Thai-Son Kwiatkowski

Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (born February 13, 1995) is a Vietnamese American tennis player. He played collegiately for the Virginia Cavaliers. On May 29, 2017, Kwiatkowski won the NCAA Men's Singles Championship.[1] This victory earned him a wildcard into the main draw of the 2017 US Open.[2]

Thai-Son Kwiatkowski
Kwiatkowski at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships
Country (sports) United States
ResidenceCharlottesville, Virginia
Born (1995-02-13) February 13, 1995
Charlotte, North Carolina
Height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Turned pro2017
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
CollegeUniversity of Virginia
CoachCarlos Benatzsky
Prize money$490,441
Singles
Career record0–7 (0%) (Grand Slam, ATP Tour level, and Davis Cup)
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 181 (February 3, 2020)
Current rankingNo. 464 (September 2023)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian OpenQ1 (2020, 2021)
French OpenQ2 (2021)
WimbledonQ1 (2021, 2022)
US Open1R (2017, 2020)
Doubles
Career record0–1 (0%)
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 232 (July 29, 2019)
Current rankingNo. 1042 (7 August 2023)
Grand Slam doubles results
US Open1R (2019)
Last updated on: 07 August 2023.

College career

Coming out of high school, he was the nation's top recruit.[3] Kwiatkowski was on three national championship teams during his time at Virginia. As a sophomore, he tied the school's single season wins record, going 44-8 during the season. On September 11, 2016, Kwiatkowski won the American Collegiate Invitational, which earned him a wild card into the qualifying tournament for the 2017 US Open.[4] After his senior season, he was named first-team all-ACC.[5] Kwiatkowski won the singles title at the 2017 NCAA Men's Singles Championship, defeating William Blumberg in the final.[6]

Other notable college achievements:[7]

  • 2018 NCAA Top 10 Award winner
  • ACC Men's Tennis Scholar-Athlete of the Year (second straight year)
  • Was also named the Virginia Athletic Department's Scholar Athlete of the Year for the second straight year
  • Singles All-American, his third time earning the honor
  • All-ACC First Team, his fourth all-conference honor but his first time being voted to the first team
  • ITA Atlantic Region Senior Player of the Year
  • NCAA All-Tournament Team at No. 2 Doubles
  • ITA Indoors All-Tournament Team (No. 2 Singles and No. 2 Doubles)
  • ITA Scholar-Athlete
  • Repeated as the VaSID State Player of the Year
  • Four-time member of the All-ACC Academic Team
  • ACC Player of the Week (April 18)

Professional career
Kwiatkowski in 2018

After winning the NCAA singles championship, Kwiatkowski was awarded a wildcard into the main draw of the 2017 US Open.[1] He faced the 23rd seed Mischa Zverev in the first round, losing in five sets.[8][9]

He won his maiden Challenger title in Newport Beach in 2020.[10] He was also awarded a wildcard into the main draw of the 2020 US Open,[11] where he lost in the first round to Kwon Soon-woo in four sets.

Personal life

Thai-Son's parents are Wendi Le and Tim Kwiatkowski. He has a younger brother named Liem-Son. His parents are both University of Virginia alumni. Kwiatkowski is of Vietnamese and Polish descent.[12] Kwiatkowski majored in commerce.[3]

On 23 February 2021, Thai-Son Kwiatkowski successfully obtained Vietnamese citizenship in order to play for Vietnam's national tennis team in upcoming tournaments.[13] He immediately became the most accomplished tennis player to represent Vietnam after he obtained the citizenship and planned to represent the country in international competition.[14] He is playing for Hung Thinh – Ho Chi Minh City team since October 2019.[15]

Thai-Son is not the first foreign-born tennis player to be recruited by a domestic tennis team. Daniel Nguyen a Vietnamese American tennis player is playing for the Hai Dang - Tay Ninh team and obtained Vietnamese citizenship in 2019.[16][17]

Challenger and Futures finals

Singles: 7 (6–1)
Legend (singles)
ATP Challenger Tour (1–0)
ITF Futures Tour (5–1)
Titles by surface
Hard (5–1)
Clay (1–0)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Win 1–0 Dec 2016 Puerto Rico F1, Mayagüez Futures Hard United States Alexios Halebian 6–1, 6–4
Win 2–0 Oct 2017 USA F33, Houston Futures Hard United States Sebastian Korda 6–2, 6–2
Win 3–0 May 2018 Singapore F1, Singapore Futures Hard Japan Soichiro Moritani 6–2, 6–2
Win 4–0 Jun 2018 Canada F3, Calgary Futures Hard United States Paul Oosterbaan 6–4, 6–3
Win 5–0 Feb 2020 Newport Beach, USA Challenger Hard Colombia Daniel Elahi Galán 6–4, 6–1
Win 6–0 Apr 2023 M15 Sunrise, USA World Tennis Tour Clay United States Tristan McCormick 6–4, 7–6(7–5)
Loss 6–1 Oct 2023 M15 Las Vegas, USA World Tennis Tour Hard Australia Bernard Tomic 1–6, 6–4, 2–6

