Nicolas Kiefer was born on July 5th, 1977 in Holzminden, Germany. He was an outstanding junior winning the Australian and US Junior Opens. He turned pro in 1995 and won his first ATP tournament two years later in Toulouse. In 1999 he won three events on the tour.

His highest ranking came in January 2000 when he was the number four player in the world. He won two more tournaments in that year. Since then however Kiefer has failed to add to his titles. His best result came in 2006 when he reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open.