Nikola Pilić (27 August 1939 – 23 September 2025) was a Croatian professional tennis player who competed for SFR Yugoslavia. He was the coach of the Croatian, West German and Serbian national tennis teams, with whom he won several Davis Cup titles. He participated in the founding of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and the professionalization of tennis.
Pilić was one of the Handsome Eight.Deutsche Welle Croatian language service 19 July 2010 Nikola Pilić – 'Prus sa Balkana' Pilić was ranked world No. 6 in January 1968 and world No. 7 for 1967 by Lance Tingay of The Daily Telegraph.United States Lawn Tennis Association (1972). Official Encyclopedia of Tennis (First edition), p. 428.
Early life Pilić was born in Split, then in the Banovina of Croatia of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, on 27 August 1939, to Krsto Pilić and Danica Tomić-Ferić.
The youngster took up tennis during the summer of 1952.Nikola Pilić: Krao sam novac od majke da kupim reket;Blic, 29 May 2011 Thirteen years of age at this point, he began practicing on the Firule tennis club clay courts in parallel to studying shipbuilding at the streamlined high school in Split. Upon graduating, he attempted to enroll at a community college () in Zagreb, but due to not meeting the entrance criteria, he ended up in Novi Sad where he studied government administration ().
Tennis career In 1964 he won the Moscow International Championships against countryman Boro Jovanović in five sets. Pilic reached the semifinals of Wimbledon in 1967, beating Roy Emerson. Then open tennis arrived and Pilić was one of the Handsome Eight, a group of players signed by Lamar Hunt in 1968 for the newly formed professional World Championship Tennis (WCT) group.
In 1970, Pilić won the Bristol Open or West of England Championships defeating Tom Okker in a long match, Graham Stilwell, Marty Riessen, John Newcombe in a close match, and Rod Laver in the final.
Also that season, Pilić won the men's doubles title at the US Open with his French partner Pierre Barthès by defeating the Australians John Newcombe and Rod Laver in four sets. His best singles performance at a Grand Slam tournament came in 1973 when he reached the final of the French Open, losing to Ilie Năstase in straight sets.
Pilić was the catalyst to the 1973 Wimbledon boycott. In May 1973, the Yugoslav tennis federation alleged that Pilić had refused to represent them in a Davis Cup tie against New Zealand earlier that month. Pilić denied the charge, but was suspended by the federation, and the suspension was upheld by the ILTF, albeit decreased from nine months to one month, meaning that he could not enter the Wimbledon Championships. In protest at the suspension, 81 of Pilić's fellow professionals, organized into the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), and including 13 of the 16 seeds, withdrew from the 1973 Wimbledon Championships.
Post-playing After retiring from playing tennis professionally, Pilić began coaching and became the first captain to win the Davis Cup trophy for three nations: Germany in 1988, 1989 and 1993, Croatia in 2005 and Serbia in 2010. He worked with the Serbia Davis Cup team in the adviser role starting in 2007, and won the Davis Cup title in 2010.
He ran a tennis academy in Oberschleißheim near Munich where he resided. Players such as Michael Stich, Novak Djokovic, Ernests Gulbis and Anastasija Sevastova developed and came through Pilić's academy.
Personal life and death In 1970, Pilić married Serbian actress Milica "Mija" Adamović. The couple had a child in 1971, daughter Danijela. Their second child, son Niko, was born in 1975.Četiri decenije sa Nikolom; Blic, 25 September 2010
In 2020, he was awarded the Golden Medal of Merits of Republic of Serbia.
Pilić died in Rijeka, Croatia, on 23 September 2025, at the age of 86.
A month after his death, in mid-November 2025, a ceremony was held in Pilić's honor in Bologna, attended by Ivan Ljubičić, Novak Djokovic, and Boris Becker, the players with whom Pilić won the Davis Cup.
Grand Slam finals Singles: 1 (1 runner-up) ResultYearChampionshipSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss 1973 French Open Clay Ilie Năstase 3–6, 3–6, 0–6
Doubles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up) ResultYearChampionshipSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss 1962 Wimbledon Grass Boro Jovanović Bob Hewitt Fred Stolle 2–6, 7–5, 2–6, 4–6Win 1970 US Open Grass Pierre Barthès Roy Emerson Rod Laver 6–3, 7–6, 4–6, 7–6
Grand Slam singles performance timeline
Tournament 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978SR Australian Open A A2R A A A A A A A3R2R A A A A A A A A 0 / 3 French Open A4R2R3R4R3R A A A2R A1R AF A3R A1R2R 0 / 11 Wimbledon2R3R2R1R2R A1RSF1R1R2R3R A A3R1R4R3R A 0 / 15 US Open A A1R A A1R A3R4R3R4R4R4RQF A A AA A 0 / 9Strike rate 0 / 1 0 / 2 0 / 4 0 / 2 0 / 2 0 / 2 0 / 1 0 / 2 0 / 2 0 / 3 0 / 3 0 / 4 0 / 1 0 / 2 0 / 1 0 / 2 0 / 10 / 2 0 / 1 Note: The Australian Open was held twice in 1977, in January and December.
References
External links
Tennis Academy Niki Pilic – Official site An interview in Jet Set magazine