10 Things You May Not Know About Lukas Rosol

News

Scores

Rankings

Lucky Letcord Podcast

Shop

Pro Gear

Pickleball

Gear Sale

Add to Flipboard Magazine.

10 Things You May Not Know About Lukas Rosol

By Erik Gudris

Photo Credit: Getty Images

(June 29th, 2012) Even after his stunning upset win over Rafael Nadal, many people in the tennis world are still asking, "Who Is Lukas Rosol?". Here's a quick look at this newly minted tennis star.

1. Brno and Bred: Born in Brno, Czech Republic on July 26th, 1985, Rosol started playing tennis at the age of six. Brno is also the birthplace of Ladies' Singles Wimbledon Champion Jana Novotna who won the title in 1998.

2. Early Steps: Rosol started playing ITF Futures events back in 2005 and in 2006 he won three ITF titles. He won an ATP Challenger in 2009 and made his Grand Slam debut as a qualifier at the U.S. Open back in 2010.

3. Season Highs: 2011 saw Rosol finish as the No. 3 Czech player behind Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek. Rosol reached a career high ranking of No. 65 in August. His best win came at Roland Garros where defeated then No. 8 Jurgen Melzer in the second round.

4. Grass Virgin: Rosol had never played at an ATP Tour grass court event until this summer at Queen's Club where he reached the third round. This is his first year ever playing in the main draw of Wimbledon as the last five years he lost in the first round of qualifying.

5. Better Than His Coach: Rosol is coached by former U.S. Open quarterfinalist Slava Dosedel. By reaching the third round Rosol has advanced further than Dosedel ever did at Wimbledon as his best result was a second round finish.

6. Tattooed You: Rosol has a large tattoo on his left leg inspired by the Maori haka, the ritual wardance made famous by New Zealand's mighty All Blacks rugby team.

7. The Stopper: Jimmy Connors said that Rosol is known in tennis parlance as a "stopper". "In tennis, we call Rosol a stopper, he won't win or even go deep in tourney but he will stop a top seed from advancing at Wimbledon."

8. Outspoken: Rosol has reputation of speaking his mind. Jan Joroch, a Czech reporter said of Rosol, "He is a very nice guy, very honest, he says what he thinks and he can be a bit controversial sometimes."

9. Fashion Trend Setter: Rosol wears green laces on one shoe and white laces on the other.

10. History Maker: Rosol's upset over Nadal was the biggest upset at Wimbledon since Lleyton Hewitt lost as defending champion in the first round to Ivo Karlovic in 2003.