Kurt Nielsen

{{Short description|Danish tennis player}}

{{For-multi|the Danish football (soccer) player and manager|Kurt "Nikkelaj" Nielsen|the Norwegian singer|Kurt Nilsen}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}

{{Infobox tennis biography

|name = Kurt Nielsen

|image = Kurt Nielsen(1999).jpg

|caption = Nielsen in 1999

|fullname =

|country = {{DEN}}

|residence =

|birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1930|11|19}}

|birth_place = Copenhagen, Denmark

|death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|2011|6|11|1930|11|19}}

|death_place =

|height =

|college =

|turnedpro = 1960 (amateur from 1948)

| coach= Don Tregonning (1955)

|retired = 1966

|plays = Right-handed (one-handed backhand)

|careerprizemoney =

|tennishofyear =

|tennishofid =

|website =

|singlesrecord = 205–103

|singlestitles = 13

|highestsinglesranking = No. 7 (1953, Lance Tingay)"Trabert is Seeded Top", The Sydney Morning Herald, 16 September 1953.

|AustralianOpenresult =

|FrenchOpenresult = 4R (1952, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1959)

|Wimbledonresult = F (1953, 1955)

|USOpenresult = QF (1953)

|Othertournaments =

|MastersCupresult =

|Promajors = yes

|WembleyProresult = 1R (1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1966)

|FrenchProresult = 1R (1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965)

|Olympicsresult =

|doublesrecord =

|doublestitles =

|highestdoublesranking =

|currentdoublesranking =

|AustralianOpenDoublesresult =

|FrenchOpenDoublesresult =

|WimbledonDoublesresult = 3R (1953, 1957)

|USOpenDoublesresult =

|OthertournamentsDoubles =

|MastersCupDoublesresult =

|OlympicsDoublesresult =

|Mixed = yes

|mixedrecord =

|mixedtitles =

|AustralianOpenMixedresult =

|FrenchOpenMixedresult =

|WimbledonMixedresult = F (1958)

|USOpenMixedresult = W (1957)

|OthertournamentsMixedDoubles =

|OlympicMixedDoublesresult =

}}

Kurt Nielsen (19 November 1930 – 11 June 2011)[http://sporten.tv2.dk/tennis/article.php/id-40690871:dansk-tennislegende-er-d%C3%B8d.html Dansk tennislegende er død] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615004545/http://sporten.tv2.dk/tennis/article.php/id-40690871:dansk-tennislegende-er-d%C3%B8d.html |date=15 June 2011 }}, tv2.dk 11. juni 2011 {{in lang|da}} was a Danish tennis player. He was born in Copenhagen, and was the first Danish tennis player ever to have played in a men's singles final in a Grand Slam tournament.

Nielsen reached the singles finals of Wimbledon in 1953 (beating Ken Rosewall and Jaroslav Drobný, then losing to Vic Seixas){{cite web|title=Wimbledon 1953|url=http://www.tennis.co.nf/WIMBLEDON%201953.htm|website=www.tennis.co.nf}} and 1955 (beating Rosewall, then losing to Tony Trabert). Both times he reached the final, he was unseeded. Before this, he won the boys' singles at Wimbledon in 1947 (defeating Sven Davidson). Besides his successes at Wimbledon, he won the boys' singles at the French Open and reached the quarterfinals in the U.S. Championships in 1953.

With Althea Gibson, Nielsen won the U.S. Open mixed doubles in 1957, thereby becoming the first Dane to have won a Grand Slam event. During his long career, he won around 30 international titles, played 96 Davis Cup matches for Denmark (with a 53–43 record), and holds the record of having won the most Danish national tennis championships (50). Nielsen turned professional in 1960 and played on the pro circuit.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article136938280 |title=Rosewall Downs Kurt Nielsen. |newspaper=The Canberra Times |date=15 September 1960 |page=32 |via=National Library of Australia}}

After ending his active career, Nielsen held numerous honourable positions in leading international tennis associations as well as served as the supervisor and referee at many Grand Slam events. He was a commentator on the Danish version of the TV channel Eurosport until late 2006.[http://www.b.dk/sport/femte-saet Femte sæt], b.dk 17. februar 2011 {{in lang|da}}

Nielsen was the grandfather of Danish tennis player Frederik Løchte Nielsen.[http://sporten-dyn.tv2.dk/article.php/id-7328335:f-l%C3%B8chte-t%C3%A6ttere-p%C3%A5-wimbledon.html F. Løchte tættere på Wimbledon] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319022551/http://sporten-dyn.tv2.dk/article.php/id-7328335:f-l%C3%B8chte-t%C3%A6ttere-p%C3%A5-wimbledon.html |date=19 March 2012 }}, tv2.dk 20. juni 2007 {{in lang|da}} His grandson, at the 2012 Wimbledon men's doubles event, became the second Dane to win a Grand Slam tournament.