Stefan Kozlov (Russian: Стефан Козлов, /ˈstɛfɑːn ˈkɒzlɒv/ STEF-ahn KOZ-lov;[1][2] born February 1, 1998) is an American professional tennis player of Russian descent. He has a career-high ATP ranking of world No. 103 achieved on 18 July 2022 and doubles ranking of world No. 180 on 19 June 2017.

Stefan Kozlov
Country (sports) United States
ResidencePembroke Pines, Florida, United States
Born (1998-02-01) 1 February 1998 (age 26)
Skopje, Republic of Macedonia
Height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Turned pro2013
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money$1,005,853
Singles
Career record9–26
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 103 (July 18, 2022)
Current rankingNo. 653 (March 18, 2024)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open2R (2022)
French OpenQ2 (2017)
Wimbledon1R (2022)
US Open1R (2022)
Doubles
Career record0–5
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 180 (June 19, 2017)
Grand Slam doubles results
US Open1R (2014)
Last updated on: March 30, 2024.

Kozlov made his ATP World Tour debut as a wildcard in 2013 Hall of Fame Tennis Championships at the age of 15. He reached two junior Grand Slam finals in 2014 and finished the year at World No. 3 in the ITF Junior Combined rankings.

Personal life

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He is the son of Russian parents and his father Andrei is a tennis coach.[3][4] He has a brother, Boris, who is also a tennis player.

Junior career

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In 2014, Kozlov reached two junior Grand Slam finals, where he lost to Alexander Zverev at the Australian Open and Noah Rubin at Wimbledon. This success led him to a career high junior ranking of No. 2.[5] Kozlov also competed at the U18 National Championships, finishing in third place in the singles tournament and winning the doubles tournament with Noah Rubin. With this victory, they earned a wildcard into the main draw of the 2014 US Open. He ended the year by winning the Orange Bowl junior tournament.[6]

In 2015, Kozlov reached the final of the U18 National Championships, where he lost to Frances Tiafoe in five sets.

Professional career

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Early years

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Kozlov at the 2016 Aegon Championships

In 2013, Kozlov made his ATP World Tour debut as a wildcard at the Newport tournament and lost in the first round. At the age of 16, he defeated his first Top 100 player in Tim Smyczek to reach his first ATP Challenger final in 2014 in Sacramento, where he lost to Sam Querrey. He also reached seven career ITF Futures finals and won four of these finals.

2016-17: First ATP win and quarterfinal, Two Challenger titles

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In April, Kozlov reached the final at the Open de Guadeloupe. In June, he won his first career ATP level match as a wildcard at the 2016 Ricoh Open in Den Bosch. He reached his first career quarterfinal by defeating Steve Johnson in the second round. Toward the end of the season, Kozlov reached a second Challenger final on the year at Suzhou. He won his first career Challenger event in Columbus. He won his second title at the 2017 Las Vegas Challenger.

2021: First three Challenger titles since 2017, return to top 200 since 2018

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In September, at the 2021 Columbus Challenger, Kozlov won his first title in four years, defeating Max Purcell in the final in three sets.[7] At the same tournament he won also in doubles partnering Canadian Peter Polansky. He followed this by a final at the 2021 Las Vegas Challenger and a second Challenger title for the season at the 2021 Charlottesville Men's Pro Challenger, defeating another Australian Aleksandar Vukic. As a result, he returned to the top 200 in more than three years at No. 188 on November 8, 2021.[8] He ended the year with winning his third Challenger in Champaign, US. As a result he finished the year ranked World No. 159 on 22 November 2021.

2022: Grand Slam debut & first win, second ATP quarterfinal & career-high ranking

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At the 2022 Australian Open he made his debut as a wildcard and won his first Grand Slam match against Jiří Veselý. He lost in the second round to 7th seed Matteo Berrettini.[9]

As a qualifier at the 2022 Delray Beach Open, he reached his second career quarterfinal after defeating Emilio Gómez[10] and Steve Johnson.[11]

Ranked No. 130 at the 2022 Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco, he reached the main draw as lucky loser and defeated Grigor Dimitrov in a stunning upset in three sets after fighting cramps, in the longest match in Acapulco history. It was the biggest win in his career.[12][13]

At the 2022 Wimbledon Championships, he made his debut at this Major[14] when he entered the main draw as a lucky loser after the late withdrawal of Borna Ćorić.[15] Kozlov lost in straight sets to 12th seed Diego Schwartzman. He reached a new career high ranking of No. 103 on 18 July 2022.

