Łukasz Kubot
Łukasz Kubot is a former Polish professional tennis player who was ranked world No. 1 in doubles.
He is a two-time Grand Slam champion in doubles, having won the 2014 Australian Open with Robert Lindstedt, as well as the 2017 Wimbledon Championships with Marcelo Melo. Kubot has won 27 doubles titles on the ATP Tour, including four at Masters 1000 level, all alongside Melo. The pair also finished runners-up at the 2018 US Open and 2017 ATP Finals. In January 2018 he became world No. 1 for the first time, the first Polish player ever to do so in singles or doubles.
Kubot has also had success in singles, achieving a career-high ranking of world No. 41 in April 2010 and reaching the quarterfinals of the 2013 Wimbledon Championships. He also reached the final at the 2009 Serbia Open and the 2010 Brasil Open. Kubot has represented Poland in the Davis Cup since 2001, also competing at three editions of the Summer Olympics. In 2013 he was awarded the Gold Cross of Merit by Polish President Bronisław Komorowski.
Personal life
Łukasz Kubot was born in Bolesławiec, Poland. His parents are Dorota and Janusz Kubot, a football player and coach. He has a sister named Paulina Kubot-Wojtasińska. Kubot and his fiancé Magdalena Bieńkowska welcomed their daughter Zofia on September 9, 2020. He speaks five languages: Polish, Czech, German, English, and Russian.Career
2007–2009: First doubles title
In 2007 Kubot's two main-draw wins came in Davis Cup ties. In 2008 Kubot did not play a single main-draw match.Kubot started 2009 by competing in the qualifying rounds of Qatar ExxonMobil Open and the Australian Open, but he fell in the final round. He then qualified for the Brasil Open, where he recorded his first main-draw win in over one and a half year against Daniel Gimeno Traver, but lost in the following round to Thomaz Bellucci. He then continued to play in qualifying, but failed to qualify. However, in the 2009 Serbia Open, he fell in the final round of the qualifying draw, but was granted a lucky loser spot after Steve Darcis withdrew due a shoulder injury. He defeated Arsenije Zlatanović, Igor Andreev, Kristof Vliegen, and an upset victory over second seed Ivo Karlović. He then lost in straight sets against World No. 3 and top seed Novak Djokovic, in his first final. He became the first Pole to reach an ATP final in 26 years. He also reached the doubles final at the same event partnering Oliver Marach, which he won.
At Roland Garros, he qualified, but lost to Viktor Troicki in the first round, in just around 4 hours. His next main-draw appearance came in MercedesCup in Stuttgart, where he recorded wins over Pablo Andújar and Philipp Kohlschreiber, but lost to Nicolas Kiefer in the quarterfinals. He then qualified in Cincinnati, but lost to José Acasuso, in the first round. In Beijing, he recorded the biggest win of his career by upsetting Andy Roddick in the very first round, but lost to Ivan Ljubičić the following round. He then lost in the first rounds of Shanghai and Vienna. In the 2009 BNP Paribas Masters, he defeated Andreas Beck, but lost to Marin Čilić, after qualifying.
In doubles, he won the 2009 Grand Prix Hassan II, the 2009 Serbia Open, and the 2009 Bank Austria-TennisTrophy, all with his regular doubles partner Oliver Marach. They also reached the semifinals of the 2009 Australian Open, losing to Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles. They were able to qualify in the 2009 ATP World Tour Finals, falling in the round-robin stage despite winning two matches over the teams of Max Mirnyi and Andy Ram, and Lukáš Dlouhý and Leander Paes, only losing to Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan
2010: Three doubles titles
Kubot started his 2010 campaign in Doha, where he reached the quarterfinals, losing to Viktor Troicki, after recording straight-set wins over Karim Maamoun and Sergiy Stakhovsky. He then played in the Australian Open, where he reached his first fourth round in a Grand Slam tournament. He earned this spot by defeating Mischa Zverev, and Santiago Giraldo, and through the withdrawal of 20th seed Mikhail Youzhny. He was defeated by Novak Djokovic. In the Movistar Open, he lost to Marcel Granollers, after defeating Horacio Zeballos. In the 2010 Brasil Open, he reached the final, his second of his career. He earned that by defeating Óscar Hernández, Albert Montañés, and Fabio Fognini, in straight sets. He came back against fourth seed Igor Andreev in the semifinals. In the final, he lost to top seed Juan Carlos Ferrero, failing to hold serve in the whole match.He then suffered early losses in his next three tournaments to credible players in the 2010 Copa Telmex, losing to Juan Mónaco, in the 2010 Abierto Mexicano Telcel to Fernando Verdasco, and the 2010 BNP Paribas Open to David Nalbandian. He then regained form, reaching the quarterfinals of the 2010 Grand Prix Hassan II, losing to Potito Starace. However, he lost in the first round of the 2010 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters to Viktor Troicki.
In doubles, he won the 2010 Movistar Open in Santiago, the Mexican Open in Acapulco, and the Romanian Open Trophy in Bucharest.
2011: Fourth round at Wimbledon
At the 2011 French Open, Kubot was down two sets to none in his first-round match against 11th seed Nicolás Almagro. Kubot stormed back and won the match in five sets. He progressed to the third round, before he was ousted. He earned the nickname "Lukasz the Lionhearted" for his aggressive style of play.He then qualified for the 2011 Wimbledon Championships and advanced to the fourth round, defeating Arnaud Clément in five sets, Ivo Karlović in straight sets, and Gaël Monfils in four sets. In the fourth round, he led Feliciano López by two sets to love and had two match points in the third set tiebreak, but eventually lost in five sets.
