# Nikola Špear

Nikola "Nikki" Špear (Serbian Cyrillic: Никола Шпеар; 22 February 1944 – 2 December 2017), often spelled Nicola Spear in English-language media, was a Serbian tennis player and coach who represented Yugoslavia in his playing career.

## Professional career

Špear won the senior championship of Yugoslavia 1968, 1972, 1973 and 1975.
Between 1969 and 1975, he represented Yugoslavia in the Davis Cup, compiling a 5–9 record in singles and 3–4 in doubles, for an overall 8–13 record across seven ties.
Following his playing career, Špear worked as a tennis coach, leading the Denmark Davis Cup team, the German Fed Cup team, and the FR Yugoslavia Davis Cup team.
In addition to his coaching career, he also organised tennis events in his hometown of Subotica.

## Career finals
### Singles: 3 (3 runner-ups)

* Legend
* Grand Slam (0–0)
* Tennis Masters Cup (0–0)
* ATP Tour (0–3)
* Finals by surface
* Hard (0–1)
* Clay (0–2)
* Grass (0–0)
* Finals by setting
* Outdoor (0–2)
* Indoor (0–1)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| Loss | 0–1 | Mar 1970 | Barranquilla, Colombia | Clay | Željko Franulović | 7–9, 3–6, 3–6 |
| Loss | 0–2 | Mar 1971 | Pensacola, United States | Hard (i) | Milan Holecek | 6–4, 3–6, 3–6 |
| Loss | 0–3 | Feb 1975 | Algiers, Algeria | Clay | Birger Andersson | 7–5, 6–2, 0–6, 1–6, 2–6 |

### Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)

* Legend
* Grand Slam (0–0)
* Tennis Masters Cup (0–0)
* ATP Tour (0–1)
* Finals by surface
* Hard (0–0)
* Clay (0–1)
* Grass (0–0)
* Finals by setting
* Outdoor (0–1)
* Indoor (0–0)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
| Loss | 0–1 | Apr 1977 | Munich, West Germany | Clay | John Whitlinger | František Pála Balázs Taróczy | 3–6, 4–6 |

## Singles performance timeline

Key :
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | P# | DNQ | A | Z# | PO | G | S | B | NMS | NTI | P | NH |
| Tournament | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | SR | W–L | Win % |
| Grand Slam tournaments ||||||||||||||||||||
| Australian Open | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| French Open | 1R | 4R | 4R | 2R | 1R | 3R | 2R | P2 | 1R | Q1 | 2R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | A | A | 0 / 13 | 10–11 | 48% |
| Wimbledon | A | A | 1R | 1R | 1R | 2R | 1R | 1R | A | A | 1R | 1R | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 8 | 1–8 | 11% |
| US Open | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | A | A | 1R | 2R | 1R | 1R | A | A | A | A | 0 / 5 | 1–5 | 17% |
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–4 | 0–3 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0 / 28 | 12–25 | 32% |
| National representation |||||||||||||||||||||
| Davis Cup | A | A | A | A | QF$^{Eu}$ | F$^{Eu}$ | A | 1R$^{Eu}$ | A | A | QF$^{Eu}$ | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 4 | 5–9 | 36% |
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 4–4 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0 / 4 | 5–9 | 36% |
| Career statistics |||||||||||||||||||||
| | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | Career | Career | Career |
| Tournaments | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 13 | 15 | 11 | 13 | 13 | 25 | 16 | 19 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 146 | 146 | 146 |
| Titles / Finals | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 |
| Overall win–loss | 0–0 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 2–3 | 14–13 | 4–15 | 3–10 | 5–12 | 2–12 | 16–25 | 5–16 | 15–19 | 1–4 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 70–144 | 70–144 | 70–144 |
| Win % | – | 75% | 50% | 25% | 40% | 52% | 21% | 23% | 29% | 14% | 39% | 24% | 44% | 20% | 25% | 0% | – | 35% | 35% | 35% |
| Year-end ranking | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 124 | 153 | 92 | 151 | 122 | 357 | 312 | 383 | N/A | No. 78 | No. 78 | No. 78 |

## Records

| Year | Record | Players matched |
| 1968 | Triple bagel win (6–0, 6–0, 6–0) | At least 17 players |