Aaron Krickstein

Aaron Krickstein

Country (sports)	United States
Residence	Grosse Pointe, Michigan
Born	(1967-08-02) August 2, 1967 Ann Arbor, Michigan
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Turned pro	1983
Retired	1996
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	$3,710,447
Singles
Career record	395–256
Career titles	9
Highest ranking	No. 6 (February 26, 1990)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	SF (1995)
French Open	4R (1985, 1994)
Wimbledon	4R (1989, 1995)
US Open	SF (1989)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals	RR (1989)
Doubles
Career record	10–19
Career titles	0
Highest ranking	No. 196 (February 25, 1985)

Aaron Krickstein (born August 2, 1967), nicknamed "Marathon Man", is an American former professional tennis player, who competed on the ATP Tour from 1983 to 1996. Born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, he currently competes on the Outback Champions Series Over-30 tour.

Krickstein reached his career high ATP ranking of World No. 6, on February 26, 1990. He achieved this ranking on the back of wins in Sydney and Los Angeles, as well as his best ever results at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.

Personal

Krickstein is Jewish, and in the early 1990s was one of three highly ranked Jewish-American tennis players, along with Jay Berger and Brad Gilbert. His coach Nick Bollettieri remarked as to his personality when he was a teenager: "Aaron was brought up in a Jewish background and babied for 16 years. Now his father wants me to make him Italian."

His sister, Kathy, won the Big Ten tennis championship in 1978. He is the uncle of LPGA's golfer Morgan Pressel, who is Kathy's daughter and was the youngest winner of an LPGA major between her win in 2007 up until 2015.

Career

Junior

Krickstein started playing tennis when he was six. He became an active competitor on the high school tennis scene during his teens, and still holds the Michigan record for most consecutive match wins at this level (56). He played for University Liggett School.

He won the American National Under 16 championship in 1982. While still only 16, he was the US National Junior Tennis Association Champion, Clay Champion, and USTA National Champion in the 18s in 1983. All in all, he won five consecutive junior championships.

Professional

Krickstein set an ATP record for being the youngest player to win a singles title on the ATP Tour (at age 16, 2 months after his 16th birthday, in Tel Aviv. Krickstein set a record for being the youngest player to ever break the top 10 (at age 17).

His best finishes in a Grand Slam event were at the 1989 US Open, and at the 1995 Australian Open, where he reached the semi finals. However with regards to majors, Krickstein is perhaps best remembered for his famous five set match with Jimmy Connors on Labor Day at the 1991 US Open, which he lost.

In 1984 he won the U.S. Pro Tennis Championship, becoming its youngest winner, and a clay court tournament in Boston. In 1989 he won the Tokyo Indoor Tennis Tournament and a hard court tournament in Sydney, Australia. In 1991, 1992, and 1993 he won the South African Open.

He had a record of 10 career wins from 0–2 set deficits. His nickname "Marathon Man" was a reference to his ability to make a comeback when behind in a match. Krickstein won 27 of his 35 career matches that went into a fifth set.

He had an injury-plagued career, which included stress fractures in his feet, problems with his knees and wrists in 1985 and 1986, and injuries suffered when he was hurt in a car accident in 1987.

He defeated a number of top players, including Ivan Lendl (world #1) in 1990, Michael Stich (world #2 and #4) in 1994 and 1991, Stefan Edberg (world #3) in 1988 at the U S Open, Boris Becker (world #3) in 1992, Mats Wilander (world #4) in 1984, and Jimmy Arias (world #5) in 1984 and Sergi Bruguera (world #5) in 1994. He won against Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi.

Davis Cup

He was a member of the United States Davis Cup team from 1985–87, and also was a member of the 1990 squad. He compiled a 6–4 record in singles play during Davis Cup ties. The highlight of Krickstein's Davis Cup career came in 1990 when he scored two hard-fought victories in a World Group Quarterfinal tie against Czechoslovakia, leading his team to a 4–1 win.

