Thai-Son_Kwiatkowski

Thai-Son Kwiatkowski

Thai-Son Kwiatkowski

American tennis player (1995-)


Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (born February 13, 1995) is a Vietnamese American tennis player. He played collegiately for the Virginia Cavaliers. On May 29, 2017, Kwiatkowski won the NCAA Men's Singles Championship.[1] This victory earned him a wildcard into the main draw of the 2017 US Open.[2]

Quick Facts Country (sports), Residence ...

College career

Coming out of high school, he was the nation's top recruit.[3] Kwiatkowski was on three national championship teams during his time at Virginia. As a sophomore, he tied the school's single season wins record, going 44-8 during the season. On September 11, 2016, Kwiatkowski won the American Collegiate Invitational, which earned him a wild card into the qualifying tournament for the 2017 US Open.[4] After his senior season, he was named first-team all-ACC.[5] Kwiatkowski won the singles title at the 2017 NCAA Men's Singles Championship, defeating William Blumberg in the final.[6]

Other notable college achievements:[7]

  • 2018 NCAA Top 10 Award winner
  • ACC Men's Tennis Scholar-Athlete of the Year (second straight year)
  • Was also named the Virginia Athletic Department's Scholar Athlete of the Year for the second straight year
  • Singles All-American, his third time earning the honor
  • All-ACC First Team, his fourth all-conference honor but his first time being voted to the first team
  • ITA Atlantic Region Senior Player of the Year
  • NCAA All-Tournament Team at No. 2 Doubles
  • ITA Indoors All-Tournament Team (No. 2 Singles and No. 2 Doubles)
  • ITA Scholar-Athlete
  • Repeated as the VaSID State Player of the Year
  • Four-time member of the All-ACC Academic Team
  • ACC Player of the Week (April 18)

Professional career

Kwiatkowski in 2018

After winning the NCAA singles championship, Kwiatkowski was awarded a wildcard into the main draw of the 2017 US Open.[1] He faced the 23rd seed Mischa Zverev in the first round, losing in five sets.[8][9]

He won his maiden Challenger title in Newport Beach in 2020.[10] He was also awarded a wildcard into the main draw of the 2020 US Open,[11] where he lost in the first round to Kwon Soon-woo in four sets.

Personal life

Thai-Son's parents are Wendi Le and Tim Kwiatkowski. He has a younger brother named Liem-Son. His parents are both University of Virginia alumni. Kwiatkowski is of Vietnamese and Polish descent.[12] Kwiatkowski majored in commerce.[3]

On 23 February 2021, Thai-Son Kwiatkowski successfully obtained Vietnamese citizenship in order to play for Vietnam's national tennis team in upcoming tournaments.[13] He immediately became the most accomplished tennis player to represent Vietnam after he obtained the citizenship and planned to represent the country in international competition.[14] He is playing for Hung Thinh – Ho Chi Minh City team since October 2019.[15]

Thai-Son is not the first foreign-born tennis player to be recruited by a Vietnamese domestic tennis team. Daniel Nguyen a Vietnamese American tennis player is playing for the Hai Dang - Tay Ninh team and obtained Vietnamese citizenship in 2019.[16][17]

Challenger and Futures finals

Singles: 9 (8–1)

More information Legend (singles), Titles by surface ...
More information Result, W–L ...

Doubles: 14 (5–9)

More information Legend (doubles), Titles by surface ...
More information Result, W–L ...

References

  1. Leung, Brian J. (May 29, 2017). "NCAA CHAMPION! Thai-Son Kwiatkowski wins the NCAA Singles Title!". streakingthelawn.com. Retrieved May 29, 2017.
  2. "UVA bio". virginiasports.com. Retrieved May 29, 2017.
  3. "Kwiatkowski and Collins Win American Collegiate Invitational Singles Titles". longislandtennismagazine.com. September 11, 2016. Retrieved May 29, 2017.
  4. Karnik, Danny. "2017 MEN'S TENNIS ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM ANNOUNCED". theACC.com. Archived from the original on July 31, 2017. Retrieved May 29, 2017.
  5. Ratcliffe, Jerry (May 29, 2017). "Virginia's Kwiatkowski captures NCAA singles title". dailyprogress.com. Retrieved June 13, 2017.
  6. "Thai-Son Kwiatkowski". April 28, 2020.
  7. "The Latest: No. 23 seed Zverev prevails over NCAA champ". washingtonpost.com. August 28, 2017. Archived from the original on September 11, 2017. Retrieved September 11, 2017.
  8. "THCMC tennis player gets US Open wild card". vnexpress.net. August 29, 2020. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
  9. Ratcliffe, Jerry (May 29, 2017). "Ratcliffe: Kwiatkowski overcomes his demons, goes out as a champion". The Daily Progress. Charlottesville, Virginia. Retrieved September 24, 2017.

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