2012: Stuttgart Open doubles title
Kubot made the quarterfinals in Memphis, before losing to Benjamin Becker. He also reached the quarterfinals in Bucharest, losing to Gilles Simon.Kubot reached the third round of the French Open, losing to Belgian David Goffin.
Kubot made the quarterfinals in Gstaad, where he lost to Grigor Dimitrov. At Winston-Salem, he made the third round, losing again to Goffin.
In doubles, he made three finals, including the Masters 1000 event in Rome, partnering Janko Tipsarević. He won the tournament in Stuttgart, partnering Jérémy Chardy.
2013: Wimbledon quarterfinal
Ranked no. 130 in the world, Kubot reached the quarterfinals of 2013 Wimbledon Championships. He defeated Igor Andreev in the first round before getting a walkover after second round opponent Steve Darcis withdrew through injury. He then defeated Benoît Paire and Adrian Mannarino before losing in an all-Polish slam quarterfinal against Jerzy Janowicz.2014: Australian Open doubles title
In January Kubot and Sweden's Robert Lindstedt won the Australian Open men's doubles title. The pair had played just two tennis tournaments together, losing in the first round of both, before entering the Australian Open. In the final they defeated American Eric Butorac and South African Raven Klaasen, who had knocked out top seeds Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan. Lindstedt said he had been slated to play with Jürgen Melzer, but the Austrian withdrew with injury before the tournament. "I had to scramble up a partner in December and I'm thankful that Kubot said yes", stated Lindstedt.2016: Third Vienna Open doubles title and race to Rio
In August Kubot participated in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Partnered with Marcin Matkowski, he defeated Indian tennis pair of Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna. Subsequently, Kubot and Matkowski lost to the eighth seeded Spanish pair of Roberto Bautista Agut and David Ferrer in the second round. Kubot also participated in the mixed doubles, where he was partnered with the 2015 WTA Finals winner, Agnieszka Radwańska. Radwańska and Kubot lost to the Romanian pair of Irina Camelia Begu and Horia Tecău in the first round.In October, Kubot partnered with Marcelo Melo defeated Oliver Marach and Fabrice Martin to win the Vienna Open Doubles Title for the third time in his career.
2017: Wimbledon doubles title and year-end No. 1 ATP doubles ranking
In March Kubot with his doubles partner Marcelo Melo reached the doubles final at Indian Wells Masters. Eighth-seeded Łukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo reached the BNP Paribas Open semi-finals after breezing past tricky wild card duo, Nick Kyrgios and Nenad Zimonjić. The Polish-Brazilian pair then defeated fourth seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares to reach the final against the 6th seeds, South Africa's Raven Klaasen and his American doubles partner, Rajeev Ram. At the 2017 Miami Open Kubot and Melo dropped only three sets en route to the final to reach their second straight ATP Masters 1000 final. The sixth-seeded Kubot and Melo defeated American duo Nick Monroe and Jack Sock in straight sets. It was their first ever Masters 1000 title won as a team. Kubot and Melo have continued their streak of claiming at least one ATP doubles title together in a season for the third straight year. They are back-to-back Vienna doubles champions, having won the tournament together in 2015 and 2016. Miami Open was their 11th career tournament together, with a current overall 22–8 record and 12–6 record in 2017.In April, Kubot and Melo reached the quarter-finals at the Monte-Carlo Masters, the season's third Masters 1000 tournament. The following month they reached their third ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final of the season after they defeated seventh seeds Ivan Dodig and Marcel Granollers at the Mutua Madrid Open. In the Mutua Madrid Open final they defeated French duo consisting of Nicolas Mahut and Édouard Roger-Vasselin to win their second Masters 1000 doubles title this season. Seeded fourth at the French Open Kubot and Melo overcame a first round challenge from Julien Benneteau and Jérémy Chardy to advance to the second round. In the 2nd round they lost to Ryan Harrison and Michael Venus.
Kubot and Melo continued their fine season by taking the doubles title at the Ricoh Open, living up to their top seed status in 's-Hertogenbosch by defeating second seeds Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram. As top seeds Kubot and Melo continued their dominance on grass courts by taking the doubles title at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, outlasting brothers Alexander Zverev and Mischa Zverev. Their victory in Halle also further extended their lead in the Emirates ATP Doubles Race To London. They stayed perfect on the grass courts, ousting top seeds Henri Kontinen and John Peers in the Wimbledon semi-finals. In the Wimbledon final, the fourth seeds defeated 16th seeds Oliver Marach and Mate Pavić. The final lasted a marathon 4 hours 41 minutes and was only the fourth Wimbledon men's doubles final to go to five sets in the last 20 years.
In November Kubot and Melo won the men's doubles title at the Paris Masters tennis tournament. The pair defeated Ivan Dodig and Marcel Granollers in the final. The Polish-Brazilian duo made the final after easing past Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares in the semifinal and Feliciano López and Marc López in the quarterfinals. The Paris victory marks Kubot and Melo's sixth title of the season, after wins at Wimbledon, Miami, Madrid, Halle and s'Hertogenbosch. Following the Paris Masters Kubot officially moved up to world No. 2 in the Association of Tennis Professionals’ doubles rankings.
At the Nitto ATP Finals top seeds Kubot and Melo outclassed No. 7 seeds Ivan Dodig and Marcel Granollers to clinch year-end No. 1 ATP doubles ranking. "This year has been amazing for me and Lukas, the first year we're playing together. Finishing as the No. 1 team in the world for me, it means a lot", Melo said, "We achieved this as a team. I'm very proud". They also defeated four-time former season finale champions Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan and subsequently qualified for the semi-finals. In the semifinal they knocked out eighth seed Ryan Harrison and Michael Venus for a place in the title match. In the final Kubot and Melo, who were 49-17 for the season, fell to second seeds and defending champions Henri Kontinen and John Peers.