Simon Aspelin
Simon Aspelin is a former professional tennis doubles player from Sweden who turned professional in 1998. His success mainly came in doubles, winning 12 titles and reaching World No. 7 in March 2008. In men's doubles, Aspelin won the 2007 US Open and the Silver medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics.
A memorable part of Aspelin's career was when he and doubles partner Todd Perry were playing in the 2006 Wimbledon Championships men's doubles quarterfinals as the eighth-seeded doubles team against third-seeded Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor. Knowles and Nestor won the match by winning the final set 23–21.
At the 2007 U.S. Open, seeded tenth with his partner Julian Knowle, Aspelin achieved the greatest triumph of his career by winning the U.S. Open, his first Grand Slam. In the first two rounds, they won against Kubot/Skoch and got a walkover over Calleri/Horna. They went on to upset the eighth seeds Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram in the third round. In the quarterfinals, they shocked the top seeds Bob and Mike Bryan, having lost to them only weeks before. In the semifinal, they held off unseeded Julien Benneteau and Nicolas Mahut, before winning the final in two sets over the ninth seeds, Pavel Vízner and Lukáš Dlouhý. He had never before reached a Grand Slam semifinal. This win put them into the No. 5 position in the ATP Doubles Race, and also gave Aspelin his career-high ranking of No. 13. His Davis cup record in March 2009 is 3–5 in doubles.
Another notable performance in 2007 was the final against Knowles/Nestor in Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, which he lost with Julian Knowle.
In the 2008 Summer Olympics, he and fellow Swede Thomas Johansson defeated French pair Michaël Llodra and Arnaud Clément 7–6, 4–6, 19–17 in the semi-finals. The match that lasted 4 hours and 46 minutes. They went on to win the Silver medal.
Prior to his pro career, Aspelin competed for four seasons at Pepperdine University, in Malibu, Calif. He was one of just two Waves to earn All-American status all four seasons, and was inducted into the Pepperdine Hall of Fame in the fall of 2010.
In May 2011, he was inducted into the ITA Hall of Fame.
In July 2011, Aspelin announced his retirement from professional tennis. He played his last tournament in Båstad, where he reached the final but failed to claim his thirteenth ATP title.
Grand Slam finals
Doubles (1 title)
Olympics
Doubles: 1 (1 Silver)
Career finals
Doubles (12)
Outcome | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
Winner | 1. | 7 February 2000 | Marseille | Hard | Johan Landsberg | Juan Ignacio Carrasco Jairo Velasco, Jr. | 7–6, 6–4 |
Runner-up | 1. | 15 July 2001 | Båstad | Clay | Andrew Kratzmann | Karsten Braasch Jens Knippschild | 6–7, 6–4, 6–7 |
Runner-up | 2. | 29 July 2001 | Kitzbühel | Clay | Andrew Kratzmann | Àlex Corretja Luis Lobo | 3–6, 6–4, 3–6 |
Runner-up | 3. | 24 February 2002 | Buenos Aires | Clay | Andrew Kratzmann | Gastón Etlis Martín Rodríguez | 6–3, 3–6, |
