Nikola Pilić

Nikola "Niki" Pilić (born 27 August 1939) is a Croatian former professional tennis player who competed for SFR Yugoslavia.

Nikola Pilić
Pilić at the 1975 Dutch Open in Hilversum in July 1975
Country (sports) Yugoslavia
ResidenceMunich, Germany
Born (1939-08-27) 27 August 1939
Split, Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Height1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Turned pro1968 (amateur tour from 1960)
Retired1978
PlaysLeft-handed (one-handed backhand)
Singles
Career record270–201
Career titles9
Highest rankingNo. 6 (1968, Lance Tingay)[1]
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open3R (1970)
French OpenF (1973)
WimbledonSF (1967)
US OpenQF (1973)
Professional majors
US ProQF (1968)
Wembley ProQF (1968)
French ProQF (1968)
Doubles
Career record143–134 (Open era)
Career titles6
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian OpenQF (1970)
French Open4R (1969, 1976–77)
WimbledonSF (1975)
US OpenW (1970)
Medal record
Representing  Yugoslavia
Tennis
Mediterranean Games
Gold medal – first place 1963 NaplesDoubles
Bronze medal – third place 1963 NaplesSingles
Universiade
Gold medal – first place 1961 SofiaDoubles
Silver medal – second place 1961 SofiaSingles

He was one of the Handsome Eight.[2] Pilić was ranked world No. 6 in January 1968 and world No. 7 for 1967 by Lance Tingay of The Daily Telegraph.[1][3]

Early life

Pilić was born in Split, Banovina of Croatia, Kingdom of Yugoslavia to Krsto Pilić and Danica Tomić-Ferić five days before the outbreak of World War II that began on 1 September 1939 with the German invasion of Poland.

The youngster took up tennis during the summer of 1952.[4] Thirteen years of age at this point, he began practicing on the Firule tennis club clay courts in parallel to studying shipbuilding at the streamlined high school in Split. Upon graduating he attempted to enrol at a community college (viša škola) in Zagreb, but due to not meeting the entrance criteria ended up in Novi Sad where he studied government administration (viša upravna škola).

Tennis career

In 1964 he won the Moscow International Championships against countryman Boro Jovanovic in five sets.[5] Pilic reached the semifinals of Wimbledon in 1967, beating Roy Emerson.[6] Then open tennis arrived and Pilić was one of the Handsome Eight, a group of players signed by Lamar Hunt in 1968 for the newly formed professional World Championship Tennis (WCT) group.[7]

In 1970, Pilić won the men's doubles title at the US Open with his French partner Pierre Barthès by defeating the Australians John Newcombe and Rod Laver in four sets. His best singles performance at a Grand Slam tournament came in 1973 when he reached the final of the French Open, losing to Ilie Năstase in straight sets.[8]

Pilić was the catalyst to the 1973 Wimbledon boycott. In May 1973, the Yugoslav tennis federation alleged that Pilić had refused to represent them in a Davis Cup tie against New Zealand earlier that month. Pilić denied the charge, but was suspended by the federation, and the suspension was upheld by the ILTF, albeit decreased from nine months to one month, meaning that he could not enter the Wimbledon Championships. In protest at the suspension, 81 of Pilić's fellow professionals, organized into the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), and including 13 of the 16 seeds, withdrew from the 1973 Wimbledon Championships.[9][10][11]

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 1 (1 runner-up)
Result Year Championship Surface Opponent Score
Loss1973French OpenClayRomania Ilie Năstase3–6, 3–6, 0–6

Doubles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)
Result Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss1962WimbledonGrassSocialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Boro JovanovićAustralia Bob Hewitt
Australia Fred Stolle		2–6, 7–5, 2–6, 4–6
Win1970US OpenGrassFrance Pierre BarthèsAustralia Roy Emerson
Australia Rod Laver		6–3, 7–6, 4–6, 7–6

Grand Slam singles performance timeline
Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# DNQ A NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
Tournament1960196119621963196419651966196719681969197019711972197319741975197619771978 SR
Australian Open A A 2R A A A A A A A 3R 2R A A A A A A A A 0 / 3
French Open A 4R 2R 3R 4R 3R A A A 2R A 1R A F A 3R A 1R 2R 0 / 11
Wimbledon 2R 3R 2R 1R 2R A 1R SF 1R 1R 2R 3R A A 3R 1R 4R 3R A 0 / 15
US Open A A 1R A A 1R A 3R 4R 3R 4R 4R 4R QF A A A A A 0 / 9
Strike rate 0 / 1 0 / 2 0 / 4 0 / 2 0 / 2 0 / 2 0 / 1 0 / 2 0 / 2 0 / 3 0 / 3 0 / 4 0 / 1 0 / 2 0 / 1 0 / 2 0 / 1 0 / 2 0 / 1 0 / 38

Note: The Australian Open was held twice in 1977, in January and December.

Post-playing

After retiring from playing tennis professionally, Pilić began coaching and became the first captain to win the Davis Cup trophy for three nations: Germany in 1988, 1989 and 1993, Croatia in 2005 and Serbia in 2010. He's been working with Serbia Davis Cup team in the adviser role since 2007, and won the Davis Cup title in 2010.

He runs a tennis academy in Oberschleißheim near Munich where he resides. Players such as Michael Stich, Novak Djokovic, Ernests Gulbis and Anastasija Sevastova developed and came through the Pilic academy.[12]

Personal

In 1970, Pilić married Serbian actress Mija Adamović. The couple has children together.[13]

In 2020 he was awarded the Golden Medal of Merits of Republic of Serbia.[14]

References
  1. "Top Players Go For Cup", St. Petersburg Times, 31 January 1968.
  2. Deutsche Welle Croatian language service 19 July 2010 Nikola Pilić – 'Prus sa Balkana'
  3. United States Lawn Tennis Association (1972). Official Encyclopedia of Tennis (First edition), p. 428.
  4. Nikola Pilić: Krao sam novac od majke da kupim reket;Blic, 29 May 2011
  5. "Yugoslavian Captures Moscow Title". Hartford Courant. Hartford, CT: The Wikipedia Library - Newspaper Archive.Com. 17 August 1964. p. 19. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  6. "Wimbledon 1967". www.tennis.co.nf.
  7. Wind, Herbert Warren (1979). Game, Set, and Match : The Tennis Boom of the 1960s and 70s (1. ed.). New York: Dutton. pp. 65–70. ISBN 0525111409.
  8. Collins, Bud (2010). The Bud Collins History of Tennis (2nd ed.). [New York]: New Chapter Press. pp. 389, 478. ISBN 978-0942257700.
  9. John Barrett, ed. (1974). World of Tennis '74. London: Queen Anne. pp. 15–17, 45–47. ISBN 978-0362001686.
  10. "The History of the Championships". AELTC. Archived from the original on 27 June 2011. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
  11. "Dark Fortnight For Wimbledon..." SI. 2 July 1973. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
  12. Grasso, John (2011). Historical Dictionary of Tennis. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press. p. 225. ISBN 978-0810872370.
  13. Četiri decenije sa Nikolom; Blic, 25 September 2010
  14. "Svečana ceremonija dodele ordenja povodom Sretenja VIDEO". B92.net (in Serbian). 15 February 2020. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
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