After 15 years on tour and breaking ground in the tennis world for his native Finland, Jarkko Nieminen is calling time on his tennis career.
The 34-year-old competed in the final Grand Slam match of his career on Monday, falling to No. 19 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 6-3, 6-1, 6-1. He will play three more ATP World Tour events in the fall before officially retiring at the tournament in Stockholm.
“You don’t really feel that it’s your last Grand Slam when you walk on to the court, but more so when you walk off the court,” said Nieminen, who was making his 14th main draw appearance at the US Open. “When I leave this site is when the emotions will come.”
Nieminen reached the quarterfinals of the US Open in 2005 and also won the boys’ singles title here in 1999. He won two ATP World Tour titles throughout his career and reached a career-high ranking of No. 13 in 2006, becoming the highest-ranked Finnish tennis player in history.
The mild-mannered veteran said he was grateful to play on the center courts at three of the four Grand Slams this year, losing to Stanislas Wawrinka at the Australian Open and Novak Djokovic at both the French Open and Wimbledon.
“When I left the Centre Court at Wimbledon and they were clapping because they knew it was my last match, that was very special for me because I didn’t know they knew,” he laughed. “And I was also happy to be able to show good tennis in those matches.”
Nieminen is fully focused on his final tournaments this fall but said he plans to devote more time starting next year to his tennis academy in Finland that he opened three years ago. Perhaps most importantly, he will be able to walk away from his career without any regrets.
“I can say that I was always a hard worker and gave my best,” he said. “To have the long career that I’ve had is something that I can be very proud of.”
