Slovenian tennis player (born 1990)
Blaž Rola (born 5 October 1990) is a Slovenian tennis player.
His highest career ranking is No. 78 in singles and No. 186 in doubles. In his career, he has won one ATP 250 series doubles title, nine singles and six doubles ITF Futures tournaments and five ATP Challenger in singles and eight in doubles. He represents Slovenia on the Slovenia Davis Cup team . In the 2013 Mediterranean Games in Mersin , Turkey , he won gold in singles and doubles.[ 1] [ 2]
Rola was born in Ptuj , the oldest Slovenian town, to father Marijan Rola and mother Majda Rola. He was four years old when he started playing tennis and when he was six he joined the Tennis Club Terme Ptuj where he spent the most of his youth. He went to High school in Ptuj.[ 3] In 2010 he moved to the United States where he studied at and competed in tennis for Ohio State University until 2013. In January 2019 he and his fiancée Slovenian blogger Vanesa Rola, who was his long-term girlfriend, welcomed daughter Izabela. The same year he married Vanesa.
He competed for Ohio State University from 2010 to 2013, winning the NCAA doubles championship in 2012 and the NCAA singles championship in 2013.
Professional career [ edit ] In 2008 he began his professional career when he performed his first tournaments in ITF Futures and ATP Challenger Tour series.
In 2010 he represented Slovenia for the first time in Davis Cup and moved to study and play tennis in United States.
At 2013 Mediterranean Games he won 2 gold medals and made big progress when he reached Top 200 on ATP rankings for the first time in his career. In this period he won 9 Futures singles and 6 doubles titles and 1 title in doubles in Challenger series.
2014: Grand Slam and top 100 debut [ edit ] Through qualifications he reached the main draw of Grand Slam tournament for the first time at the 2014 Australian Open . He lost in second round against Martin Kližan . With this result he became the fifth Slovene male player to reach the main draw of any Grand Slam.
In May he reached Top 100 in the ATP rankings and played in the qualifications for the 2014 French Open where her lost in the third round to James Ward .
In June he played his first ATP 250 series tournament on grass. At the 2014 Aegon Championships , London and the 2014 Aegon International , Eastbourne he lost in the first round on both occasions. He played in the main draw of 2014 Wimbledon Championships for the first time in his career and lost 1–6, 1–6, 0–6 in the second round against Andy Murray .[ 4]
2015: Career-high ranking [ edit ] He reached a career-high ranking in singles of No. 78 on 5 January 2015.
2021: Fifth Challenger title [ edit ] At the 2021 Zadar Open he won his seventh Challenger doubles title partnering his good friend Blaž Kavčič .
At the 2021 Split Open he defeated Kavčič to win his fifth Challenger singles title.[ 5]
2023: Maiden ATP title [ edit ] At the 2023 Croatia Open Umag he won his first ATP title partnering with Nino Serdarušić .
Doubles: 1 (1 title)[ edit ] Legend Grand Slam tournaments (0–0) ATP World Tour Finals (0–0) ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0) ATP World Tour 500 Series (0–0) ATP World Tour 250 Series (1–0)
Finals by surface Hard (0–0) Clay (1–0) Grass (0–0)
Finals by setting Outdoor (1–0) Indoor (0–0)
Challenger and Futures finals [ edit ] Singles: 29 (15–14)[ edit ] Legend (singles) ATP Challenger Tour (5–8) ITF Futures Tour (10–6)
Titles by surface Hard (4–2) Clay (11–12) Grass (0–0) Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score Loss 0–1 May 2010 Slovenia F1, Kamnik Futures Clay Marcel Zimmermann 6–3, 2–6, 4–6 Win 1–1 Jun 2010 Slovenia F3, Maribor Futures Clay György Balázs 2–6, 6–4, 6–4 Loss 1–2 Jul 2010 Italy F18, Modena Futures Clay Matteo Viola 1–6, 6–4, 1–6 Win 2–2 Aug 2010 Austria F3, Bad Waltersdorf Futures Clay Pascal Brunner 7–5, 6–3 Win 3–2 Jul 2012 USA F17, Innisbrook Futures Clay Luis David Martínez 6–2, 6–1 Loss 3–3 Jul 2012 Austria F1, Telfs Futures Clay Marc Rath 6–2, 3–6, 2–6 Win 4–3 Jul 2012 Austria F3, Bad Waltersdorf Futures Clay Nicolas Reissig 6–3, 6–2 Loss 4–4 Aug 2012 Croatia F7, Čakovec Futures Clay Peter Heller 4–6, 0–6 Win 5–4 Aug 2012 Croatia F8, Vinkovci Futures Clay Toni Androić 6–2, 6–2 Win 6–4 Sep 2012 Austria F9, Vogau Futures Clay Andreas Haider-Maurer 6–2, 7–6(7–5) Win 7–4 Jun 2013 Mexico F12, Quintana Roo