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals

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Singles: 18 (9–9)

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Legend (singles)
ATP Challenger Tour (5–5)
ITF Futures Tour (4–4)
Titles by surface
Hard (9–9)
Clay (0–0)
Grass (0–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Loss 0–1 Oct 2014 Sacramento, USA Challenger Hard   Sam Querrey 3–6, 4–6
Loss 0–2 May 2015 USA F15, Orange Park Futures Hard   Darian King 2–6, 6–3, 0–6
Loss 0–3 May 2015 Mexico F3, Mexico City Futures Hard   Iván Endara 1–6, 6–7(3–7)
Loss 0–4 Oct 2015 Belarus F3, Minsk Futures Hard (i)   Dzmitry Zhyrmont 1–6, 4–6
Win 1–4 Oct 2015 Belarus F4, Minsk Futures Hard (i)   Dzmitry Zhyrmont 6–1, 7–6(7–1)
Win 2–4 Jan 2016 USA F1, Los Angeles Futures Hard   Philip Bester 7–6(9–7), 6–7(3–7), 6–3
Win 3–4 Mar 2016 Canada F2, Sherbrooke Futures Hard (i)   Lloyd Glasspool 4–6, 6–4, 6–4
Loss 3–5 Apr 2016 Le Gosier, Guadeloupe Challenger Hard   Malek Jaziri 2–6, 4–6
Win 4–5 Apr 2016 USA F13, Little Rock Futures Hard   Eric Quigley 6–7(3–7), 6–3, 7–6(12–10)
Loss 4–6 Oct 2016 Suzhou, China Challenger Hard   Lu Yen-hsun 0–6, 1–6
Win 5–6 Nov 2016 Columbus, USA Challenger Hard (i)   Tennys Sandgren 6–1, 2–6, 6–2
Win 6–6 Oct 2017 Las Vegas, USA Challenger Hard   Liam Broady 3–6, 7–5, 6–4
Loss 6–7 Mar 2019 M25 Calabasas, USA World Tennis Tour Hard   Alexander Ritschard 2–6, 6–0, 6–7(5–7)
Win 7–7 Sep 2021 Columbus, USA Challenger Hard (i)   Max Purcell 4–6, 6–2, 6–4
Loss 7–8 Oct 2021 Las Vegas, USA Challenger Hard   J. J. Wolf 4–6, 4–6
Win 8–8 Nov 2021 Charlottesville, USA Challenger Hard (i)   Aleksandar Vukic 6–2, 6–3
Win 9–8 Nov 2021 Champaign, USA Challenger Hard (i)   Aleksandar Vukic 5–7, 6–3, 6–4
Loss 9–9 Oct 2022 Las Vegas, USA Challenger Hard   Tennys Sandgren 5–7, 3–6

Doubles: 13 (6–7)

