Select Page

Oliver Ojakäär

Oliver Ojakäär (born 10 February 2005) is an Estonian tennis player. He has a career high ATP singles ranking of 869 achieved on 18 March 2024. He also has a career high ATP doubles ranking of 1448 achieved on that same date.[2] Ojakäär won the US Open boys' doubles title in 2023, playing alongside Max Dahlin.

Career

From Tartu, where he plays for Club MK Tennis, Ojakäär won his first junior ITF tournament in 2021 in Jūrmala, Latvia.[3] He started 2023 with a junior ranking of world number 55.[4]

Coached by former junior grand slam champion Kenneth Raisma, he made his junior grand slam debut at the 2023 Australian Open. He reached the last-16 of the boys' singles and the quarter finals of the boys' doubles in Melbourne. He won the boys' doubles at the 2023 US Open alongside Max Dahlin, defeating Federico Bondioli of Italy and Joel Schwärzler of Austria) in the final by a score of 3-6, 6-3, 11-9 at Flushing Mesdow, New York.[5][6][7] In doing so, Ojakääru became the fourth Estonian to triumph in a grand slam tournament after Toomas Leius at the 1959 Wimbledon junior tournament, Kaia Kanepi at the 2001 French Open, and Ojakääru's coach Kenneth Raisma who won junior Wimbledon with Stefanos Tsitsipas in 2016.[8] By the conclusion of the 2023 season he had lowered his junior world ranking to tenth in the world.[9] He played alongside his coach Kenneth Raisma at the Alexela Team Cup in Tallinn, Estonia in November 2023.[10]

After making the step-up to the professional ranks, he was a finalist on the ITF Tennis Tour in Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt in February 2024, where he faced local player Mohamed Safwat, world ranked 361st, in the semi-finals, before losing in straight sets to Czech player Marek Gengel in the final.[11][12]

Personal life

In November 2024, he agreed to attend the University of Texas in the United States, on a scholarship from the spring of 2025.[13]

ITF World Tennis Tour finals

Singles: 1 (1 runner-up)

Legend
ITF WTT (0–1)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Loss 0–1 Feb 2024 M15 Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt WTT Hard Czech Republic Marek Gengel 3–6, 3–6

Junior Grand Slam finals

Doubles: 1 (1 title)

Result Year Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 2023 US Open Hard Sweden Max Dahlin Italy Federico Bondioli
Austria Joel Schwärzler 		3–6, 6–3, [11–9]

References

  1. ^ "Oliver Ojakäär". Eesti Tennise Liit (in Estonian). 2023. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  2. ^ "Oliver Ojakaar | Overview | ATP Tour | Tennis".
  3. ^ "Oliver Ojakäär won the first ITF junior title of his career in Jurmala". sport.err. 1 May 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
  4. ^ "Oliver Ojakäär alustas Austraalia lahtiste noorteturniiri võidukalt". tenisnet.ee. 21 January 2023. Retrieved 20 April 2025.
  5. ^ "Estonian Ojakäär, Sweden's Dahlin crowned US Open junior doubles champs". err.ee. 10 September 2023. Retrieved 20 April 2025.
  6. ^ Seema, Kristofer (28 January 2023). "Tennisetalent elu esimesest slämmiturniiri kogemusest: kõik on korraldatud nii, et saad keskenduda ainult mängimisele". Postimees (in Estonian). Retrieved 8 September 2023.
  7. ^ "Tennis hopeful Oliver Ojakäär continues his career at a US university". Delfi.ee. 27 November 2024. Retrieved 20 April 2025.
  8. ^ "Fourth Estonian grand slam winner Ojakäär: I haven't gotten it yet". err.ee. 11 September 2023. Retrieved 20 April 2025.
  9. ^ Barnes, Leo (11 March 2025). "From the Baltic Sea to the SEC: Oliver Ojakäär's path to pro dreams". The Daily Texan. Retrieved 20 April 2025.
  10. ^ "Estonia's top men's tennis players compete in front of home crowd on Friday". err.ee. 9 November 2023. Retrieved 20 April 2025.
  11. ^ "Oliver Ojakäär reached the semi-finals in Egypt!". tennisnet.ee. 9 February 2024. Retrieved 20 April 2025.
  12. ^ "Ojakäär fought in the final, but had to admit the superiority of his opponent". err.ee. 11 Feb 2024. Retrieved 20 April 2025.
  13. ^ "Men's Tennis signs international standouts Ojakaar, Dedura-Palomero". Texaslonghorns. 26 November 2024. Retrieved 20 April 2025.