Nikola "Nikki" Špear (Serbian Cyrillic: Никола Шпеар; 22 February 1944 – 2 December 2017), often spelled Nicola Spear in English-language media, was a Yugoslavian international tennis player and coach.[1][2] Špear won the senior championship of Yugoslavia 1968, 1972, 1973 and 1975.[3] He also organised tennis events in his hometown of Subotica.[4]
Between 1969 and 1975, he represented Yugoslavia in the Davis Cup, compiling a 5–9 record in singles and 3–4 in doubles, for an overall 8–13 record across seven ties.[5]
Following his playing career, Špear worked as a tennis coach, leading the Denmark Davis Cup team, the German Fed Cup team, and the FR Yugoslavia Davis Cup team.[6]
Grand Prix/WCT career finals
Doubles: 1 (0–1)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 0–1 | 1977 | Munich, West Germany | Clay |  John Whitlinger
|
 František Pála Balázs Taróczy
|
3–6, 4–6 |
Singles performance timeline
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | P# | DNQ | A | Z# | PO | G | S | B | NMS | NTI | P | NH |
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
| Tournament | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | SR | W–L | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Slam tournaments | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Australian Open | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| French Open | 1R | 4R | 4R | 2R | 1R | 3R | 2R | P2 | 1R | Q1 | 2R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | A | A | 0 / 13 | 10–11 | 48% |
| Wimbledon | A | A | 1R | 1R | 1R | 2R | 1R | 1R | A | A | 1R | 1R | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 8 | 1–8 | 11% |
| US Open | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | A | A | 1R | 2R | 1R | 1R | A | A | A | A | 0 / 5 | 1–5 | 17% |
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–4 | 0–3 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0 / 28 | 12–25 | 32% |
| National representation | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Davis Cup | A | A | A | A | QFEu | FEu | A | 1REu | A | A | QFEu | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 4 | 5–9 | 36% |
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 4–4 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0 / 4 | 5–9 | 36% |
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | Career | |||
| Tournaments | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 13 | 15 | 11 | 13 | 13 | 25 | 16 | 19 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 146 | ||
| Titles / Finals | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | ||
| Overall win–loss | 0–0 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 2–3 | 14–13 | 4–15 | 3–10 | 5–12 | 2–12 | 16–25 | 5–16 | 15–19 | 1–4 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 70–144 | ||
| Win % | – | 75% | 50% | 25% | 40% | 52% | 21% | 23% | 29% | 14% | 39% | 24% | 44% | 20% | 25% | 0% | – | 35% | ||
| Year-end ranking | N/A | 124 | 153 | 92 | 151 | 122 | 357 | 312 | 383 | N/A | No. 78 | |||||||||
Records
| Year | Record | Players matched |
|---|---|---|
| 1968 | Triple bagel win (6–0, 6–0, 6–0) | At least 17 players |
References
- ^ SPEAR, Nikki at itftennis.com
- ^ Nicola Spear at atpworldtour.com
- ^ "Istorijat". tenis.rs. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
- ^ Subotica.info "Među prisutnim gostima bili su proslavljeni teniser Nikola Špear i Katarina Vojnić Hajduk koja je godinama u Republičkom zavodu za međunarodnu, naučnu, prosvetnu, kulturnu i tehničku saradnju bila zadužena za kontakte sa Amerikom."
- ^ Nikki Spear: Player Profile at daviscup.com
- ^ Najbolji subotički teniser svih vremena
