Petr Pála

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Petr Pála
Petr Pála after the 2016 Fed Cup final
Country (sports) Czech Republic
ResidencePrague, Czech Republic
Born (1975-10-02) 2 October 1975 (age 49)
Prague, Czechoslovakia
Height1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Turned pro1993
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money$1,106,011
Singles
Career record0–1
Career titles0
0 Challenger, 0 Futures
Highest ranking286 (24 June 1996)
Grand Slam singles results
US OpenQ1 (1996)
Doubles
Career record206–235
Career titles7
9 Challenger, 1 Futures
Highest ranking10 (6 August 2001)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open3R (2002, 2004)
French OpenF (2001)
WimbledonQF (2001)
US Open3R (2001)
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Australian OpenQF (2002)
French OpenSF (2001)
Wimbledon2R (2000, 2002, 2003)
US Open1R (2001)
Coaching career (2008–present)

Petr Pála (born 2 October 1975) is a tennis coach and former professional tennis player from the Czech Republic. Together with Pavel Vízner he reached the men's doubles final of the 2001 French Open but lost to Indians Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes (6–7, 3–6).

Pála was coached by his father František, who was a professional tennis player on the ATP tour.

Pála never had the opportunity to do his singles ability justice on the ATP Tour due to injury. When he recovered from these injuries he returned immediately to the doubles tour, but could not gain entry to official ATP matches.

Pála became the non-playing captain of the Czech Republic Fed Cup team in December 2007.[1] Since then, he has led the Fed Cup team to world titles in 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2018, becoming the most successful Fed Cup team captain of all time.[2]

Grand Slam finals

Doubles: 1 runner-up

Result Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 2001 French Open Clay Czech Republic Pavel Vízner India Mahesh Bhupathi
India Leander Paes
6–7, 3–6

Performance timelines

Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# DNQ A NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

Doubles

Tournament 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 SR W–L Win%
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A A A 1R 2R 3R 1R 3R 1R 1R 2R 1R 0 / 9 6–9 40%
French Open A A A A 2R F 1R 1R 2R 1R 2R 2R 1R 0 / 9 9–9 50%
Wimbledon 3R A A A 2R QF 1R 1R 1R 1R 2R 3R 3R 0 / 10 11–10 52%
US Open 1R A A 1R 1R 3R 2R 2R 1R 1R 1R 2R A 0 / 10 5–10 33%
Win–loss 2–2 0–0 0–0 0–1 2–4 11–4 3–4 1–4 3–4 0–4 2–4 5–4 2–3 0 / 38 31–38 45%
ATP World Tour Masters 1000
Indian Wells A A A A A 2R 1R 1R 2R 1R A 1R A 0 / 6 2–6 25%
Miami A A A A Q1 2R 2R 1R 1R 1R A 1R A 0 / 6 1–6 14%
Monte Carlo A A A A A QF A A 2R A A A A 0 / 2 3–2 60%
Rome A A A A A SF 2R A A A A A A 0 / 2 4–2 67%
Madrid Not Held 1R A A A A A A 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Canada A A A A A 1R A A 2R A A A A 0 / 2 1–2 33%
Cincinnati A A A A A 1R 2R A 1R A A A A 0 / 3 1–3 25%
Hamburg Q1 A A A Q1 SF 1R A 1R 1R A A A 0 / 4 3–4 43%
Paris A A A A A 2R 1R A A A A A A 0 / 2 0–2 0%
Stuttgart A A A A A 2R Not Masters Series 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 10–9 2–7 0–2 3–6 0–3 0–0 0–2 0–0 0 / 29 15–29 34%

Mixed doubles

Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 SR W–L Win%
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A QF A A 1R A 0 / 2 2–2 50%
French Open A SF 1R A 1R A A 0 / 3 3–3 50%
Wimbledon 2R 1R 2R 2R 1R 1R 1R 0 / 7 3–7 30%
US Open A 1R A A A A A 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Win–loss 1–1 3–3 3–3 1–1 0–2 0–2 0–1 0 / 13 8–13 38%

ATP career finals

Doubles: 16 (7 titles, 9 runner-ups)

