Matija Pecotić (born 3 July 1989) is a Croatian-Maltese tennis player.

Matija Pecotić
Pecotić at the 2017 French Open
Country (sports) Croatia /  Malta
Born (1989-07-03) 3 July 1989 (age 35)
Belgrade, Yugoslavia
Height1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Turned pro2014
PlaysLeft-handed (two-handed backhand)
CoachAlfred Dimech, Lovro Roncevic
Prize money$143,536
Singles
Career record1–1 (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 206 (23 November 2015)
Current rankingNo. 496 (10 June 2024)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian OpenQ1 (2017)
French OpenQ2 (2017)
WimbledonQ1 (2017)
US OpenQ1 (2016)
Doubles
Career record0–0 (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 485 (16 November 2015)
Last updated on: 10 June 2024.

Pecotić has a career high ATP singles ranking of 206 achieved on 23 November 2015. He also has a career high ATP doubles ranking of 485 achieved on 16 November 2015.[1] Pecotić has won 12 ITF titles, 10 singles and 2 doubles.

Pecotic played No. 1 for Princeton University, and became the first player from Princeton since 1984 to reach the semi-finals of the All-American tournament. As a result of his historic run, Pecotic reached a ranking of No.2 in the nation.

Tennis career

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Pecotic began playing on the pro tour in January 2014.

Pecotić represented Team Croatia and the 2023 United Cup where they beat Argentina (5–0) and France (3–2)

Personal life

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Pecotić was born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia and moved to Malta at the age of 3, where he picked up tennis.[2]

During his time off due to an injury suffered in 2016, Pecotić applied and was accepted to Harvard Business School, which he attended from 2017 to 2019, earning an MBA at the completion of his studies.[3]

In 2021, Pecotić began working for a private equity/real estate development firm in West Palm Beach, Florida, but continued to play tournaments that were close by.

College career

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He played college tennis at Princeton University, where he became the most winning player in program history. He was also the captain of the tennis team, Princeton's first All-American since 1984, and the first-ever and only three-time Ivy League Player of the Year.

Professional career

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2014–16

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In January 2014, Pecotic joined the professional tour.[4][5]

In less than 24 months, he climbed to world No. 206 but was sidelined by an injury that kept him out for most of 2016.

2019

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Pecotić returned to the ATP Tour in August 2019, and put up a 46–8 W/L Record to return to the top 300, but did not play for most of 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

2022

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In 2022, he only played three events, beating Stefano Travaglia 6–0 6–1 in the qualifications of the ATP event in Umag, Croatia as a wildcard.

2023: ATP debut and first ATP win

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In 2023, he debuted for the Croatia national team at the 2023 United Cup in Perth, Australia but did not play any singles matches. He played one match in doubles with Petra Marčinko. Team Croatia beat Argentina (5–0) and France (3–2) but lost to Greece.

At 33, ranked No. 784 he qualified for his first main draw at the 2023 Delray Beach Open as an alternate defeating two Americans Stefan Kozlov and Tennys Sandgren.[6][7][8] As a result he moved more than a 100 positions in the rankings. He defeated a third American, former top-10 player Jack Sock in the first round, his first ATP win ever. In the round of 16 he lost to American Marcos Giron.[9] He moved another 100 positions into the top 600.[10]

He accepted a wildcard for the qualifications at the 2023 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships in Houston.[11]

Singles performance timeline

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Current through the 2023 ATP Tour.

Tournament 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A A Q1 A A A A A A 0–0
French Open A A A Q2 A A A A A A 0–0
Wimbledon A A A Q1 A A NH A A A 0–0
US Open A A Q1 A A A A A A A 0–0
Career statistics
Tournaments 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
Overall win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 1–1 1–1
Year-end ranking 590 207 523 1056 396 337 481 831 402

Challenger and Futures/World Tennis Finals

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Singles: 16 (10–6)

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Legend (singles)
ATP Challenger Tour (0–2)
ITF Futures Tour/World Tennis Tour (10–4)
Titles by surface
Hard (9–5)
Clay (1–1)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Loss 0–1 Jul 2014 Turkey F24, Istanbul Futures Hard   Hugo Nys 6–7(5–7), 6–3, 6–7(4–7)
Loss 0–2 Mar 2015 Great Britain F4, Wirral Futures Hard (i)   Yannick Mertens 2–6, 4–6
Win 1–2 May 2015 Nigeria F1, Abuja Futures Hard   Deiton Baughman 6–3, 6–4
Win 2–2 May 2015 Nigeria F2, Abuja Futures Hard   Eric Quigley 7–5, 6–3
Win 3–2 Jun 2015 USA F16, Winston-Salem Futures Hard   Tennys Sandgren 6–2, 6–3
Win 4–2 Sep 2015 Turkey F36, Antalya Futures Hard   Matteo Berrettini 6–7(6–8), 7–6(7–4), 6–2
Loss 4–3 Nov 2015 Suzhou, China Challenger Hard   Dudi Sela 1–6, 0–1, ret.
Win 5–3 May 2019 M15, Cancún, Mexico World Tennis Tour Hard   Camilo Ugo Carabelli 6–2, 6–1
Win 6–3 Sep 2019 M15, Cancún, Mexico World Tennis Tour Hard   Christian Langmo 6–3, 6–3
Win 7–3 Oct 2019 M25, Jounieh, Lebanon World Tennis Tour Clay   Maxime Chazal 6–1, 4–6, 6–2
Win 8–3 Nov 2019 M15, Monastir, Tunisia World Tennis Tour Hard   Altuğ Çelikbilek 6–1, 6–1
Win 9–3 Dec 2019 M15, Heraklion, Greece World Tennis Tour Hard   Artem Smirnov 6–3, 7–5
Win 10–3 Feb 2020 M25, Nonthaburi, Thailand World Tennis Tour Hard   Khumoyun Sultanov 6–1, 3–6, 6–2
Loss 10–4 Nov 2020 M15, Heraklion, Greece World Tennis Tour Hard   Evan Furness 3–6, 6–1, 3–6
Loss 10–5 May 2023 M15, Orange Park, USA World Tennis Tour Clay   Roberto Cid Subervi 6–0, 3–6, 2–6
Loss 10–6 Jul 2023 Salinas, Ecuador Challenger Hard   Illya Marchenko 4–6, 4–6

References

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  1. ^ "Matija Pecotic | Overview | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour.
  2. ^ "Pecotic and PlaySight, a unique partnership blossoms". Tennis.com.
  3. ^ Sauer, Megan. "Real estate broker with tennis side hustle beats ex-top 10 player: 'I'm going to have to ask for another day off'". CNBC.
  4. ^ "Matija Pecotic – Men's Tennis". Princeton University Athletics.
  5. ^ Times, Ann LoPrinzi | For The (April 7, 2013). "LoPrinzi: Princeton's Pecotic's journey from Malta to tennis ace". nj.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ "Delray Beach: World No 784 Matija Pecotic earns first ATP main draw spot at 33". Tennis World USA.
  7. ^ "Dividend Yield: Finance Titan Matija Pecotic, 33, Earns ATP Tour Debut | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour.
  8. ^ "For Matija Pecotic, a part-time player who works full-time in finance, it's been a long way to Delray". Tennis.com.
  9. ^ "Tennis, ATP – Delray Beach Open 2023: Giron knocks out Matija Pecotic". Tennis Majors. February 16, 2023.
  10. ^ "Paid Time Off: Matija Pecotic Wins Delray Debut With Boss In Stands | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour.
  11. ^ "'The Tennis Gods Have Spoken': Matija Pecotic to Combine Finance Job & Tennis Dream | ATP Tour | Tennis".
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