He may be 19 years old and have just one ATP Tour victory to his name, but Nicolai Budkov Kjaer is already a familiar face to many of tennis’ elite.
The #NextGenATP Norwegian will be at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna this week, where he will make his ATP 500 debut as a wild card in a tie led by Jannik Sinner and Alexander Zverev. While speaking to ATPTour.com as part of his media day duties in the Austrian capital, Budkov Kjaer was greeted warmly by Sinner’s coach Darren Cahill, a reminder of the bonds that had already been forged between the Norwegian teenager and some of the sport’s biggest names.
“I’ve been practicing with Sinner a lot over the past year, so we know each other a little bit. As close as we can get to the world No. 1, I think,” joked the Norwegian, a former junior No. 1 who was a hitting partner at the Nitto ATP Finals last November. “Darren told me that I have a good game and good potential.
“I have a big swing on my forehand, so he said, ‘Try to prepare early and your forehand will be a hammer.’ [I found that] quite funny actually.”
Praise from a top coach during a practice session is one thing, but Budkov Kjaer knows he still has a lot to learn when it comes to competing on a competitive court against the ATP Tour’s best players.
“I’ve been a hitting partner at a lot of events before, so I’m kind of used to being the guy who practices with the players but doesn’t play against them,” said the Norwegian, who is coached by his father, Alexander Kjaer. “I’m not used to that yet, but hopefully I will get used to it in a while.”
Budkov Kjaer has already had a whirlwind few days in Vienna, without even setting foot on the match field. On Friday he was given a qualifying wildcard into the indoor hard court event. On Saturday morning this had been upgraded to a wild card for the main tournament, after Matteo Berrettini was given direct access to the field.
“I woke up in the morning, as I usually do at matches, and I was preparing for my qualifying match when my father suddenly told me that Berrettini might participate in the main draw and that I could get a wildcard for the main draw,” Budkov Kjaer recalled. “Then I got the call.
“I was very excited. I’ve never played at the 500 level before, so I was obviously very excited and extremely happy. I just kind of jumped and was just full of happiness.”
Budkov Kjaer has won four ATP Challenger Tour titles in 2025 and won his first ATP Tour match in July against Thiago Monteiro in Bastad. The in-form teenager may be a relative newcomer to the circuit’s biggest events, but he faced a familiar opponent in Saturday’s draw in Vienna: Argentine Tomas Martin Etcheverry, who defeated the teenager in a decisive tie-break in a Davis Cup qualifier in February.
“We’ve played each other before, so we know each other’s playing styles,” said Budkov Kjaer, who has a 5-6 tour-level record according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index, when asked about Etcheverry. “We played a Davis Cup match in February. I lost 7-6 in the third, so it was a bitter defeat, I think. I’m going to approach [this match] with excitement.”
After amassing a 34-16 record at Challengers this year, Budkov Kjaer sits sixth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah and well placed to secure a spot at December’s Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF. It would be a significant achievement for a player who didn’t think about the prospect of competing in the 20-and-under season finale when he started his season.
“I started the year ranked so low that I didn’t think about it at the beginning of the year,” said the Norwegian. “Because I won a Challenger early in the year, I thought I might be able to qualify. Then a few results here and there, and suddenly I’m in the race. Now it would be really disappointing not to play there. I have a good chance now.”
Budkov Kjaer started the year ranked 518 in the world, but his scintillating Challenger form helped him rise nearly 400 places to career-high No. 136 on October 13. His improved ranking allowed him to claim a Next Gen Accelerator spot in the main draw of the BNP Paribas Nordic Open in Stockholm last week, and now that he gets another chance at the main draw this week in Vienna, he is ready to try and make his mark.
“I just try to take every opportunity I get,” Budkov Kjaer said. “It’s been a great year, but I just try to take it one game at a time and one point at a time. I try not to think about how much I’ve won or how little I’ve won. I just try to take every opportunity I get. I can’t control what’s happened or what’s going to happen. I just try to be in the moment.”
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