Legend
Grand Slam Tournaments (0–1)
ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
ATP Masters Series (0–0)
ATP Championship Series (1–2)
ATP World Series (6–6)
Finals by surface
Hard (2–5)
Clay (5–3)
Grass (0–1)
Carpet (0–0)
Finals by setting
Outdoors (6–6)
Indoors (1–3)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 0–1 Aug 1999 San Marino, San Marino World Series Clay Czech Republic Pavel Vízner Argentina Lucas Arnold Ker
Argentina Mariano Hood
3–6, 2–6
Loss 0–2 Oct 2000 Shanghai, China World Series Hard Czech Republic Pavel Vízner Netherlands Paul Haarhuis
Netherlands Sjeng Schalken
2–6, 6–3, 4–6
Loss 0–3 Nov 2000 Stockholm, Sweden World Series Hard Czech Republic Pavel Vízner The Bahamas Mark Knowles
Canada Daniel Nestor
3–6, 2–6
Loss 0–4 Feb 2001 Rotterdam, Netherlands Championship Series Hard Czech Republic Pavel Vízner Sweden Jonas Björkman
Switzerland Roger Federer
3–6, 0–6
Win 1–4 May 2001 St Pölten, Austria World Series Clay Czech Republic David Rikl Brazil Jaime Oncins
Argentina Daniel Orsanic
6–3, 5–7, 7–5
Loss 1–5 Jun 2001 Paris, France Grand Slam Clay Czech Republic Pavel Vízner India Mahesh Bhupathi
India Leander Paes
6–7(5–7), 3–6
Loss 1–6 May 2002 Munich, Germany World Series Clay Czech Republic Pavel Vízner Czech Republic Radek Štěpánek
Czech Republic Petr Luxa
0–6, 7–6(7–4), [9–11]
Win 2–6 May 2002 St Pölten, Austria World Series Clay Czech Republic David Rikl United States Mike Bryan
Australia Michael Hill
7–5, 6–4
Loss 2–7 Aug 2002 Long Island, United States World Series Hard Czech Republic Pavel Vízner India Mahesh Bhupathi
United States Mike Bryan
3–6, 4–6
Win 3–7 May 2004 St Pölten, Austria International Series Clay Argentina Mariano Hood Czech Republic Tomáš Cibulec
Czech Republic Leoš Friedl
3–6, 7–5, 6–4
Loss 3–8 Jun 2004 Halle, Germany International Series Grass Czech Republic Tomáš Cibulec India Leander Paes
Czech Republic David Rikl
2–6, 5–7
Loss 3–9 Oct 2004 Tokyo, Japan Championship Series Hard Czech Republic Jiří Novák United States Jared Palmer
Czech Republic Pavel Vízner
1–5 ret.
Win 4–9 Jul 2005 Umag, Croatia International Series Clay Czech Republic Jiří Novák Czech Republic David Škoch
Slovakia Michal Mertiňák
6–3, 6–3
Win 5–9 Jan 2006 Chennai, India International Series Hard Slovakia Michal Mertiňák India Prakash Amritraj
India Rohan Bopanna
6–2, 7–5
Win 6–9 Oct 2006 Vienna, Austria Championship Series Hard Czech Republic Pavel Vízner Austria Julian Knowle
Austria Jürgen Melzer
6–4, 3–6, [12–10]
Win 7–9 Jul 2008 Umag, Croatia International Series Clay Slovakia Michal Mertiňák Argentina Carlos Berlocq
Italy Fabio Fognini
2–6, 6–3, [10–5]

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures Finals

Doubles: 20 (10–10)

