Filip Polášek (; born 21 July 1985) is a former Slovak professional tennis player who specialises in doubles. He reached his highest doubles ranking of world No. 7 in February 2020, and has won 17 titles on the ATP Tour. He was forced to retire in 2013 due to health issues, but returned in 2018 and began the most successful phase of his career. Polášek won his first Grand Slam title at the 2021 Australian Open alongside Ivan Dodig, and also won the 2019 Cincinnati Masters and 2021 Indian Wells Masters, with Dodig and John Peers respectively. Polášek was the first Slovak man to reach, or win a major doubles final. He also reached the semifinals at the 2019 Wimbledon Championships, 2020 Australian Open and 2021 US Open. He qualified for the ATP Finals in both 2019 and 2021. Polášek has represented Slovakia in the Davis Cup since 2008, and also competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics partnering Lukáš Klein.
Career 2008: First ATP titles Polášek reached his first ATP final at the 2008 Valencia Open with partner Travis Parrott, they fell to Máximo González and Juan Mónaco in two tight sets 5–7, 5–7. Later that year at the Swiss Open Gsaad he won his first title with partner Jaroslav Levinský in three sets. In October Polášek won his second title of the year at the St. Petersburg Open with Travis Parrott.
2013: Retirement due to injury In 2013 Polášek reached three ATP finals with partner Julian Knowle, winning the later two the Zagreb Indoors and the Grand Prix Hassan II.
In November 2013 Polášek retired from professional tennis at the age of 28 due to nerve issues and loose discs in his back.
2018: Return to tennis Several years after retirement and allowing his body to heal through less strenuous activities such as coaching tennis and ski touring, Polášek hit with Mike Bryan and started playing some club matches again, and the pain of his previous injuries didn't seem to be reoccurring. He asked to take some time off from the coaching academy he taught at and started playing some futures and then challengers. By the end of September 2019 Polášek's doubles ranking had risen to within the top 200 for the first time in five years.
2019: First Masters 1000 title and Grand Slam semifinal Polášek claimed his first ATP title in 6 years in Kizbühel, partnering with Philipp Oswald. At Wimbledon he reached his first Grand Slam semifinal partnering with Ivan Dodig in just their second tournament together. They then went on to capture their first Masters 1000 title as a team, and Polášek's first career masters title at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati defeating Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah in the final 4–6, 6–4, 10–6.
Polášek and Dodig then went on to take their second title as a team defeating defending champions Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo to take the China Open title in Beijing.
2020: Second Grand Slam semifinal, world No. 7 in doubles Dodig and Polášek began their 2020 season at the Adelaide International, where they reached the final, losing to Maximo Gonzalez and Fabrice Martin.
They then reached the semifinals of the 2020 Australian Open before being defeated by Max Purcell and Luke Saville. As a result, he reached a new career-high doubles ranking of World No. 7 on 3 February 2020.
After this the ATP Tour was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On the tour's resumption in August at the Cincinnati Masters in New York and at the US Open they fell in the first round.
2021: Historic and first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open Polášek and his partner Dodig reached the final of their first tournament in 2021 at the Antalya Open, where they lost to Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic. After two weeks quarantine in Australia, they reached the semifinals of the Great Ocean Road Open, where they lost out to Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares. Continuing to partner with Dodig, Polášek won his first Grand Slam tournament at the Australian Open defeating Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury in the final. With the title he became the first Slovak male Grand Slam champion. As a result, he returned to the top 10 on 22 February 2021.
Significant finals
Grand Slam tournament finals
Doubles: 1 (1 title)
Result Year Championship Surface Partner OpponentsScoreWin 2021Australian Open Hard Ivan Dodig Rajeev Ram Joe Salisbury 6–3, 6–4
Masters 1000 finals
Doubles: 2 (2 titles) Result YearTournament Surface Partner OpponentsScoreWin2019Cincinnati MastersHard Ivan Dodig Juan Sebastián Cabal Robert Farah4–6, 6–4, [10–6]Win2021Indian Wells MastersHard John Peers Aslan Karatsev Andrey Rublev6–3, 7–6(7–5)
