Nicolai Budkov Kjær (born 1 September 2006) is a Norwegian professional tennis player. He has a career high ATP singles ranking of No. 662, achieved on 11 November 2024. He also has a career-high ITF junior combined ranking of No. 1, achieved on 15 July 2024.
Kjær represents Norway at the Davis Cup where he has a W/L record of 2–2.
Early life
Nicolai Budkov Kjær was born to a Norwegian father and an Estonian mother.[1] He lives in Bygdøy, Oslo, and trains at Oslo Tennisarena and Wang Toppidrett.[2][3]
He made his Davis debut in September 2023 against Peru.[7]
In February 2024, he replaced Dominic Thiem at the Ultimate Tennis Showdown in Oslo, the ninth edition of the tournament.[8][9] The following month, he won his first professional title at the $15k Antalya Series. He subsequently made his debut in the top 1000 of the ATP rankings at No. 897.[10][11] He was the first Norwegian to do so since Casper Ruud in 2016.
In September 2024, Kjær recorded his first Davis Cup victory, with a win over Portuguese Jaime Faria, who was ranked No. 157 at the time.[citation needed]