Runner-up | 4. | 14 April 2002 | Estoril | Clay | Andrew Kratzmann | Karsten Braasch Andrei Olhovskiy | 3–6, 3–6 |
Winner | 2. | 19 May 2003 | St. Pölten | Clay | Massimo Bertolini | Sargis Sargsian Nenad Zimonjić | 6–4, 6–7, 6–3 |
Winner | 3. | 7 July 2003 | Båstad | Clay | Massimo Bertolini | Lucas Arnold Mariano Hood | 6–7, 6–0, 6–4 |
Runner-up | 5. | 14 September 2003 | Bucharest | Clay | Jeff Coetzee | Karsten Braasch Sargis Sargsian | 6–7, 2–6 |
Runner-up | 6. | 11 July 2004 | Båstad | Clay | Todd Perry | Mahesh Bhupathi Jonas Björkman | 6–4, 6–7, 6–7 |
Runner-up | 7. | 17 July 2004 | Stuttgart | Clay | Todd Perry | Jiří Novák Radek Štěpánek | 2–6, 4–6 |
Runner-up | 8. | 9 January 2005 | Adelaide | Hard | Todd Perry | Xavier Malisse Olivier Rochus | 6–7, 4–6 |
Runner-up | 9. | 17 January 2005 | Auckland | Hard | Todd Perry | Yves Allegro Michael Kohlmann | 4–6, 6–7 |
Winner | 4. | 31 January 2005 | Delray Beach | Hard | Todd Perry | Jordan Kerr Jim Thomas | 6–3, 6–3 |
Winner | 5. | 14 February 2005 | Memphis | Hard | Todd Perry | Bob Bryan Mike Bryan | 6–4, 6–4 |
Runner-up | 10. | 20 June 2005 | Nottingham | Grass | Todd Perry | Jonathan Erlich Andy Ram | 6–4, 3–6, 5–7 |
Runner-up | 11. | 25 July 2005 | Indianapolis | Hard | Todd Perry | Paul Hanley Graydon Oliver | 2–6, 1–3 ret. |
Runner-up | 12. | 10 October 2005 | Tokyo | Hard | Todd Perry | Satoshi Iwabuchi Takao Suzuki | 4–5, 4–5 |
Runner-up | 13. | 14 January 2006 | Auckland | Hard | Todd Perry | Andrei Pavel Rogier Wassen | 2–6, 7–5, |
Winner | 6. | 23 October 2006 | St. Petersburg | Carpet | Todd Perry | Julian Knowle Jürgen Melzer | 6–1, 7–6 |
Runner-up | 14. | 14 January 2007 | Auckland | Hard | Chris Haggard | Jeff Coetzee Rogier Wassen | 7–6, 3–6, |
Winner | 7. | 26 May 2007 | Pörtschach | Clay | Julian Knowle | Leoš Friedl David Škoch | 7–6, 5–7, |
Winner | 8. | 17 June 2007 | Halle | Grass | Julian Knowle | Fabrice Santoro Nenad Zimonjić | 6–4, 7–6 |
Winner | 9. | 15 July 2007 | Båstad | Clay | Julian Knowle | Martin García Sebastián Prieto | 6–2, 6–4 |
Winner | 10. | 7 September 2007 | U.S. Open | Hard | Julian Knowle | Lukáš Dlouhý Pavel Vízner | 7–5, 6–4 |
Runner-up | 15. | 17 November 2007 | Tennis Masters Cup, Shanghai | Hard | Julian Knowle | Mark Knowles Daniel Nestor | 2–6, 3–6 |
Runner-up | 16. | 16 August 2008 | Summer Olympics, Beijing | Hard | Thomas Johansson | Roger Federer Stanislas Wawrinka | |
Runner-up | 17. | 11 April 2009 | Casablanca | Clay | Paul Hanley | Łukasz Kubot Oliver Marach | 6–7, 6–3, |
Runner-up | 18. | 17 May 2009 | Madrid | Clay | Wesley Moodie | Daniel Nestor Nenad Zimonjić | 4–6, 4–6 |
Winner | 11. | 26 July 2009 | Hamburg | Clay | Paul Hanley | Marcelo Melo Filip Polášek | 6–3, 6–3 |
Runner-up | 19. | 25 October 2009 | Stockholm | Hard | Paul Hanley | Bruno Soares Kevin Ullyett | 4–6, 6–7 |
Runner-up | 20. | 14 February 2010 | Rotterdam | Hard | Paul Hanley | Daniel Nestor Nenad Zimonjić | 4–6, 6–4, |
Winner | 12. | 27 February 2010 | Dubai | Hard | Paul Hanley | Lukáš Dlouhý Leander Paes | 6–2, 6–3 |
Runner-up | 21. | 17 July 2011 | Båstad | Clay | Andreas Siljeström | Robert Lindstedt Horia Tecău | 3–6, 3–6 |