Alexander Volkov (tennis)

Alexander Volkov
Алекса́ндр Во́лков

Country (sports)	Soviet Union  Russia
Born	(1967-03-03)3 March 1967 Kaliningrad, Soviet Union
Died	19 October 2019(2019-10-19) (aged 52) Kaliningrad, Russia
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Turned pro	1988
Retired	1998
Plays	Left-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	$3,362,786
Singles
Career record	304–256
Career titles	3
Highest ranking	No. 14 (23 August 1993)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	4R (1994)
French Open	3R (1990, 1992)
Wimbledon	4R (1987, 1990, 1991, 1994)
US Open	SF (1993)
Doubles
Career record	34–57
Career titles	0
Highest ranking	No. 136 (9 October 1989)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Wimbledon	2R (1988)
US Open	1R (1989)
Team competitions
Davis Cup	F (1994, 1995)

Alexander Vladimirovich Volkov (Russian: Алекса́ндр Влади́мирович Во́лков listen (help·info); 3 March 1967 – 19 October 2019^[1]) was a Russian professional tennis player.

Tennis career[]

Volkov turned professional in 1988.

Volkov finished runner-up in three tournaments over 1989 and 1990; in the latter year he defeated World No. 1 Stefan Edberg in straight sets in the first round of the US Open. Volkov won his first top-level professional singles title in 1991 at Milan. At Wimbledon that year, he lost a close match in the fourth round to the eventual tournament champion Michael Stich, 4–6, 6–3, 7–5, 1–6, 7–5 despite winning the same number of games as Stich overall in the match, which hinged on a lucky shot hit by the German when he was trailing 3–5 in the final set. As Volkov served for the match, with the score at 30–15 in his favour, a shot hit by Stich was heading out, but the ball made contact with the inside edge of the top of the net post, sailed over Volkov's head, and landed inside the line, sparing the German from having to face two successive match-points during Volkov's service game, and bringing the scoreline instead to 30–30. Stich went on to take the game; and subsequently Volkov would not win another.^[2]

Volkov was runner-up in three tournaments in 1992 and won his second title in 1993 in Auckland. Later in 1993, Volkov defeated Björn Borg in the first round of the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, in a match which proved to be the last of Borg's career. Volkov won the Kremlin Cup a year later in 1994 to claim his third (and final) career title. He reached one more final in 1997 in Shanghai.

His best Grand Slam singles performance was reaching the semifinals of the 1993 US Open, where he defeated Jonathan Stark, Kevin Ullyett, Amos Mansdorf, Chuck Adams and Thomas Muster before losing to Pete Sampras.

Volkov was part of the Russian team that reached the final of the Davis Cup in 1994. He won singles rubbers over Patrick Rafter of Australia in the first round and Michael Stich of Germany in the semifinals. However, he lost both his singles rubbers in the final as Russia was defeated by Sweden 4–1.

Volkov retired from the professional tour in 1998. His career-high singles ranking was world No. 14 in 1994. His career prize-money earnings totalled $3,362,786.

He was Marat Safin's coach before the duo split in July 2007.

Career singles finals[]

Wins (3–7)[]

Result	W/L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	0–1	Jun 1990	Rosmalen, Netherlands	Grass	Amos Mansdorf	3–6, 6–7
Loss	0–2	Oct 1990	Berlin, Germany	Carpet (i)	Ronald Agénor	6–4, 6–7, 4–6
Win	1–2	Feb 1991	Milan, Italy	Carpet (i)	Cristiano Caratti	6–1, 7–5
Loss	1–3	Jan 1992	Wellington, New Zealand	Hard	Jeff Tarango	1–6, 0–6, 3–6
Loss	1–4	Mar 1992	Rotterdam, Netherlands	Carpet (i)	Boris Becker	6–7, 6–4, 2–6
Loss	1–5	Apr 1992	Johannesburg, South Africa	Hard	Aaron Krickstein	4–6, 4–6
Win	2–5	Jan 1993	Auckland, New Zealand	Hard	MaliVai Washington	7–6, 6–4
Loss	2–6	Jan 1994	Adelaide, Australia	Hard	Yevgeny Kafelnikov	4–6, 3–6
Win	3–6	Nov 1994	Moscow, Russia	Carpet (i)	Chuck Adams	6–2, 6–4
Loss	3–7	Feb 1997	Shanghai, China	Carpet (i)	Ján Krošlák	2–6, 6–7

Singles performance timeline[]

Top 10 wins[]

#	Player	Rank	Event	Surface	Rd	Score	VR
1989
1.	Miloslav Mečíř	8	Davis Cup, Prague, Czechoslovakia	Carpet (i)	RR	6–2, 6–7, 6–0	64
2.	Jakob Hlasek	8	Milan, Italy	Carpet (i)	2R	7–6, 7–5	61
1990
3.	Tim Mayotte	10	Miami, USA	Hard	2R	6–1, 6–4	100
4.	Stefan Edberg	1	US Open, New York, USA	Hard	1R	6–3, 7–6, 6–2	52
5.	Emilio Sánchez	8	Stockholm, Sweden	Carpet (i)	2R	7–5, 6–3	34
1991
6.	Karel Nováček	9	Basel, Switzerland	Hard (i)	QF	6–1, 6–7, 6–3	24
1992
7.	Karel Nováček	10	Milan, Italy	Carpet (i)	1R	7–6, 7–6	25
8.	Ivan Lendl	7	Stuttgart, Germany	Carpet (i)	2R	7–6, 5–7, 6–1	28
9.	Guy Forget	6	Stuttgart, Germany	Carpet (i)	QF	6–4, 6–4	28
10.	Goran Ivanišević	5	US Open, New York, USA	Hard	3R	6–4, 6–0, 6–3	20
11.	Stefan Edberg	3	Tokyo, Japan	Carpet (i)	QF	6–3, 3–6, 7–5	17
1993
12.	Pete Sampras	2	Indian Wells, United States	Hard	3R	7–5, 6–4	22
1994
13.	Michael Chang	8	Indian Wells, United States	Hard	3R	6–4, 1–6, 6–3	18
14.	Michael Stich	2	World Team Cup, Düsseldorf, Germany	Clay	RR	6–4, 7–6	22
15.	Michael Stich	2	Davis Cup, Hamburg, Germany	Hard	RR	7–5, 1–6, 7–6, 6–4	42
16.	Alberto Berasategui	8	Ostrava, Czech Republic	Carpet (i)	1R	7–6, 6–4	44
1995
17.	Sergi Bruguera	4	Stuttgart, Germany	Carpet (i)	1R	6–4, 2–3 ret.	40

References[]

External links[]

• Alexander Volkov at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Alexander Volkov at the International Tennis Federation
• Alexander Volkov at the Davis Cup