Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (born February 13, 1995) is a Vietnamese American former tennis player. He played collegiately for the Virginia Cavaliers. On 29 May 2017, Kwiatkowski won the NCAA Men's Singles Championship.[1][2]
.jpg) Kwiatkowski at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships | |
| Country (sports) |  United States |
|---|---|
| Residence | Charlottesville, Virginia |
| Born | February 13, 1995 Charlotte, North Carolina |
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) |
| Turned pro | 2017 |
| Retired | 1 September 2024 |
| Plays | Right-handed (two-handed backhand) |
| College | University of Virginia |
| Prize money | $ 538,880 |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 0–7 (Grand Slam, ATP Tour level, and Davis Cup) |
| Career titles | 0 |
| Highest ranking | No. 181 (February 3, 2020) |
| Grand Slam singles results | |
| Australian Open | Q1 (2020, 2021) |
| French Open | Q2 (2021) |
| Wimbledon | Q1 (2021, 2022) |
| US Open | 1R (2017, 2020) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 0–3 |
| Career titles | 0 |
| Highest ranking | No. 232 (July 29, 2019) |
| Grand Slam doubles results | |
| US Open | 1R (2019) |
| Mixed doubles | |
| Grand Slam mixed doubles results | |
| US Open | 2R (2024) |
| Last updated on: 1 September 2024. | |
College career
editComing 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
edit
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.
In August 2024, he announced his retirement after playing his last singles match at the 2024 Winston-Salem Open.[12][13]
Personal life
editThai-Son's parents are Wendi Le and Tim Kwiatkowski. He has a younger brother named Liem. His parents are both University of Virginia alumni. Kwiatkowski is of Vietnamese and Polish descent.[14] 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.[15] 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.[16] He is playing for Hung Thinh – Ho Chi Minh City team since October 2019.[17]
Thai-Son is not the first foreign-born tennis player to be recruited by a Vietnamese 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.[18][19]
ATP Challenger and Futures/ITF World Tennis Tour finals
editSingles: 9 (8 titles, 1 runner-up)
edit
|
|
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 1–0 | Dec 2016 | Puerto Rico F1, Mayagüez | Futures | Hard | Alexios Halebian
|
6–1, 6–4 |
| Win | 2–0 | Oct 2017 | USA F33, Houston | Futures | Hard | Sebastian Korda
|
6–2, 6–2 |
| Win | 3–0 | May 2018 | Singapore F1, Singapore | Futures | Hard |  Soichiro Moritani
|
6–2, 6–2 |
| Win | 4–0 | Jun 2018 | Canada F3, Calgary | Futures | Hard | Paul Oosterbaan
|
6–4, 6–3 |
| Win | 5–0 | Feb 2020 | Newport Beach, USA | Challenger | Hard |  Daniel Elahi Galán
|
6–4, 6–1 |
| Win | 6–0 | Apr 2023 | M15 Sunrise, USA | World Tennis Tour | Clay | Tristan McCormick
|
6–4, 7–6(7–5) |
| Loss | 6–1 | Oct 2023 | M15 Las Vegas, USA | World Tennis Tour | Hard |  Bernard Tomic
|
1–6, 6–4, 2–6 |
| Win | 7–1 | Mar 2024 | M25 Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic | World Tennis Tour | Hard |  Nick Hardt
|
6–4, 6–4 |
| Win | 8–1 | Mar 2024 | M25 Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic | World Tennis Tour | Hard |  Andrés Andrade
|
6–4, 7–6(7–3) |
Doubles: 14 (5 titles, 9 runner-ups)
edit
|
|
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 1–0 | Jun 2016 | USA F17, Charlottesville | Futures | Hard | Mac Styslinger
|
Greg Jones José Statham
|
6–4, 6–1 |
| Win | 2–0 | Jun 2016 | USA F18, Winston-Salem | Futures | Hard | Jared Hiltzik
|
Austin Smith Dennis Uspensky
|
6–4, 6–2 |
| Loss | 2–1 | Aug 2016 | Finland F1, Kaarina | Futures | Clay | José Statham
|
 Herkko Pöllänen Mikael Torpegaard
|
7–6(7–4), 3–6, [6–10] |
