Petr Pála (born 2 October 1975) is a tennis coach and former professional tennis player from the Czech Republic. Together with Pavel Vízner he reached the men's doubles final of the 2001 French Open but lost to Indians Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes (6–7, 3–6).

Petr Pála
Petr Pála after the 2016 Fed Cup final
Country (sports) Czech Republic
ResidencePrague, Czech Republic
Born (1975-10-02) 2 October 1975 (age 49)
Prague, Czechoslovakia
Height1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Turned pro1993
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money$1,106,011
Singles
Career record0–1
Career titles0
0 Challenger, 0 Futures
Highest ranking286 (24 June 1996)
Grand Slam singles results
US OpenQ1 (1996)
Doubles
Career record206–235
Career titles7
9 Challenger, 1 Futures
Highest ranking10 (6 August 2001)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open3R (2002, 2004)
French OpenF (2001)
WimbledonQF (2001)
US Open3R (2001)
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Australian OpenQF (2002)
French OpenSF (2001)
Wimbledon2R (2000, 2002, 2003)
US Open1R (2001)
Coaching career (2008–present)

Pála was coached by his father František, who was a professional tennis player on the ATP tour.

Pála never had the opportunity to do his singles ability justice on the ATP Tour due to injury. When he recovered from these injuries he returned immediately to the doubles tour, but could not gain entry to official ATP matches.

Pála became the non-playing captain of the Czech Republic Fed Cup team in December 2007.[1] Since then, he has led the Fed Cup team to world titles in 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2018, becoming the most successful Fed Cup team captain of all time.[2]

Grand Slam finals

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Doubles: 1 runner-up

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Result Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 2001 French Open Clay   Pavel Vízner   Mahesh Bhupathi
  Leander Paes
6–7, 3–6

Performance timelines

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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.

Doubles

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Tournament 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 SR W–L Win%
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A A A 1R 2R 3R 1R 3R 1R 1R 2R 1R 0 / 9 6–9 40%
French Open A A A A 2R F 1R 1R 2R 1R 2R 2R 1R 0 / 9 9–9 50%
Wimbledon 3R A A A 2R QF 1R 1R 1R 1R 2R 3R 3R 0 / 10 11–10 52%
US Open 1R A A 1R 1R 3R 2R 2R 1R 1R 1R 2R A 0 / 10 5–10 33%
Win–loss 2–2 0–0 0–0 0–1 2–4 11–4 3–4 1–4 3–4 0–4 2–4 5–4 2–3 0 / 38 31–38 45%
ATP World Tour Masters 1000
Indian Wells A A A A A 2R 1R 1R 2R 1R A 1R A 0 / 6 2–6 25%
Miami A A A A Q1 2R 2R 1R 1R 1R A 1R A 0 / 6 1–6 14%
Monte Carlo A A A A A QF A A 2R A A A A 0 / 2 3–2 60%
Rome A A A A A SF 2R A A A A A A 0 / 2 4–2 67%
Madrid Not Held 1R A A A A A A 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Canada A A A A A 1R A A 2R A A A A 0 / 2 1–2 33%
Cincinnati A A A A A 1R 2R A 1R A A A A 0 / 3 1–3 25%
Hamburg Q1 A A A Q1 SF 1R A 1R 1R A A A 0 / 4 3–4 43%
Paris A A A A A 2R 1R A A A A A A 0 / 2 0–2 0%
Stuttgart A A A A A 2R Not Masters Series 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 10–9 2–7 0–2 3–6 0–3 0–0 0–2 0–0 0 / 29 15–29 34%

Mixed doubles

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Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 SR W–L Win%
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A QF A A 1R A 0 / 2 2–2 50%
French Open A SF 1R A 1R A A 0 / 3 3–3 50%
Wimbledon 2R 1R 2R 2R 1R 1R 1R 0 / 7 3–7 30%
US Open A 1R A A A A A 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Win–loss 1–1 3–3 3–3 1–1 0–2 0–2 0–1 0 / 13 8–13 38%

ATP career finals

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Doubles: 16 (7 titles, 9 runner-ups)

