- Nikola Pilić
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Nikola Pilić Country Yugoslavia Residence Munich, Germany Born 27 August 1939
Split, Kingdom of Yugoslavia
(now Croatia)Height 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Turned pro N/A Retired 1978 Plays Left-handed Career prize money N/A Singles Career record 210–168 Career titles 3 Highest ranking 12 (31 October 1973) Grand Slam results Australian Open 3r (1970) French Open F (1973) Wimbledon 4r (1976) US Open QF (1973) Doubles Career record 143–134 Career titles 6 Highest ranking n/a Grand Slam Doubles results Australian Open QF (1970) French Open 4r (1969) Wimbledon SF (1975) US Open W (1970) Last updated on: 2008. Medal record Competitor for 
YugoslaviaTennis Mediterranean Games Gold 1963 Naples Doubles Universiade Gold 1961 Sofia Doubles Silver 1961 Sofia Singles Nikola "Niki" Pilić (born 27 August 1939) is a retired Croatian professional tennis player who competed for SFR Yugoslavia. He was one of the Handsome Eight.
Contents
Biography
Pilić was born in Split to Krsto Pilić and Danica Tomić-Ferić just before the outbreak of World War II, in what was then Littoral Banovina, Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Young Nikola took up tennis during the summer of 1952.[1] Thirteen years of age at this point, he began practicing on the clay courts of Firule tennis club in parallel to studying shipbuilding at the streamlined high school in Split. Upon graduating he attempted to enroll at a community college (viša škola) in Zagreb, but due to not meeting the entrance criteria ended up in Novi Sad where he studied administration (viša upravna škola).
Pilić was central to the 1973 Wimbledon Boycott. That year the Yugoslav tennis federation alleged that Pilić had refused to represent them in a Davis Cup tie. Pilić denied the charge, but was suspended by the federation, and the suspension was upheld by the ILTF, meaning that he could not enter major tournaments. In protest at the suspension, 81 of Pilić's fellow professionals, including 13 of the 16 seeds, withdrew from the Wimbledon championship.
After retiring, Pilić began coaching and became the first captain to win the Davis Cup trophy for three different nations: Germany in 1988, 1989 and 1993, Croatia in 2005 and Serbia in 2010. He's been working with Serbia Davis Cup team in the advisor role since 2007, and have one Davis Cup title 2010.
He runs a tennis academy in Oberschleißheim near Munich where he resides, working with young professional players like Ernests Gulbis. In the past players such as Michael Stich and Novak Đoković came through the Pilic academy.
In 1970, Pilić married Serbian actress Mija Adamović.[2] The couple have children together.[3]
Grand Slam finals
Singles Runner-up (1)
Year Championship Opponent in Final Score in Final 1973 French Open 
Ilie Năstase6–3, 6–3, 6–0 Doubles Titles (1)
Year Championship Partnering Opponents in Final Score in Final 1970 U.S. Open 
Pierre Barthès
Roy Emerson &
Rod Laver6–3, 7–6, 4–6, 7–6 References
- ^ Nikola Pilić: Krao sam novac od majke da kupim reket;Blic, 29 May 2011
- ^ Mija Adamović @ IMDb.com
- ^ Četiri decenije sa Nikolom; Blic, 25 September 2010
External links
- Nikola Pilić at the Association of Tennis Professionals
- Nikola Pilić at the International Tennis Federation
- Nikola Pilić at the Davis Cup
- Tennis Academy Niki Pilic - Official site
- An interview in Jet Set magazine (Croatian)
Croatian Sportsman of the Year Duje Bonačić / Petar Šegvić / Mate Trojanović / Velimir Valenta (1952) · Perica Vlašić (1953) · Žarko Dolinar (1954) · Bernard Vukas (1955) · Krešo Račić (1956) · Hrvoje Kačić (1957) · Joško Murat (1958) · Duje Smoljanović (1959) · Željko Perušić (1960) · Boro Jovanović (1961) · Boro Jovanović / Nikola Pilić (1962) · Josip Gjergja (1963) · Nikola Pilić (1964) · Andro Depolo (1965) · Cvjetko Bilić (1966) · Nikola Pilić (1967) · Dragutin Šurbek (1968) · Dragutin Šurbek (1969) · Petar Skansi (1970) · Mate Parlov (1971) · Mate Parlov (1972) · Mate Parlov (1973) · Luciano Sušanj (1974) · Antun Stipančić (1975) · Matija Ljubek (1976) · Joško Alebić (1977) · Milan Janić (1978) · Dragutin Šurbek (1979) · Krešimir Ćosić (1980) · Dragutin Šurbek (1981) · Matija Ljubek (1982) · Dragutin Šurbek (1983) · Vlado Lisjak (1984) · Dražen Petrović (1985) · Dražen Petrović (1986) · Ivan Šabjan (1987) · Zoran Primorac (1988) · Toni Kukoč (1989) · Toni Kukoč (1990) · Toni Kukoč (1991) · Goran Ivanišević (1992) · Goran Ivanišević (1993) · Goran Ivanišević (1994) · Željko Mavrović (1995) · Goran Ivanišević (1996) · Željko Mavrović (1997) · Davor Šuker (1998) · Gordan Kožulj (1999) · Nikolaj Pešalov (2000) · Goran Ivanišević (2001) · Ivica Kostelić (2002) · Ivica Kostelić (2003) · Duje Draganja (2004) · Ivan Ljubičić (2005) · Ivan Ljubičić (2006) · Ivano Balić (2007) · Filip Ude (2008) · Ivica Kostelić (2009) · Ivica Kostelić (2010)
Categories:- 1939 births
- Living people
- Croatian male tennis players
- Croatian tennis coaches
- People from Munich
- People from Split
- United States Open champions (tennis)
- Yugoslav expatriates in Germany
- Yugoslav male tennis players
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