ATP Tour finals

Singles: 19 (9–10)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Winner	1.	October 10, 1983	Tel Aviv, Israel	Hard	Christoph Zipf	7–6, 6–3
Runner-up	1.	May 13, 1984	Rome, Italy	Clay	Andrés Gómez	6–2, 1–6, 2–6, 2–6
Winner	2.	July 16, 1984	Boston, U.S.	Clay	José Luis Clerc	7–6(7–2), 3–6, 6–4
Runner-up	2.	July 23, 1984	Washington D.C., U.S.	Clay	Andrés Gómez	2–6, 2–6
Winner	3.	September 10, 1984	Tel Aviv, Israel	Hard	Shahar Perkiss	6–4, 6–1
Winner	4.	September 17, 1984	Geneva, Switzerland	Clay	Henrik Sundström	6–7, 6–1, 6–4
Runner-up	3.	November 18, 1985	Hong Kong	Hard	Andrés Gómez	3–6, 3–6, 6–3, 4–6
Runner-up	4.	October 6, 1986	Tel Aviv, Israel	Hard	Brad Gilbert	5–7, 2–6
Runner-up	5.	October 10, 1988	Tel Aviv, Israel	Hard	Brad Gilbert	6–4, 6–7, 2–6
Runner-up	6.	November 14, 1988	Detroit, U.S.	Carpet	John McEnroe	5–7, 2–6
Winner	5.	January 9, 1989	Sydney Outdoor, Australia	Hard	Andrei Cherkasov	6–4, 6–2
Winner	6.	September 18, 1989	Los Angeles, U.S.	Hard	Michael Chang	2–6, 6–4, 6–2
Winner	7.	October 17, 1989	Tokyo Indoor, Japan	Carpet	Carl-Uwe Steeb	6–2, 6–2
Runner-up	7.	April 9, 1990	Tokyo, Japan	Hard	Stefan Edberg	4–6, 5–7
Runner-up	8.	September 24, 1990	Brisbane, Australia	Hard	Brad Gilbert	3–6, 1–6
Runner-up	9.	September 23, 1991	Brisbane, Australia	Hard	Gianluca Pozzi	3–6, 6–7(4–7)
Winner	8.	March 30, 1992	Johannesburg, South Africa	Hard	Alexander Volkov	6–4, 6–4
Runner-up	10.	April 20, 1992	Monte Carlo, Monaco	Clay	Thomas Muster	3–6, 1–6, 3–6
Winner	9.	March 29, 1993	Johannesburg, South Africa (2)	Hard	Grant Stafford	6–3, 7–6(9–7)

Singles performance timeline

Tournament	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	SR	W–L
Grand Slams
Australian Open	A	A	A	A	A	A	4R	4R	4R	4R	A	3R	SF	1R	0 / 7	19–7
French Open	A	2R	4R	2R	3R	1R	2R	3R	2R	3R	2R	4R	1R	A	0 / 12	17–12
Wimbledon	A	A	1R	A	A	A	4R	A	2R	A	3R	3R	4R	A	0 / 6	11–6
US Open	4R	3R	A	4R	A	QF	SF	QF	4R	A	2R	1R	2R	A	0 / 10	26–10
Win–Loss	3–1	3–2	3–2	4–2	2–1	4–2	12–4	9–3	8–4	5–2	4–3	7–4	9–4	0–1	0 / 35	73–35
Year End Ranking	94	12	29	26	61	15	8	20	34	28	45	35	70	1092

Records

Open Era singles records:

• 10 best-of-five-set match wins after losing the first two sets (tied with Boris Becker)
• At the age of 16 was the youngest player to win an ATP title and end a year ranked in the top 100.

See also

• List of select Jewish tennis players

External links

• Aaron Krickstein at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Aaron Krickstein at the Davis Cup
• Outback Champions Series bio
• Jews in Sports bio

• Rosen, Harvey (May 10, 1989) Sporting Touch. The Jewish Post and News via Google news Page A20. Retrieved March 20, 2011
• Rosen, Harvey (August 15, 1990) Sporting Touch. The Jewish Post and News via Google news Page 15. Retrieved March 20, 2011
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