# Nicolai Budkov Kjær

Nicolai Budkov Kjær (born 1 September 2006) is a Norwegian professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 298, achieved on 24 February 2025, following his debut ATP Challenger title win at the 2025 Glasgow Challenger beating fellow Norwegian Viktor Durasovic in the final. He is currently the No. 3 singles player from Norway.
Kjær reached a ITF junior combined ranking of No. 1 on 15 July 2024. He represents Norway at the Davis Cup where he has a W/L record of 2–4.

## Early life

Nicolai Budkov Kjær was born to a Norwegian father and an Estonian mother. He lives in Bygdøy, Oslo, and trains at Oslo Tennisarena and Wang Toppidrett.

## Junior career

He won the 2024 Wimbledon Championships boys' singles title, becoming the first Norwegian man to win a Grand Slam singles title at either the junior or professional level. He also won the 2024 French Open boys' doubles title alongside Joel Schwärzler, also the first for a Norwegian.

## Professional career

in September 2023, Budkov Kjær made his Davis Cup debut against Peru.
In February 2024, he replaced Dominic Thiem at the Ultimate Tennis Showdown in Oslo, the ninth edition of the tournament. 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. He was the first Norwegian to do so since Casper Ruud in 2016. Also in February, Kjær recorded his first Davis Cup win, over Latvian Davis Rolis, and in September his second, with a win over Portuguese Jaime Faria, who was ranked No. 157 at the time.
In November 2024, Budkov Kjær defeated former Top 10 player Pablo Carreño Busta at the 2024 Montemar Challenger.
In February 2025, Budkov Kjær won his first ATP Challenger title defeating fellow countryman Viktor Durasovic in the 2025 Glasgow Challenger. The match up was only the second time ever two Norwegians had met in a Challenger final, after Christian Ruud and Jan Frode Andersen who met in Fürth in 1998. The win also meant he reached a new career high ranking of 298.

## ATP Challenger and ITF World Tennis Tour finals
### Singles: 5 (3 titles, 2 runner-up)

* Legend
* ATP Challenger Tour (1–0)
* ITF WTT (2–2)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| Win | 1–0 | Mar 2024 | M15 Antalya, Turkey | WTT | Clay | Niels Visker | 6–4, 6–3 |
| Win | 2–0 | May 2024 | M15 Antalya, Turkey | WTT | Clay | Yanaki Milev | 6–1, 6–0 |
| Loss | 2–1 | Dec 2024 | M25 Antalya, Turkey | WTT | Clay | Mika Brunold | 2–6, 6–7$^{(7–9)}$ |
| Loss | 2–2 | Jan 2025 | M25 Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg | WTT | Hard (i) | Mikael Ymer | 1–6, 7–5, 2–6 |
| Win | 3–2 | Feb 2025 | Glasgow, United Kingdom | Challenger | Hard (i) | Viktor Durasovic | 6–4, 6–3 |

## National and international representation
### Davis Cup (2–4)

* Group membership
* World Group (0–0)
* WG play-off (0–0)
* Group I (2–4)
* Group II (0–0)
* Group III (0–0)
* Group IV (0–0)
* Matches by surface
* Hard (2–2)
* Clay (0–2)
* Grass (0–0)
* Carpet (0–0)
* Matches by type
* Singles (2–4)
* Doubles (0–0)
* indicates the outcome of the Davis Cup match followed by the score, date, place of event, the zonal classification and its phase, and the court surface.
| Rubber outcome | No. | Rubber | Match type (partner if any) | Opponent nation | Opponent player(s) | Score |
| 1–4; 16–17 September 2023; Lawn Tennis de la Exposición, Lima, Peru; World Group I play-offs; clay surface |||||||
| Loss | 1 | II | Singles | Peru | Juan Pablo Varillas | 5–7, 4–6 |
| Loss | 2 | V | Singles | Peru | Ignacio Buse | 2–6, 6–4, [9–11] |
| 4–0; 2–3 February 2024; Gjøvik Olympic Cavern Hall, Gjøvik, Norway; Davis Cup qualifying round; hard(i) surface |||||||
| Win | 3 | IV | Singles | Latvia | Davis Rolis | 6–3, 6–4 |
| 3–1; 13–14 September 2024; Nadderud Arena, Bekkestua, Norway; Davis Cup qualifying round; hard(i) surface |||||||
| Win | 4 | I | Singles | Portugal | Jaime Faria | 4–6, 6–3, 7–6$^{(7–4)}$ |
| 2–3; 30–31 January 2025; Fjellhamar Arena, Oslo, Norway; Davis Cup qualifying round; hard(i) surface |||||||
| Loss | 5 | I | Singles | Argentina | Tomás Martín Etcheverry | 5–7, 6–2, 6–7$^{(5–7)}$ |
| Loss | 6 | V | Singles | Argentina | Mariano Navone | 6–4, 3–6, 4–6 |

## Junior Grand Slam finals
### Singles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)

| Result | Year | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| Win | 2024 | Wimbledon | Grass | Mees Röttgering | 6–3, 6–3 |
| Loss | 2024 | US Open | Hard | Rafael Jódar | 6–2, 2–6, 6–7$^{(1–10)}$ |

### Doubles: 1 (1 title)

| Result | Year | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
| Win | 2024 | French Open | Clay | Joel Schwärzler | Federico Cinà Rei Sakamoto | 6–4, 7–6$^{(7–3)}$ |

## Awards

* 2024 – ITF Junior World Champion