ATP career finals
Doubles: 35 (17 titles, 18 runners-up) LegendGrand Slam tournaments (1–0)Tennis Masters Cup / ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)ATP Masters Series / ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (2–0)ATP International Series Gold / ATP World Tour 500 Series (1–4)ATP International Series / ATP World Tour 250 Series (13–14)Titles by surfaceHard (8–9)Clay (8–6)Grass (0–3)Titles by settingOutdoor (13–15)Indoor (3–3)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss0–1Valencia Open,SpainInternationalClay Travis Parrott Máximo González Juan Mónaco5–7, 5–7Win1–1Swiss Open Gstaad,SwitzerlandInternationalClay Jaroslav Levinský Stéphane Bohli Stanislas Wawrinka3–6, 6–2, [11–9]Win2–1St. Petersburg Open,RussiaInternationalHard (i) Travis Parrott Rohan Bopanna Max Mirnyi3–6, 7–6(7–4), [10–8]Loss2–2U.S. National Indoor,United States500 SeriesHard (i) Travis Parrott Mardy Fish Mark Knowles6–7(7–9), 1–6Loss2–3Eastbourne International,United Kingdom250 SeriesGrass Travis Parrott Mariusz Fyrstenberg Marcin Matkowski4–6, 4–6Win3–3Swedish Open,Sweden250 SeriesClay Jaroslav Levinský Robert Lindstedt Robin Söderling1–6, 6–3, [10–7]Loss3–4German Open,Germany500 SeriesClay Marcelo Melo Simon Aspelin Paul Hanley3–6, 3–6Loss3–5Swiss Open Gstaad,Switzerland250 SeriesClay Jaroslav Levinský Marco Chiudinelli Michael Lammer5–7, 3–6Loss3–6Halle Open,Germany250 SeriesGrass Martin Damm Sergiy Stakhovsky Mikhail Youzhny6–4, 5–7, [7–10]Win4–6Croatia Open,Croatia250 SeriesClay Leoš Friedl František Čermák Michal Mertiňák6–3, 7–6(9–7)Win5–6Serbia Open,Serbia250 SeriesClay František Čermák Oliver Marach Alexander Peya7–5, 6–2Loss5–7German Open,Germany500 SeriesClay František Čermák Oliver Marach Alexander Peya4–6, 1–6Win6–7Swiss Open Gstaad,Switzerland (2)250 SeriesClay František Čermák Christopher Kas Alexander Peya6–3, 7–6(9–7)Loss6–8Malaysian Open,Malaysia250 SeriesHard (i) František Čermák Eric Butorac Jean-Julien Rojer1–6, 3–6Loss6–9Japan Open,Japan500 SeriesHard František Čermák Andy Murray Jamie Murray1–6, 4–6Win7–9Kremlin Cup,Russia250 SeriesHard (i) František Čermák Carlos Berlocq David Marrero6–3, 6–1Win8–9Qatar Open,Qatar250 SeriesHard Lukáš Rosol Christopher Kas Philipp Kohlschreiber6–3, 6–4Loss8–10Auckland Open,New Zealand250 SeriesHard František Čermák Oliver Marach Alexander Peya3–6, 2–6Win9–10Bavarian Championships,Germany250 SeriesClay František Čermák Xavier Malisse Dick Norman6–4, 7–5Loss9–11Open de Nice Côte d'Azur,France250 SeriesClay Oliver Marach Bob Bryan Mike Bryan6–7(5–7), 3–6Loss9–12Vienna Open,Austria250 SeriesHard (i) Julian Knowle Andre Begemann Martin Emmrich4–6, 6–3, [4–10]Loss9–13Qatar Open,Qatar250 SeriesHard Julian Knowle Christopher Kas Philipp Kohlschreiber5–7, 4–6Win10–13Zagreb Indoors,Croatia250 SeriesHard (i) Julian Knowle Ivan Dodig Mate Pavić3–6, 3–6Win11–13Grand Prix Hassan II,Morocco250 SeriesClay Julian Knowle Dustin Brown Christopher Kas6–3, 6–2Loss11–14Antalya Open,Turkey250 SeriesGrass Ivan Dodig Jonathan Erlich Artem Sitak3–6, 4–6Loss11–15Swiss Open Gstaad,Switzerland250 SeriesClay Philipp Oswald Sander Gillé Joran Vliegen 4–6, 3–6Win12–15Austrian Open Kitzbühel,Austria250 SeriesClay Philipp Oswald Sander Gillé Joran Vliegen6–4, 6–4Win13–15Cincinnati Masters,United StatesMasters 1000Hard Ivan Dodig Juan Sebastián Cabal Robert Farah4–6, 6–4, [10–6]Win14–15China Open,China500 SeriesHard Ivan Dodig Łukasz Kubot Marcelo Melo6–3, 7–6(7–4)Loss14–16Jan 2020Adelaide International,Australia250 SeriesHard Ivan Dodig Máximo González Fabrice Martin6–7(12–14), 3–6Loss14–17Antalya Open,Turkey250 SeriesHard Ivan Dodig Nikola Mektić Mate Pavić2–6, 4–6Win15–17Australian Open,AustraliaGrand SlamHard Ivan Dodig Rajeev Ram Joe Salisbury6–3, 6–4Loss15–18San Diego Open,United States250 SeriesHard John Peers Joe Salisbury Neal Skupski6–7(2–7), 6–3, [5–10]Win16–18Indian Wells Masters,United StatesMasters 1000Hard John Peers Aslan Karatsev Andrey Rublev6–3, 7–6(7–5)Win17–18Sydney International,Australia250 SeriesHard John Peers Simone Bolelli Fabio Fognini7–5, 7–5
Challenger and Futures finals
Singles: 3 (1–2) Legend (singles)ATP Challenger Tour (0–0)ITF Futures Tour (1–2)Titles by surfaceHard (0–0)Clay (1–2)Grass (0–0)Carpet (0–0)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss0–1Algeria F1, AlgiersFuturesClay Lamine Ouahab3–6, 0–6Loss0–2Iran F3, TehranFuturesClay Bastian Knittel3–6, 5–7Win1–2Slovak Rep. F3, BratislavaFuturesClay Ján Krošlák6–4, 6–1
Doubles: 54 (33–21) Legend (doubles)ATP Challenger Tour (16–11)ITF Futures Tour (17–10)Titles by surfaceHard (10–5)Clay (22–13)Grass (0–0)Carpet (1–3)