehnquist.

At the start of 2006, Koubek was ranked 182nd in the world. Koubek played a mixture of Challengers and ATP events during the year; as a qualifier, Koubek made the final of the ATP event inZagreb, losing in straight sets to local favouriteIvan Ljubičić. Koubek reached the third round inStuttgart and theGenerali Open, and the semifinals inMumbai. He finished the year ranked number 80. In doubles Koubek won his first title at theGenerali Open withPhilipp Kohlschreiber.

Koubek finished the 2007 season ranked in the top 50. The year began in 2007 by making the final inChennai, losing toXavier Malisse. At theAustralian Open, he was knocked out in the first round byWayne Arthurs, in Arthurs' final Australian Open appearance; Koubek lost the match despite leading two sets to love. He played in Austria's first-round defeat inDavis Cup, losing 4–1 toArgentina inLinz. InSopot Koubek came back from a 6–0 4–0 deficit to defeatAgustín Calleri in three sets, where Calleri served for the match three times and saved five match points in the process, which broke a streak 21 consecutive games lost after losing 6–4 6–0 toDaniel Köllerer inKitzbühel. Koubek was disqualified inMetz againstSébastien Grosjean while leading 4–2 in the final set after using abusive language to the tournament supervisor Thomas Karlberg while disputing a call. Koubek said he directed the "Fuck you" at the situation and not at Karlberg personally.^[6]

Koubek started 2008 by making the third round at theAustralian Open before falling toPaul-Henri Mathieu in five sets, a match in which he led a break of serve in each set, but was not able to close the match out. In March Koubek suffered back problems and will have surgery to alleviate bulging discs, which is a potentially career threatening injury.^[7]

Koubek announced his retirement from tennis in May 2011.^[8]

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1–0	Apr 1999	Atlanta, United States	International Series	Clay	Sébastien Grosjean	6–1, 6–2
Loss	1–1	Sep 1999	Bournemouth, United Kingdom	International Series	Clay	Adrian Voinea	6–1, 5–7, 6–7(2–7)
Win	2–1	Feb 2000	Delray Beach, United States	International Series	Hard	Álex Calatrava	6–1, 4–6, 6–4
Win	3–1	Dec 2002	Doha, Qatar	International Series	Hard	Jan-Michael Gambill	6–4, 6–4
Loss	3–2	Jan 2006	Zagreb, Croatia	International Series	Carpet	Ivan Ljubičić	3–6, 4–6
Loss	3–3	Jan 2007	Chennai, India	International Series	Hard	Xavier Malisse	1–6, 3–6

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	0–1	Jan 2004	Doha, Qatar	International Series	Hard	Andy Roddick	Martin Damm Cyril Suk	2–6, 4–6
Win	1–1	Jul 2006	Kitzbühel, Austria	International Series	Hard	Philipp Kohlschreiber	Oliver Marach Cyril Suk	6–2, 6–3

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	0-1	Jul 1997	Ulm, Germany	Challenger	Clay	Dinu-Mihai Pescariu	5–7, 1–6
Loss	0-2	Aug 1997	Alpirsbach, Germany	Challenger	Clay	Fabio Maggi	4–6, 7–5, 4–6
Win	1-2	Sep 1998	Alpirsbach, Germany	Challenger	Clay	Orlin Stanoytchev	7–6, 6–4
Loss	1-3	Oct 1998	Oporto, Portugal	Challenger	Clay	Younes El Aynaoui	6–4, 3–6, 4–6
Win	2-3	Nov 1998	Lima, Peru	Challenger	Clay	Juan Ignacio Chela	6–3, 2–6, 6–0
Loss	2-4	Feb 2008	East London, South Africa	Challenger	Hard	Ivan Ljubičić	6–7(2–7), 4–6
Loss	2-5	Nov 2010	Bratislava, Slovakia	Challenger	Hard	Martin Kližan	6–7(4–7), 2–6

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	0–1	Feb 2008	East London, South Africa	Challenger	Hard	Thomas Johansson	Jonas Björkman Kevin Ullyett	2–6, 2–6

• Stefan Koubek at theAssociation of Tennis Professionals
• Stefan Koubek at theInternational Tennis Federation
• Stefan Koubek at theDavis Cup (archived)
• Stefan Koubek onTwitter

• 1977 births
• Living people
• Austrian male tennis players
• Doping cases in tennis
• Hopman Cup competitors
• Sportspeople from Klagenfurt
• Austrian sportspeople in doping cases

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