Legend
ATP Challenger (9–10)
ITF Futures (1–0)
Finals by surface
Hard (1–2)
Clay (5–6)
Grass (1–0)
Carpet (3–2)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 0–1 Jul 1995 Prague, Czech Republic Challenger Clay Czech Republic David Škoch Belgium Filip Dewulf
Czech Republic Vojtěch Flégl
7–6, 5–7, 2–6
Loss 0–2 Jun 1996 Košice, Slovakia Challenger Clay Czech Republic Jan Kodeš France Olivier Delaître
United States Jeff Tarango
6–7, 3–6
Win 1–2 Jul 1996 Bristol, United Kingdom Challenger Grass United Kingdom Andrew Richardson France Lionel Barthez
Germany Patrick Baur
6–2, 6–4
Loss 1–3 Jul 1997 Ulm, Germany Challenger Clay Czech Republic Petr Luxa Belgium Kris Goossens
Belgium Tom Vanhoudt
3–6, 0–6
Win 2–3 Aug 1997 Plzeň, Czech Republic Challenger Clay Slovenia Borut Urh Czech Republic Radek Štěpánek
Czech Republic Radomír Vašek
2–4 ret.
Win 3–3 Feb 1998 Austria F3, Mondseeland Futures Carpet Slovenia Borut Urh Bulgaria Ivaylo Traykov
Bulgaria Milen Velev
6–4, 7–6
Loss 3–4 Jun 1998 Příbram, Czech Republic Challenger Clay Czech Republic Radek Štěpánek Czech Republic Ota Fukárek
Austria Udo Plamberger
6–2, 3–6, 4–6
Loss 3–5 Nov 1998 Aachen, Germany Challenger Hard Finland Tuomas Ketola Netherlands Menno Oosting
Czech Republic Pavel Vízner
6–7, 3–6
Loss 3–6 Jun 1999 Prague, Czech Republic Challenger Clay Czech Republic Tomáš Cibulec Czech Republic Michal Tabara
Czech Republic Radomír Vašek
2–6, 0–6
Win 4–6 Oct 1999 Eckental, Germany Challenger Carpet Czech Republic Pavel Vízner Australia Steven Randjelovic
Croatia Lovro Zovko
6–4, 6–3
Loss 4–7 Apr 2000 Maia, Portugal Challenger Clay Czech Republic Pavel Vízner Czech Republic Tomáš Cibulec
Czech Republic Leoš Friedl
3–6, 6–4, 4–6
Win 5–7 Aug 2000 Poznań, Poland Challenger Clay Czech Republic Pavel Vízner Czech Republic Tomáš Cibulec
Czech Republic Leoš Friedl
6–3, 6–0
Win 6–7 Nov 2000 Charleroi, Belgium Challenger Carpet Czech Republic Pavel Vízner North Macedonia Aleksandar Kitinov
Croatia Lovro Zovko
6–7, 7–5, 6–1
Loss 6–8 Jan 2003 Heilbronn, Germany Challenger Carpet Czech Republic Pavel Vízner Sweden Johan Landsberg
Sweden Simon Aspelin
4–6, 4–6
Loss 6–9 Feb 2003 Wrocław, Poland Challenger Hard Czech Republic Pavel Vízner Czech Republic Petr Luxa
Czech Republic David Škoch
4–6, 4–6
Win 7–9 May 2004 Ostrava, Czech Republic Challenger Clay Finland Tuomas Ketola Poland Łukasz Kubot
Czech Republic Tomáš Zíb
6–4, 6–4
Loss 7–10 Nov 2004 Aachen, Germany Challenger Carpet Czech Republic Petr Luxa Sweden Simon Aspelin
Australia Todd Perry
3–6, 3–6
Win 8–10 Mar 2006 Sunrise, United States Challenger Hard Czech Republic Robin Vik United States Goran Dragicevic
Russia Dmitry Tursunov
6–4, 6–2
Win 9–10 May 2006 Prague, Czech Republic Challenger Clay Czech Republic David Škoch Paraguay Ramón Delgado
Argentina Sergio Roitman
6–0, 6–0
Win 10–10 May 2008 Prague, Czech Republic Challenger Clay Czech Republic Lukáš Dlouhý Czech Republic Dušan Karol
Czech Republic Jaroslav Pospíšil
6–7(2–7), 6–4, [10–6]

References

  1. ^ "Novým kapitánem fedcupového týmu bude Pála" (in Czech). idnes.cz. 27 December 2007. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  2. ^ Strength in Depth the Key for Five-Star Czech republic, WTA official website, 14 November 2016