Alexander Popp
Birth date4 November 1976 (age 49)
Birth placeHeidelberg, West Germany
Height2.01 m (6 ft 7 in)
Turnedpro1997
Retired2005
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
Careerprizemoney$976,038
Singlesrecord45–65
Singlestitles0
HighestsinglesrankingNo. 74 (10 July 2000)
Australianopenresult2R (2001)
Frenchopenresult1R (2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005)
WimbledonresultQF (2000, 2003)
Usopenresult2R (2000, 2002)
Doublesrecord5–6
Doublestitles0
HighestdoublesrankingNo. 266 (15 July 2002)
Updated1 February 2022

Alexander Popp (born 4 November 1976) is a former German professional tennis player.[1] He reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon in 2000 and 2003.[1]

Personal life

Popp was born in Heidelberg to parents Rainer and Jennifer, and started playing tennis at the age of 8. He was coached by Helmut Luthy, from 1994 until retirement.[1] He holds a British passport through his mother, who was born in Wolverhampton.[2]

Tennis career

Popp turned professional in 1997 at the age of 21.[1]

Popp's career highlights are making the quarterfinals of Wimbledon (by far his most successful tournament) in 2000 (defeating Gustavo Kuerten and Michael Chang en route), and in 2003 (defeating Jiří Novák). He also reached the fourth round in 2004, losing to the eventual runner-up in each of these three runs (Patrick Rafter, Mark Philippoussis and Andy Roddick respectively), and the third round in 2005. Popp also reached the final of Newport in 2004 and achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 74.

In doubles, Popp made the final of Newport in 2002 (partnering Jürgen Melzer) and the semifinals of the Ho Chi Minh City championships in 2005 (partnering Jiří Vaněk).

ATP career finals

Singles: 1 (1 runner-up)

Legend
Grand Slam Tournaments (0–0)
ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
ATP Masters Series (0–0)
ATP Championship Series (0–0)
ATP International Series (0–1)
Finals by surface
Hard (0–0)
Clay (0–0)
Grass (0–1)
Carpet (0–0)
Finals by setting
Outdoors (0–1)
Indoors (0–0)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScore
Loss0–1Jul 2004Newport, United StatesInternational SeriesGrassGreg Rusedski6–7(5–7), 6–7(2–7)

Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)

Legend
Grand Slam Tournaments (0–0)
ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
ATP Masters Series (0–0)
ATP Championship Series (0–0)
ATP International Series (0–1)
Finals by surface
Hard (0–0)
Clay (0–0)
Grass (0–1)
Carpet (0–0)
Finals by setting
Outdoors (0–1)
Indoors (0–0)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Loss0–1Jul 2002Newport, United StatesInternational SeriesGrassJurgen MelzerBob Bryan
Mike Bryan		5–7, 3–6

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals

Singles: 16 (13–3)

Legend
ATP Challenger (6–1)
ITF Futures (7–2)
Finals by surface
Hard (4–1)
Clay (3–1)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (6–1)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScore
Win1–0Aug 1998Latvia F1, JūrmalaFuturesClayJanne Ojala6–4, 6–3
Win2–0Oct 1998Great Britain F8, GlasgowFuturesHardAndreas Weber3–6, 6–3, 6–2
Win3–0Oct 1998Great Britain F9, LeedsFuturesHardRoman Smotlak6–2, 3–6, 6–3
Win4–0Oct 1998Great Britain F10, EdinburghFuturesHardMarkus Menzler6–2, 6–3
Loss4–1Nov 1998USA F9, TucsonFuturesHardKepler Orellana3–6, 6–4, 0–6
Win5–1Feb 1999Great Britain F1, LeedsFuturesCarpetJulian Knowle7–6, 6–2
Win6–1Apr 1999France F4, Clermont-FerrandFuturesCarpetJan-Ralph Brandt2–6, 6–2, 6–2
Loss6–2May 1999Germany F2, Schwäbisch HallFuturesClayBartlomiej Dabrowski7–5, 6–7, 4–6
Win7–2May 1999Germany F3, NeckarauFuturesClayJohan Settergren6–2, 6–1
Win8–2May 1999Oberstaufen, GermanyChallengerClayFrancisco Costa7–6, 6–3
Win9–2Aug 1999Bronx, United StatesChallengerHardSebastien de Chaunac6–7(4–7), 7–6(7–4), 6–0
Win10–2Feb 2000Hamburg, GermanyChallengerCarpetAndy Fahlke6–3, 6–2
Win11–2Nov 2001Aachen, GermanyChallengerCarpetAxel Pretzsch6–3, 1–6, 6–2
Win12–2Nov 2001Eckental, GermanyChallengerCarpetPeter Wessels6–4, 5–7, 6–2
Win13–2Jan 2002Heilbronn, GermanyChallengerCarpetJürgen Melzer3–6, 6–3, 6–4
Loss13–3Feb 2002Lübeck, GermanyChallengerCarpetRaemon Sluiter2–6, 0–3 ret.

Doubles: 2 (2–0)

Legend
ATP Challenger (1–0)
ITF Futures (1–0)
Finals by surface
Hard (2–0)
Clay (0–0)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Win1–0Oct 1998Great Britain F9, LeedsFuturesHardIain BatesJean-Rene Lisnard
Ashley Naumann		6–4, 4–6, 6–4
Win2–0Aug 2001Wrexham, United KingdomChallengerHardGilles ElseneerLuke Bourgeois
Aisam Qureshi		5–7, 7–5, 6–2

Performance timeline

Singles

Tournament1999200020012002200320042005SRW–LWin %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian OpenAA2RAA1RA0 / 21–2
French OpenA1R1R1R1R1R1R0 / 60–6
WimbledonAQFAAQF4R3R0 / 413–4
US OpenQ12RQ12R1R1R1R0 / 52–5
Win–loss0–05–31–21–24–33–42–30 / 1716–17
ATP Masters Series
HamburgAAAAAAQ10 / 00–0
CincinnatiAAAAQ2AA0 / 00–0
Win–loss0–00–00–00–00–00–00–00 / 00–0

References

  1. ^ "Profile at itftennis.com". Archived from the original on 2016-04-01. Retrieved 2012-08-18.
  2. ^ "The Scud serves up a semi place"