Futures Hard José Pereira 7–6(8–6) , 6–4 Loss 7–5 Aug 2013 Rio de Janeiro , Brazil Challenger Clay Agustín Velotti 3–6, 4–6 Win 8–5 Aug 2013 Poland F5, Bytom Futures Clay Filip Krajinović w/o Win 9–5 Oct 2013 Armenia F2, Yerevan Futures Clay Boy Westerhof 6–2, 6–4 Loss 9–6 Oct 2013 Croatia F11, Dubrovnik Futures Clay Janez Semrajc 4–6, 7–5, 3–6 Win 10–6 Mar 2014 Guangzhou , China, P.R. Challenger Hard Yūichi Sugita 6–7(4–7) , 6–4, 6–3 Loss 10–7 Mar 2014 Panama City , Panama Challenger Clay Pere Riba 5–7, 7–5, 2–6 Loss 10–8 Apr 2014 São Paulo , Brazil Challenger Clay Rogério Dutra Silva 4–6, 2–6 Loss 10–9 Jul 2014 Poznań , Poland Challenger Clay David Goffin 4–6, 2–6 Win 11–9 Apr 2015 Santos , Brazil Challenger Clay Germain Gigounon 6–3, 3–6, 6–3 Loss 11–10 Jun 2016 Perugia , Italy Challenger Clay Nicolás Kicker 6–2, 3–6, 0–6 Win 12–10 Apr 2017 Tallahassee , USA Challenger Clay Ramkumar Ramanathan 6–2, 6–7(6–8) , 7–5 Loss 12–11 Mar 2018 Quijing , China, P.R. Challenger Hard Malek Jaziri 6–7(5–7) , 1–6 Loss 12–12 Apr 2018 Panama City , Panama Challenger Clay Carlos Berlocq 2–6, 0–6 Loss 12–13 Oct 2018 Las Vegas , USA Challenger Hard Thanasi Kokkinakis 4–6, 4–6 Win 13–13 Apr 2019 León , Mexico Challenger Hard Liam Broady 6–4, 4–6, 6–3 Win 14–13 Apr 2021 Split , Croatia Challenger Clay Blaž Kavčič 2–6, 6–3, 6–2 Win 15–13 Apr 2023 M15 Monastir , Tunisia World Tennis Tour Hard Adrien Gobat 7–6(7–4) , 6–2 Loss 15–14 May 2024 M15 Celje , Slovenia World Tennis Tour Clay Joao Eduardo Schiessl 6–4, 6–7(4–7) , 1–6
Legend (doubles) ATP Challenger Tour (9–5) ITF Futures Tour (6–3)
Titles by surface Hard (4–4) Clay (10–4) Grass (0–0) Carpet (1–0)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score Win 1–0 Oct 2009 Croatia F9, Dubrovnik Futures Clay Martin Rmuš Morgan Phillips Antonio Šančić 6–3, 7–6(9–7) Loss 1–1 May 2010 Bosnia & Herzegovina F3, Doboj Futures Clay Martin Rmuš Michael Linzer Herbert Wiltschnig w/o Win 2–1 Jun 2010 Slovenia F3, Maribor Futures Clay Martin Rmuš Javier Martí Sergio Pérez Pérez 6–3, 6–3 Loss 2–2 Aug 2011 Croatia F7, Vinkovci Futures Clay Mislav Hižak Tomislav Brkić Marin Franjičević 6–3, 3–6, [7–10] Win 3–2 Jul 2012 USA F17, Innisbrook Futures Clay Chase Buchanan Keith-Patrick Crowley Joshua Zavala 6–4, 6–2 Win 4–2 Jul 2012 Austria F1, Telfs Futures Clay Tomislav Ternar Stefan Hirn Sebastian Stiefelmeyer 6–2, 7–5 Loss 4–3 Aug 2012 Croatia F7, Čakovec Futures Clay Tomislav Ternar Thibault Venturino Janoš Žibrat 3–6, 4–6 Win 5–3 Aug 2012 Croatia F8, Vinkovci Futures Clay Mislav Hižak Tomislav Brkić Aldin Šetkić 6–4, 7–6(7–3) Win 6–3 Sep 2012 Austria F9, Vogau Futures Clay Ruben Gonzales Lukas Jastraunig Tristan-Samuel Weissborn 6–2, 6–2 Loss 6–4 Jul 2013 Portorož , Slovenia Challenger Hard Aljaž Bedene Marin Draganja Mate Pavić 3–6, 6–1, [5–10] Win 7–4 Nov 2013 Toyota , Japan Challenger Carpet (i) Chase Buchanan Marcus Daniell Artem Sitak 4–6, 6–3, [10–4] Loss 7–5 Jan 2014 Nouméa , New Caledonia Challenger Hard Ante Pavić Austin Krajicek Tennys Sandgren 6–7(4–7) , 3–6 Loss 7–6 Feb 2014 Chennai , India Challenger Hard Sriram Balaji Yuki Bhambri Michael Venus 4–6, 6–7(3–7) Win 8–6 May 2015 São Paulo , Brazil Challenger Clay Chase Buchanan Guido Andreozzi Sergio Galdós 6–4, 6–4 Win 9–6 Sep 2015 Cary , USA Challenger Hard Chase Buchanan Austin Krajicek Nicholas Monroe 6–4, 6–7(5–7) , [10–4] Win 10–6 Sep 2015 Columbus , USA Challenger Hard (i) Chase Buchanan Mitchell Krueger Eric Quigley 6–4, 4–6, [19–17] Win 11–6 Oct 2017 Lima , Peru Challenger Clay Miguel Ángel Reyes-Varela Gonçalo Oliveira Grzegorz Panfil 7–5, 6–3 Loss 11–7 Jun 2018 Caltanissetta , Italy Challenger Clay Jiří Veselý Federico Gaio Andrea Pellegrino 6–7(4–7) , 6–7(5–7) Win 12–7 Nov 2019 Charlottesville , USA Challenger Hard Mitchell Krueger Sekou Bangoura Blaz Kavcic 6–4, 6–1 Win 13–7 Mar 2021 Zadar , Croatia Challenger Clay Blaž Kavčič Lukáš Klein Alex Molčan 2–6, 6–2, [10–3] Win 14–7 Nov 2021 Knoxville , USA Challenger Hard (i) Malek Jaziri Hans Hach Verdugo Miguel Ángel Reyes-Varela 3–6, 6–3, [10–5] Loss 14–8 Jan 2022 Bendigo , Australia Challenger Hard Enzo Couacaud Ruben Bemelmans Daniel Masur 6–7(2–7) , 4–6 Win 15–8 Sep 2023 Tulln an der Donau , Austria Challenger Clay Zdenek Kolar Piotr Matuszewski Kai Wehnelt 6–4, 4–6, [10–6]
Key W F SF QF #R RR Q# P# DNQ A Z# PO G S B NMS NTI P NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.
