Aaron Krickstein

Aaron Krickstein is an American former professional tennis player who competed on the ATP Tour from 1983 to 1996. During the early 1980s, American tennis was led by Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe, but Connors was approaching his 30s and there was no clear star in the horizon to replace him. That’s when a Jewish-American player came up through the ranks. He was an active competitor at the high school level tennis scene and still holds the Michigan record for most consecutive matches won at that level. He won the American National U-16 championship in 1982 and was also the US National Junior Tennis Association Champion in clay, and the USTA National champion in 1983. All in all he won five consecutive junior championships.

Krickstein won at Tel Aviv, which was a big deal for one of the few Jewish pro tennis players on tour. At that time, he became the youngest to win a pro event. He went on to achieve his career high ATP ranking of world No. 6 on February 26, 1990 on the back of wins in Sydney and Los Angeles, as well as best ever results at Wimbledon and the US Open. 1984 was also a good year for the American as he reached the finals of Rome, won in Boston, reached the finals of Washington DC, defended his title in Tel Aviv, and won in Geneva. For the next several years, his ranking would run between about 20 and 40. 1989 was one of his best years as he reached the semifinals of US Open and the fourth round of the Australian Open and Wimbledon. His ranking was up to 8.

Krickstein didn’t have a particularly big serve but had a solid forehand In 1990, he reached the final in Tokyo and achieved a career best world ranking of 6, but then started to slip by the end of the year, dropping to 20, then closer to 50. In 1990, he reached the quarterfinals of US open and the next year he was eliminated in the fourth round by 39-year-old Jimmy Connors, which turned out to be Krickstein’s most famous match. He played in the U.S. Davis Cup team for six years and was instrumental in the 1990 U.S. victory. And, during the course of his career he had wins over Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Mats Wilander, Boris Becker, Ivan Lendl and Stefan Edberg. He won nine career singles titles.

Krickstein was a bit injury prone and played until 1994 when he was 28-year-old. He felt his injuries were just too bothersome. Every time his career appeared ready to take the next step, an injury would pull him back.

Grand Slam Singles results:

Australian Open: SF (1995)

French Open: 4R (1985, 1994)

Wimbledon: 4R (1989, 1995)

US Open: SF (1989)