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Legend (doubles)
ATP Challenger Tour (4–5)
ITF Futures Tour (2–2)
Titles by surface
Hard (5–3)
Clay (1–4)
Grass (0–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1–0 Nov 2013 USA F31, Bradenton Futures Clay   Sekou Bangoura   Devin McCarthy
  Tommy Mylnikov
6–2, 6–4
Loss 1–1 May 2014 Spain F10, Vic Futures Clay   Noah Rubin   Sergio Martos Gornés
  Pol Toledo Bagué
2–6, 5–7
Win 2–1 Jan 2015 Maui, USA Challenger Hard   Jared Donaldson   Chase Buchanan
  Rhyne Williams
6–3, 6–4
Loss 2–2 Oct 2015 Croatia F18, Solin Futures Clay   Nino Serdarušić   Zdeněk Kolář
  Tomas Toman
4–6, 6–2, [6–10]
Win 3–2 Mar 2016 Canada F1, Gatineau Futures Hard (i)   Kaichi Uchida   Sebastian Fanselow
  Adrian Sikora
7–6(7–5), 6–3
Win 4–2 Jul 2016 Winnetka, USA Challenger Hard   John-Patrick Smith   Sekou Bangoura
  David O'Hare
6–3, 6–3
Loss 4–3 Sep 2016 Cary, USA Challenger Hard   Austin Krajicek   Philip Bester
  Peter Polansky
2–6, 2–6
Loss 4–4 Oct 2016 Ningbo, China Challenger Hard   Akira Santillan   Jonathan Eysseric
  Sergiy Stakhovsky
4–6, 6–7(4–7)
Loss 4–5 Apr 2017 Sarasota, USA Challenger Clay   Peter Polansky   Scott Lipsky
  Jürgen Melzer
2–6, 4–6
Win 5–5 Jul 2021 Lexington, USA Challenger Hard   Liam Draxl   Alex Rybakov
  Reese Stalder
6–2, 6–7(5–7), [10–7]
Loss 5–6 Sep 2021 Cary, USA Challenger Hard   Peter Polansky   William Blumberg
  Max Schnur
4–6, 6–1, [4–10]
Win 6–6 Sep 2021 Columbus, USA Challenger Hard (i)   Peter Polansky   Andrew Lutschaunig
  James Trotter
7–5, 7–6(7–5)
Loss 6–7 Mar 2024 Mérida, Mexico Challenger Clay   Boris Kozlov   Thomas Fancutt
  Hunter Reese
5–7, 3–6

Junior Grand Slam finals

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Singles: 2 (2 runner-ups)

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Result Year Championship Surface Opponent Score
Loss 2014 Australian Open Hard   Alexander Zverev 3–6, 0–6
Loss 2014 Wimbledon Grass   Noah Rubin 6–4, 4–6, 3–6

Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)

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Result Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 2014 Wimbledon Grass   Andrey Rublev   Orlando Luz
  Marcelo Zormann
4–6, 6–3, 6–8

References

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  1. ^ "The pronunciation by Stefan Kozlov himself". ATPWorldTour.com. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  2. ^ RacquetComedy (January 27, 2015). "AFULL INTERVIEW: Stefan Kozlov". YouTube. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
  3. ^ Michelle Kaufman (July 9, 2013). "Floridian Kozlov on the rise". Miami Herald. Retrieved October 27, 2017.
  4. ^ Konigsberg, Eric (August 22, 2014). "Can U.S. Men's Tennis Rise Again?". The New York Times.
  5. ^ "Stefan Kozlov junior profile". Retrieved October 27, 2017.
  6. ^ Michelle Kaufman (December 14, 2014). "Kozlov wins long-awaited Orange Bowl". Miami Herald. Retrieved October 27, 2017.
  7. ^ "Kozlov Returns to Winners' Circle in Columbus". September 27, 2021.
  8. ^ "Challenger Chat: Inside Kozlov's Journey Back to Titletown | ATP Tour | Tennis".
  9. ^ "Matteo Berrettini Sinks Stefan Kozlov, Sets Carlos Alcaraz Clash in Melbourne | ATP Tour | Tennis".
  10. ^ "Sebastian Korda Defeats Thanasi Kokkinakis in Delray Opener | ATP Tour | Tennis".
  11. ^ "Stefan Kozlov hopes to break out of American tennis hopefuls".
  12. ^ "Stefan Kozlov Beats Grigor Dimitrov in Acapulco Marathon | ATP Tour | Tennis".
  13. ^ "Kozlov's Acapulco Odyssey: Jet Ski Rescue, Borrowed Clothes & Standing up Rafa | ATP Tour | Tennis".
  14. ^ "Stefan Kozlov Advances to Final Day of Wimbledon Qualifying | ATP Tour | Tennis".
  15. ^ "Coric withdraws from Wimbledon with shoulder injury". Reuters. June 25, 2022.
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