* As of 26 May 2022[update] Record against other players [ edit ] Rola's match record against those who have been ranked in the top 10. Players who have been No. 1 are in boldface
* As of 26 May 2021[update] . Group membership World Group (0–0) Group I (7–4) Group II (2–3) Group III (0–0) Group IV (0–0)
Matches by surface Hard (4–2) Clay (5–5) Grass (0–0) Carpet (0–0)
Matches by Location Outdoor (5–3) Indoor (4–4)
Matches by Type Singles (6–4) Doubles (3–3)
Davis Cup results Rubber outcome No. Rubber Match type (partner if any) Opponent nation Opponent player(s) Score 5–0; 9–11 July 2010 ; TK Krka Otočec, Otočec , Slovenia; Europe/Africa Group II Second Round ; Clay Victory 1. IV (dead rubber) Singles Bulgaria Valentin Dimov 6–0, 6–1 4–1; 13–15 Sep 2013 ; Park Tivoli , Ljubljana , Slovenia; Europe/Africa Group I First Round Play-Off ; Clay Victory 2. I Singles South Africa Rik de Voest 6–1, 6–1, 6–4 Victory 3. III Doubles (with Blaž Kavčič ) Raven Klaasen / Nicolaas Scholtz 7–5, 6–1, 7–6(7–4) Defeat 4. V (dead rubber) Singles Nicolaas Scholtz 3–2 ret. 1–3; 4–6 Apr 2014 ; ŠRC Marina Portorož, Portorož , Slovenia; Europe/Africa Group I Second Round ; Clay Victory 5. II Singles Israel Dudi Sela 6–3, 6–4, 6–4 Defeat 6. III Doubles (with Grega Žemlja ) Jonathan Erlich / Andy Ram 6–7(7–9) , 6–4, 6–7(5–7) , 3–6 5–0; 30 Oct – 1 Nov 2015 ; Teniski klub Triglav Kranj, Kranj , Slovenia; Europe/Africa Group I Second Round Play-Off ; Hard (i) Victory 7. II Singles Lithuania Laurynas Grigelis 7–6(8–6) , 6–2, 6–2 Victory 8. III Doubles (with Blaž Kavčič ) Laurynas Grigelis / Lukas Mugevičius 6–4, 7–6(7–1) , 6–4 Victory 9. IV (dead rubber) Singles Lukas Mugevičius 6–2, 6–2 1–4; 4–6 Mar 2016 ; Sala Sporturilor, Arad , Romania; Europe/Africa Group I First Round ; Hard (i) Defeat 10. I Singles Romania Marius Copil 5–7, 3–6, 6–7(5–7) Defeat 11. III Doubles (with Grega Žemlja ) Florin Mergea / Horia Tecău 3–6, 6–7(5–7) , 6–7(3–7) Defeat 12. II Singles Adrian Ungur 6–3, 6–4 2–3; 3–4 Feb 2018 ; Lukna Sports Hall, Maribor , Slovenia; Europe/Africa Group II First Round ; Hard (i) Victory 13. II Singles Poland Kamil Majchrzak 4–6, 2–6 Defeat 14. III Doubles (with Aljaž Bedene ) Mateusz Kowalczyk / Marcin Matkowski 7–5, 6–7(5–7) , 4–6 3–1; 13–14 Sep 2019 ; Gezira Sporting Club , Cairo , Egypt; Europe/Africa Group I First Round ; Clay Defeat 15. II Singles Egypt Mohamed Safwat 4–6, 6–1, 6–7(4–7) Victory 16. III Doubles (with Aljaž Bedene ) Sherif Sabry / Mohamed Safwat 7–5, 6–3