Michael Kures (born July 25, 1964) is a former professional

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

player from the United States. He was born in

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

, but moved to the United States at age four.ATP World Tour Profile
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Career

Kures, with partner Jonathan Canter, won the boys' doubles title at the 1982 US Open. The pair had been runner-up at the

French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...

earlier that year. He played collegiate tennis for the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

in the early 1980s. In 1984, he was an

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

and a member of the NCAA championship winning team.''

News and Courier ''The Post and Courier'' is the main daily newspaper in Charleston, South Carolina. It traces its ancestry to three newspapers, the ''Charleston Courier'', founded in 1803, the ''Charleston Daily News'', founded 1865, and ''The Evening Post'', f ...

''
"UCLA Wins Ncaa Tennis Crown"
May 16, 1984, p. 20 In 1985, he earned All-American honours again and made the Division I singles final, which he lost to

Mikael Pernfors Mikael Pernfors (; born 16 July 1963) is a former professional tennis player from Sweden. He reached the men's singles final at the French Open in 1986, and won the 1993 Canadian Open in Montreal. Career Pernfors played a topspin-heavy basel ...

. On the

Grand Prix tennis circuit The ITF Grand Prix Circuit was a professional tennis tour for male players founded in 1970 as the ILTF Grand Prix Tennis Circuit it was administered by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and ran annually until 1989 when it and the rival ...

, Kures had his best result at the Boston Pro Championships in 1988, beating

Roberto Argüello Roberto Argüello (born 12 May 1963) is a former professional tennis player from Argentina. Career Argüello was an ambidextrous player, capable of using right-handed shots for balls to his right and left-handed stokes for balls to the left of hi ...

, John Ross and world number-nine

Brad Gilbert Brad Gilbert (born August 9, 1961) is an American former professional tennis player, tennis coach, and tennis commentator and analyst for ESPN. During his career, he won 20 singles titles and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 4 ...

, before losing to Bruno Orešar in the quarter-finals. He was a doubles semi-finalist at the 1987 Seoul Open, partnering

Paul Chamberlin Paul Chamberlin (born March 26, 1962) is a former professional tennis player from the United States. Chamberlin won one doubles title (1989, Bristol) during his career. After playing college tennis at the University of Arizona, the right-hand ...

. Kures competed at the US Open four times and made the second round in 1984, defeating Hans Simonsson. He was beaten by

Mats Wilander Mats Arne Olof Wilander (; born 22 August 1964) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ...

in the second round. His other appearances were in 1987 and 1988, as a singles player, and 1989, in the men's doubles draw. He also competed at the

1987 Wimbledon Championships The 1987 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 101st edition of the Wimbledon Championships and were held fro ...

and

1989 Australian Open The 1989 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on Hardcourt, outdoor hard courts at Melbourne Park, Flinders Park in Melbourne in Victoria (state), Victoria in Australia. It was the 77th edition of the Australian Open and was held from 16 ...

Challenger titles

Doubles: (1)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kures, Michael 1964 births Living people American male tennis players US Open (tennis) junior champions UCLA Bruins men's tennis players Tennis players from Illinois Czechoslovak emigrants to the United States Tennis players from Prague People from Willow Springs, Illinois Grand Slam (tennis) champions in boys' doubles 20th-century American sportsmen