Doubles: 12 (5–7)
Legend (doubles)
ATP Challenger Tour (1–2)
ITF Futures Tour (4–5)
Titles by surface
Hard (5–4)
Clay (0–3)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1–0 Jun 2016 USA F17, Charlottesville Futures Hard United States Mac Styslinger Australia Greg Jones
New Zealand José Statham		 6–4, 6–1
Win 2–0 Jun 2016 USA F18, Winston-Salem Futures Hard United States Jared Hiltzik United States Austin Smith
United States Dennis Uspensky		 6–4, 6–2
Loss 2–1 Aug 2016 Finland F1, Kaarina Futures Clay New Zealand José Statham Finland Herkko Pöllänen
Denmark Mikael Torpegaard		 7–6(7–4), 3–6, [6–10]
Loss 2–2 Dec 2016 Puerto Rico F1, Mayagüez Futures Hard United States Quinton Vega Serbia Nebojša Perić
Serbia Ilija Vučić		 1–6, 3–6
Win 3–2 Mar 2017 France F5, Toulouse Futures Hard (i) France Fabien Reboul Belgium Niels Desein
France Yannick Jankovits		 6–3, 7–6(7–4)
Loss 3–3 Jun 2017 USA F20, Rochester Futures Clay United States Luca Corinteli Canada Hugo Di Feo
Denmark Mikael Torpegaard		 6–7(5–7), 4–6
Loss 3–4 Oct 2017 USA F33, Houston Futures Hard United States Austin Krajicek United States Aron Hiltzik
United States Dennis Nevolo		 6–7(3–7), 3–6
Loss 3–5 Dec 2017 Mexico F7, Metepec Futures Hard United States John Paul Fruttero Ecuador Gonzalo Escobar
Mexico Manuel Sánchez		 3–6, 3–6
Win 4–5 Jul 2018 Canada F4, Kelowna Futures Hard Republic of Ireland Julian Bradley United States Charlie Emhardt
United States Samuel Shropshire		 7–6(7–5), 7–5
Loss 4–6 Apr 2019 Tallahassee, USA Challenger Clay United States Noah Rubin Venezuela Roberto Maytín
Brazil Fernando Romboli		 2–6, 6–4, [7–10]
Loss 4–7 Jul 2019 Winnetka, USA Challenger Hard United States Christopher Eubanks United States JC Aragone
United States Bradley Klahn		 5–7, 4–6
Win 5–7 Mar 2020 Indian Wells, USA Challenger Hard United States Denis Kudla United States Sebastian Korda
United States Mitchell Krueger		 6–3, 2–6, [10–6]

References
  1. Leung, Brian J. (May 29, 2017). "NCAA CHAMPION! Thai-Son Kwiatkowski wins the NCAA Singles Title!". streakingthelawn.com. Retrieved May 29, 2017.
  2. "DI men's tennis championship: Virginia's Thai-Son Kwiatkowski wins NCAA men's singles title". NCAA.com. Retrieved June 13, 2017.
  3. "UVA bio". virginiasports.com. Retrieved May 29, 2017.
  4. "Kwiatkowski and Collins Win American Collegiate Invitational Singles Titles". longislandtennismagazine.com. September 11, 2016. Retrieved May 29, 2017.
  5. Karnik, Danny. "2017 MEN'S TENNIS ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM ANNOUNCED". theACC.com. Archived from the original on July 31, 2017. Retrieved May 29, 2017.
  6. Ratcliffe, Jerry (May 29, 2017). "Virginia's Kwiatkowski captures NCAA singles title". dailyprogress.com. Retrieved June 13, 2017.
  7. "Thai-Son Kwiatkowski". April 28, 2020.
  8. "The Latest: No. 23 seed Zverev prevails over NCAA champ". washingtonpost.com. August 28, 2017. Archived from the original on September 11, 2017. Retrieved September 11, 2017.
  9. "Asian-American Spotlight: Thai-Son Kwiatkowski". May 8, 2018.
  10. "Kwiatkowski Captures Maiden Title in Newport Beach | ATP Tour | Tennis".
  11. "THCMC tennis player gets US Open wild card". vnexpress.net. August 29, 2020. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
  12. Ratcliffe, Jerry (May 29, 2017). "Ratcliffe: Kwiatkowski overcomes his demons, goes out as a champion". The Daily Progress. Charlottesville, Virginia. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
  13. American tennis Thai-Son Kwiatkowski player acquires Vietnamese citizenship
  14. "Thai-Son Kwiatkowski becomes the most accomplished Vietnam player with citizenship". February 23, 2021.
  15. "Tennis : Double nationalité pour Thai Son-Kwiatkowski | Culture-Sports | Vietnam+ (VietnamPlus)". March 22, 2021.
  16. Vietnamese HCMC team signs high ranked Vietnamese American tennis player
  17. Daniel Nguyen obtains Vietnamese citizenship
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