Jarkko Nieminen, the greatest player in the fledgling history of tennis in Finland, is playing his final professional tournament at this year’s IF Stockholm Open in neighboring Sweden. Nieminen, 34, has seen his ranking drop out of the top 100 this season, but overall he put together a very solid ATP career. His first match in Stockholm will be against Daniel Munoz-De La Nava, and if he wins that one, top 20 player Grigor Dimitrov should be up in round 2 in what will likely be his final ATP match.
Nieminen burst on the scene in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the little known left hander from Finland captured the 1999 junior US Open, and went on to reach his first ATP final in 2001, that final in Stockholm as a qualifier no less. Five years later, in 2006, he reached the top 15 and a career high ranking of #13. Nieminen would spend the rest of his career hovering inside the top 50, and playing enjoyable tennis for keen watchers of the game who liked defensive speed, and solid groundstrokes.
Barring a shocking run in Stockholm, he’ll finish his career with two ATP titles, Auckland in 2006, and Sydney in 2012, and 11 other runner-up results from 2001-2013 on indoor and outdoor hard courts, and clay. Nieminen also devoted time to doubles, earning five ATP level doubles trophies, and four runners up, including this year’s ATP Buenos Aires doubles title. In his native Finland he took home four challenger titles in singles never forgetting the land he calls home, which included participating in Davis Cup without much help, and the Olympic games.
Nieminen also earned eleven top 10 wins in his career, including a Grand Slam win over Andre Agassi in 2005 at the French Open. He finishes with a 54-52 Grand Slam record, and over 400 career ATP main draw level match wins (along with an above .500 winning %). He was clutch in fifth sets with a 21-11 record in 5 setters, including an incredible win over another retiring player, Lleyton Hewitt, at Wimbledon this year, on a surface Hewitt has found great success on.
Nieminen was never a great server, but he hits the ball cleanly off of both wings and his speed was underappreciated, earning him the nickname the Flying Finn and winning the hearts of many fans, though he never had notable success in the biggest tournaments. At the Grand Slam and Masters level Nieminen lacked the weapons to fare well, his weak serve and lack of power limited him to three Grand Slam quarterfinal showings (AO 2008, Wimbledon 2006, and US Open 2005), and four Masters level quarterfinal showings (three of them coming in that career year of 2006). However, all of these results are historical best for tennis in Finland, and the growth of the game there can directly be attributed to his efforts on, and off-court, where he runs a tennis academy in the capital of Helsinki.
Nieminen was excellent at playing smart tennis, crafting points, and redirecting the pace and skill of his opponents to his own advantage. He’s not a household name outside of Finland, but it’s been an absolute pleasure to watch him gracing ATP tournaments worldwide. It’s important that we appreciate players like Nieminen that make the game great and add variety, even if they don’t achieve fame and glory.
Good luck to Jarkko in his final tournament, and in retirement regardless of the path that he choses now, may the Flying Finn continue to soar!
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