Nikola Špear

Nikola Špear
Country (sports)	Yugoslavia
Born	22 February 1944; Subotica, Kingdom of Hungary
Died	2 December 2017 (aged 73); Subotica, Serbia
Turned pro	1965
Retired	1981
Plays	Right-handed
Singles
Career record	116–172
Career titles	0
Highest ranking	No. 68 (11 July 1977)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	1R (1975)
French Open	4R (1966, 1967)
Wimbledon	2R (1970)
US Open	2R (1975)
Doubles
Career record	53–99
Career titles	0
Highest ranking	No. 115 (1 March 1976)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	1R (1975)
French Open	3R (1970, 1971)
Wimbledon	3R (1968)
US Open	1R (1969, 1971, 1976)
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
French Open	2R (1968)
Wimbledon	3R (1970)
Team competitions
Davis Cup	FEu (1970)

Nikola "Nikki" Špear (Serbian Cyrillic: Никола Шпеар; 22 February 1944 – 2 December 2017), often spelled Nicola Spear in English-language media, was a Serbian tennis player and coach who represented Yugoslavia in his playing career.^[1]^[2]

Professional career

Špear won the senior championship of Yugoslavia 1968, 1972, 1973 and 1975.^[3]

Between 1969 and 1975, he represented Yugoslavia in the Davis Cup, compiling a 5–9 record in singles and 3–4 in doubles, for an overall 8–13 record across seven ties.^[4]

Following his playing career, Špear worked as a tennis coach, leading the Denmark Davis Cup team, the German Fed Cup team, and the FR Yugoslavia Davis Cup team.^[5]

In addition to his coaching career, he also organised tennis events in his hometown of Subotica.^[6]

Career finals

Singles: 3 (3 runner-ups)

Legend
Grand Slam (0–0)
Tennis Masters Cup (0–0)
ATP Tour (0–3)

Finals by surface
Hard (0–1)
Clay (0–2)
Grass (0–0)

Finals by setting
Outdoor (0–2)
Indoor (0–1)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	0–1	Mar 1970	Barranquilla, Colombia	Clay	Željko Franulović	7–9, 3–6, 3–6
Loss	0–2	Mar 1971	Pensacola, United States	Hard (i)	Milan Holecek	6–4, 3–6, 3–6
Loss	0–3	Feb 1975	Algiers, Algeria	Clay	Birger Andersson	7–5, 6–2, 0–6, 1–6, 2–6

Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)

Legend
Grand Slam (0–0)
Tennis Masters Cup (0–0)
ATP Tour (0–1)

Finals by surface
Hard (0–0)
Clay (0–1)
Grass (0–0)

Finals by setting
Outdoor (0–1)
Indoor (0–0)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	0–1	Apr 1977	Munich, West Germany	Clay	John Whitlinger	František Pála Balázs Taróczy	3–6, 4–6

Singles performance timeline

Key
W	F	SF	QF	#R	RR	Q#	P#	DNQ	A	Z#	PO	G	S	B	NMS	NTI	P	NH

(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

Tournament	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979	1980	1981	SR	W–L	Win %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R	A	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 1	0–1	0%
French Open	1R	4R	4R	2R	1R	3R	2R	P2	1R	Q1	2R	1R	1R	1R	1R	A	A	0 / 13	10–11	48%
Wimbledon	A	A	1R	1R	1R	2R	1R	1R	A	A	1R	1R	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 8	1–8	11%
US Open	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R	A	A	1R	2R	1R	1R	A	A	A	A	0 / 5	1–5	17%
Win–loss	0–0	3–1	2–2	1–2	0–1	3–2	1–3	0–1	0–1	0–1	2–4	0–3	0–2	0–1	0–1	0–0	0–0	0 / 28	12–25	32%
National representation
Davis Cup	A	A	A	A	QF^Eu	F^Eu	A	1R^Eu	A	A	QF^Eu	A	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 4	5–9	36%
Win–loss	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–2	4–4	0–0	0–2	0–0	0–0	1–1	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0 / 4	5–9	36%
Career statistics
	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979	1980	1981	Career
Tournaments	1	1	2	3	5	13	15	11	13	13	25	16	19	4	3	2	0	146
Titles / Finals	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0
Overall win–loss	0–0	3–1	2–2	1–3	2–3	14–13	4–15	3–10	5–12	2–12	16–25	5–16	15–19	1–4	1–3	0–2	0–0	70–144
Win %	–	75%	50%	25%	40%	52%	21%	23%	29%	14%	39%	24%	44%	20%	25%	0%	–	35%
Year-end ranking	N/A								124	153	92	151	122	357	312	383	N/A	No. 78

Records

Year	Record	Players matched
1968	Triple bagel win (6–0, 6–0, 6–0)	At least 17 players

References

↑ SPEAR, Nikki at itftennis.com
↑ Nicola Spear at atpworldtour.com
↑ "Istorijat". tenis.rs. Archived from the original on 7 July 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
↑ Nikki Spear: Player Profile at daviscup.com
↑ Najbolji subotički teniser svih vremena
↑ Subotica.info "Među prisutnim gostima bili su proslavljeni teniser Nikola Špear i Katarina Vojnić Hajduk koja je godinama u Republičkom zavodu za međunarodnu, naučnu, prosvetnu, kulturnu i tehničku saradnju bila zadužena za kontakte sa Amerikom."

External links

Nikola Špear at the Association of Tennis Professionals
Nikola Špear at World Tennis
Nikola Špear at the Davis Cup (archived)
Nikola Špear at eurosport.com

[1] SPEAR, Nikki at itftennis.com

[2] Nicola Spear at atpworldtour.com

[3] "Istorijat". tenis.rs. Archived from the original on 7 July 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2012.

[4] Nikki Spear: Player Profile at daviscup.com

[5] Najbolji subotički teniser svih vremena

[6] Subotica.info "Među prisutnim gostima bili su proslavljeni teniser Nikola Špear i Katarina Vojnić Hajduk koja je godinama u Republičkom zavodu za međunarodnu, naučnu, prosvetnu, kulturnu i tehničku saradnju bila zadužena za kontakte sa Amerikom."

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