| Loss | 2–2 | Dec 2016 | Puerto Rico F1, Mayagüez | Futures | Hard | Quinton Vega
|
 Nebojša Perić Ilija Vučić
|
1–6, 3–6 |
| Win | 3–2 | Mar 2017 | France F5, Toulouse | Futures | Hard (i) |  Fabien Reboul
|
 Niels Desein Yannick Jankovits
|
6–3, 7–6(7–4) |
| Loss | 3–3 | Jun 2017 | USA F20, Rochester | Futures | Clay | Luca Corinteli
|
 Hugo Di Feo Mikael Torpegaard
|
6–7(5–7), 4–6 |
| Loss | 3–4 | Oct 2017 | USA F33, Houston | Futures | Hard | Austin Krajicek
|
Aron Hiltzik Dennis Nevolo
|
6–7(3–7), 3–6 |
| Loss | 3–5 | Dec 2017 | Mexico F7, Metepec | Futures | Hard | John Paul Fruttero
|
Gonzalo Escobar Manuel Sánchez
|
3–6, 3–6 |
| Win | 4–5 | Jul 2018 | Canada F4, Kelowna | Futures | Hard |  Julian Bradley
|
Charlie Emhardt Samuel Shropshire
|
7–6(7–5), 7–5 |
| Loss | 4–6 | Apr 2019 | Tallahassee, USA | Challenger | Clay | Noah Rubin
|
 Roberto Maytín Fernando Romboli
|
2–6, 6–4, [7–10] |
| Loss | 4–7 | Jul 2019 | Winnetka, USA | Challenger | Hard | Christopher Eubanks
|
JC Aragone Bradley Klahn
|
5–7, 4–6 |
| Win | 5–7 | Mar 2020 | Indian Wells, USA | Challenger | Hard | Denis Kudla
|
Sebastian Korda Mitchell Krueger
|
6–3, 2–6, [10–6] |
| Loss | 5–8 | Oct 2023 | Charlottesville, USA | Challenger | Hard (i) | Denis Kudla
|
John-Patrick Smith Sem Verbeek
|
6–3, 3–6, [5–10] |
| Loss | 5–9 | Jan 2024 | Indian Wells, USA | Challenger | Hard | Alex Lawson
|
Ryan Seggerman Patrik Trhac
|
2–6, 6–7(3–7) |
References
edit- ^ a b Leung, Brian J. (May 29, 2017). "NCAA CHAMPION! Thai-Son Kwiatkowski wins the NCAA Singles Title!". streakingthelawn.com. Retrieved May 29, 2017.
- ^ "DI men's tennis championship: Virginia's Thai-Son Kwiatkowski wins NCAA men's singles title". NCAA.com. Retrieved June 13, 2017.
- ^ a b "UVA bio". virginiasports.com. Retrieved May 29, 2017.
- ^ "Kwiatkowski and Collins Win American Collegiate Invitational Singles Titles". longislandtennismagazine.com. September 11, 2016. Retrieved May 29, 2017.
- ^ Karnik, Danny. "2017 MEN'S TENNIS ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM ANNOUNCED". theACC.com. Archived from the original on July 31, 2017. Retrieved May 29, 2017.
- ^ Ratcliffe, Jerry (May 29, 2017). "Virginia's Kwiatkowski captures NCAA singles title". dailyprogress.com. Retrieved June 13, 2017.
- ^ "Thai-Son Kwiatkowski". April 28, 2020.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Asian-American Spotlight: Thai-Son Kwiatkowski". May 8, 2018.
- ^ "Kwiatkowski Captures Maiden Title in Newport Beach | ATP Tour | Tennis".
- ^ "THCMC tennis player gets US Open wild card". vnexpress.net. August 29, 2020. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
- ^ @JTweetsTennis (August 18, 2024). "Thai-Son Kwiatkowski, the 2017 NCAA singles champion at Virginia, announces his retirement from tennis on Instagram. The 29yo reached ATP #181. Kwiatkowski, a North Carolina native, fittingly played his final match today at the Winston-Salem Open" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ @UVAMensTennis (August 19, 2024). "Join us in wishing Thai Kwiatkowski all the best. He announced his retirement on Sunday (Aug. 18) at the Winston-Salem Open #GoHoos" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ Ratcliffe, Jerry (May 29, 2017). "Ratcliffe: Kwiatkowski overcomes his demons, goes out as a champion". The Daily Progress. Charlottesville, Virginia. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
- ^ American tennis Thai-Son Kwiatkowski player acquires Vietnamese citizenship
- ^ "Thai-Son Kwiatkowski becomes the most accomplished Vietnam player with citizenship". February 23, 2021.
- ^ "Tennis : Double nationalité pour Thai Son-Kwiatkowski | Culture-Sports | Vietnam+ (VietnamPlus)". March 22, 2021.
- ^ Vietnamese HCMC team signs high ranked Vietnamese American tennis player
- ^ Daniel Nguyen obtains Vietnamese citizenship
