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]

Thai-Son Kwiatkowski
Kwiatkowski at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships
Country (sports) United States
ResidenceCharlottesville, Virginia
Born (1995-02-13) February 13, 1995 (age 29)
Charlotte, North Carolina
Height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Turned pro2017
Retired1 September 2024
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
CollegeUniversity of Virginia
Prize money$ 538,880
Singles
Career record0–7 (Grand Slam, ATP Tour level, and Davis Cup)
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 181 (February 3, 2020)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian OpenQ1 (2020, 2021)
French OpenQ2 (2021)
WimbledonQ1 (2021, 2022)
US Open1R (2017, 2020)
Doubles
Career record0–3
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 232 (July 29, 2019)
Grand Slam doubles results
US Open1R (2019)
Mixed doubles
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
US Open2R (2024)
Last updated on: 1 September 2024.

College career

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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

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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.

In August 2024, he announced his retirement after playing his last singles match at the 2024 Winston-Salem Open.[12][13]

Personal life

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Thai-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

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Singles: 9 (8 titles, 1 runner-up)

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Legend (singles)
ATP Challenger Tour (1–0)
Futures/ITF World Tennis Tour (7–1)
Finals by surface
Hard (7–1)
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   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)

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Legend (doubles)
ATP Challenger Tour (1–4)
Futures/ITF World Tennis Tour (4–5)
Finals by surface
Hard (5–6)
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   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

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  1. ^ a b 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. ^ a b "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. ^ @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.
  13. ^ @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.
  14. ^ Ratcliffe, Jerry (May 29, 2017). "Ratcliffe: Kwiatkowski overcomes his demons, goes out as a champion". The Daily Progress. Charlottesville, Virginia. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
  15. ^ American tennis Thai-Son Kwiatkowski player acquires Vietnamese citizenship
  16. ^ "Thai-Son Kwiatkowski becomes the most accomplished Vietnam player with citizenship". February 23, 2021.
  17. ^ "Tennis : Double nationalité pour Thai Son-Kwiatkowski | Culture-Sports | Vietnam+ (VietnamPlus)". March 22, 2021.
  18. ^ Vietnamese HCMC team signs high ranked Vietnamese American tennis player
  19. ^ Daniel Nguyen obtains Vietnamese citizenship
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