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Legend
Grand Slam Tournaments (0–1)
ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
ATP Masters Series (0–0)
ATP Championship Series (1–2)
ATP World Series (6–6)
Finals by surface
Hard (2–5)
Clay (5–3)
Grass (0–1)
Carpet (0–0)
Finals by setting
Outdoors (6–6)
Indoors (1–3)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 0–1 Aug 1999 San Marino, San Marino World Series Clay   Pavel Vízner   Lucas Arnold Ker
  Mariano Hood
3–6, 2–6
Loss 0–2 Oct 2000 Shanghai, China World Series Hard   Pavel Vízner   Paul Haarhuis
  Sjeng Schalken
2–6, 6–3, 4–6
Loss 0–3 Nov 2000 Stockholm, Sweden World Series Hard   Pavel Vízner   Mark Knowles
  Daniel Nestor
3–6, 2–6
Loss 0–4 Feb 2001 Rotterdam, Netherlands Championship Series Hard   Pavel Vízner   Jonas Björkman
  Roger Federer
3–6, 0–6
Win 1–4 May 2001 St Pölten, Austria World Series Clay   David Rikl   Jaime Oncins
  Daniel Orsanic
6–3, 5–7, 7–5
Loss 1–5 Jun 2001 Paris, France Grand Slam Clay   Pavel Vízner   Mahesh Bhupathi
  Leander Paes
6–7(5–7), 3–6
Loss 1–6 May 2002 Munich, Germany World Series Clay   Pavel Vízner   Radek Štěpánek
  Petr Luxa
0–6, 7–6(7–4), [9–11]
Win 2–6 May 2002 St Pölten, Austria World Series Clay   David Rikl   Mike Bryan
  Michael Hill
7–5, 6–4
Loss 2–7 Aug 2002 Long Island, United States World Series Hard   Pavel Vízner   Mahesh Bhupathi
  Mike Bryan
3–6, 4–6
Win 3–7 May 2004 St Pölten, Austria International Series Clay   Mariano Hood   Tomáš Cibulec
  Leoš Friedl
3–6, 7–5, 6–4
Loss 3–8 Jun 2004 Halle, Germany International Series Grass   Tomáš Cibulec   Leander Paes
  David Rikl
2–6, 5–7
Loss 3–9 Oct 2004 Tokyo, Japan Championship Series Hard   Jiří Novák   Jared Palmer
  Pavel Vízner
1–5 ret.
Win 4–9 Jul 2005 Umag, Croatia International Series Clay   Jiří Novák   David Škoch
  Michal Mertiňák
6–3, 6–3
Win 5–9 Jan 2006 Chennai, India International Series Hard   Michal Mertiňák   Prakash Amritraj
  Rohan Bopanna
6–2, 7–5
Win 6–9 Oct 2006 Vienna, Austria Championship Series Hard   Pavel Vízner   Julian Knowle
  Jürgen Melzer
6–4, 3–6, [12–10]
Win 7–9 Jul 2008 Umag, Croatia International Series Clay   Michal Mertiňák   Carlos Berlocq
  Fabio Fognini
2–6, 6–3, [10–5]

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures Finals

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Doubles: 20 (10–10)

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Legend
ATP Challenger (9–10)
ITF Futures (1–0)
Finals by surface
Hard (1–2)
Clay (5–6)
Grass (1–0)
Carpet (3–2)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 0–1 Jul 1995 Prague, Czech Republic Challenger Clay   David Škoch   Filip Dewulf
  Vojtěch Flégl
7–6, 5–7, 2–6
Loss 0–2 Jun 1996 Košice, Slovakia Challenger Clay   Jan Kodeš   Olivier Delaître
  Jeff Tarango
6–7, 3–6
Win 1–2 Jul 1996 Bristol, United Kingdom Challenger Grass   Andrew Richardson   Lionel Barthez
  Patrick Baur
6–2, 6–4
Loss 1–3 Jul 1997 Ulm, Germany Challenger Clay   Petr Luxa   Kris Goossens
  Tom Vanhoudt
3–6, 0–6
Win 2–3 Aug 1997 Plzeň, Czech Republic Challenger Clay   Borut Urh   Radek Štěpánek
  Radomír Vašek
2–4 ret.
Win 3–3 Feb 1998 Austria F3, Mondseeland Futures Carpet   Borut Urh   Ivaylo Traykov
  Milen Velev
6–4, 7–6
Loss 3–4 Jun 1998 Příbram, Czech Republic Challenger Clay   Radek Štěpánek   Ota Fukárek
  Udo Plamberger
6–2, 3–6, 4–6
Loss 3–5 Nov 1998 Aachen, Germany Challenger Hard   Tuomas Ketola   Menno Oosting
  Pavel Vízner
6–7, 3–6
Loss 3–6 Jun 1999 Prague, Czech Republic Challenger Clay   Tomáš Cibulec   Michal Tabara
  Radomír Vašek
2–6, 0–6
Win 4–6 Oct 1999 Eckental, Germany Challenger Carpet   Pavel Vízner   Steven Randjelovic
  Lovro Zovko
6–4, 6–3
Loss 4–7 Apr 2000 Maia, Portugal Challenger Clay   Pavel Vízner   Tomáš Cibulec
  Leoš Friedl
3–6, 6–4, 4–6
Win 5–7 Aug 2000 Poznań, Poland Challenger Clay   Pavel Vízner   Tomáš Cibulec
  Leoš Friedl
6–3, 6–0
Win 6–7 Nov 2000 Charleroi, Belgium Challenger Carpet   Pavel Vízner   Aleksandar Kitinov
  Lovro Zovko
6–7, 7–5, 6–1
Loss 6–8 Jan 2003 Heilbronn, Germany Challenger Carpet   Pavel Vízner   Johan Landsberg
  Simon Aspelin
4–6, 4–6
Loss 6–9 Feb 2003 Wrocław, Poland Challenger Hard   Pavel Vízner   Petr Luxa
  David Škoch
4–6, 4–6
Win 7–9 May 2004 Ostrava, Czech Republic Challenger Clay   Tuomas Ketola   Łukasz Kubot
  Tomáš Zíb
6–4, 6–4
Loss 7–10 Nov 2004 Aachen, Germany Challenger Carpet   Petr Luxa   Simon Aspelin
  Todd Perry
3–6, 3–6
Win 8–10 Mar 2006 Sunrise, United States Challenger Hard   Robin Vik   Goran Dragicevic
  Dmitry Tursunov
6–4, 6–2
Win 9–10 May 2006 Prague, Czech Republic Challenger Clay   David Škoch   Ramón Delgado
  Sergio Roitman
6–0, 6–0
Win 10–10 May 2008 Prague, Czech Republic Challenger Clay   Lukáš Dlouhý   Dušan Karol
  Jaroslav Pospíšil
6–7(2–7), 6–4, [10–6]

References

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  1. ^ "Novým kapitánem fedcupového týmu bude Pála" (in Czech). idnes.cz. 27 December 2007. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  2. ^ Strength in Depth the Key for Five-Star Czech republic, WTA official website, 14 November 2016
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