Johan Kriek

American Born 1958 175 cm Right handed
Head to heads vs John McEnroe (17)vs Vitas Gerulaitis (11)vs Ivan Lendl (10)vs Jimmy Connors (9)vs Stefan Edberg (9)vs Brad Gilbert (7)

Match log

1994

Indian Wells CH, challengerHard, February
R16LSteve Bryan3-6 6-3 3-6
R32WDarren Cahill7-5 6-3

1993

Napoli CH, challengerClay, November
R32LXavier Daufresne0-6 2-6

1992

MemphisHard, February
R64LSandon Stolle3-6 4-6

1991

Johannesburg CH, challengerHard, November
R32LTodd Witsken3-6 2-6
Brest CH, challengerHard, October
R16LCedric PiolineW/O
R32WRichard Matuszewski6-1 3-6 6-1
LyonCarpet, October
QFLOlivier Delaitre2-6 6-7(3)
R16WFabrice Santoro6-4 6-4
R32WStefano Pescosolido7-6(5) 6-3
BerlinCarpet, October
R32LAnders Jarryd3-6 2-6
Ponte Vedra CH, challengerHard, September
R32LAndrew Sznajder2-6 5-7
Bloomfield CH, challengerHard, September
R16LSteve Bryan1-6 3-6
R32WMark Greenan7-5 6-2
New HavenHard, August
R64LAlex Obrien5-7 2-6
Canada MastersHard, July
R64LNeil Borwick3-6 4-6
NewportGrass, July
R16LChristo Van Rensburg1-6 6-4 6-7(5)
R32WBret Garnett6-2 6-4
WimbledonGrass, June
R128LJavier Sanchez4-6 4-6 7-6(5) 3-6
RosmalenGrass, June
R32LJan Siemerink5-7 2-6
Birmingham CH, challengerClay, April
R32LTodd Martin6-7 3-6

1990

Durban CH, challengerHard, April
QFLStefan Kruger6-7 6-0 1-6
R16WMark Keil6-0 6-7 6-4
R32WDavid Nainkin4-6 7-6 6-1
Capetown1 CH, challengerHard, April
QFLGary Muller5-7 3-6
R16WWayne Ferreira7-6 6-7 6-3
R32WTim Wilkison6-4 6-4
Miami MastersHard, March
R128LKarel Novacek6-4 0-6 4-6

1989

US OpenHard, August
R128LLawson Duncan7-6 3-6 2-6 1-6
Stratton MountainHard, July
R16LJim Grabb3-6 4-6
R32WSteve Bryan1-6 6-4 7-6
R64WRichard Fromberg7-6 6-1
NewportGrass, July
QFLDanie Visser3-6 2-6
R16WGary Muller6-1 6-4
R32WJavier Frana6-4 6-3
WimbledonGrass, June
R128LLeif Shiras6-7 2-6 2-6
CharlestonClay, May
R16LCassio Motta5-7 5-7
R32WGuillermo Rivas6-3 7-5
Capetown CH, challengerHard, April
SFLPieter Aldrich6-7 6-7
QFWMarty Davis6-4 6-2
R16WPiet Norval6-1 6-1
R32WByron Talbot6-2 7-5
Key BiscayneHard, March
R128LRamesh Krishnan6-7 6-7 6-7
Indian WellsHard, March
R64LJimmy Arias3-6 6-1 2-6
ScottsdaleHard, March
R16LJim Courier1-6 1-6
R32WJimmy Connors6-4 4-6 6-4
MemphisHard, February
FLBrad Gilbert2-6 2-6 RET
SFWMichael Chang6-1 1-6 6-3
QFWRichey Reneberg6-3 6-3
R16WAndre Agassi6-7 7-5 6-3
R32WBill Scanlon6-1 6-3

Johan Kriek

No one else has won the same Grand Slam twice in twelve months. Johan Kriek did it on the Kooyong grass, both times over Steve Denton: 6-2, 7-6, 6-7, 6-4 in the 1981 Australian Open final, played on 3 January 1982, then 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 the following December. The December Open was then the calendar's afterthought, most of the top ten staying home. Kriek beat what showed up; the first of his 2 majors made him the first South African man to win one.

His road there was a kind of exile: born in Pongola in 1958, he left boycotted, apartheid-era South Africa for Austria at seventeen, settled in Florida in 1978 and took US citizenship in August 1982, one title won as a South African, one as an American. Explosively quick, all burst and reflex, he made semifinals at the 1980 US Open and on Paris clay in 1986, reached No. 7 in 1984, and 14 career titles in the era of John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl.