Janko Tipsarević
Јанко Типсаревић

Janko Tipsarević at the 2011 Australian Open
Country	Serbia
Residence	Belgrade, Serbia
Born	(1984-06-22) 22 June 1984 (age 28) Belgrade, Serbia
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	83 kg (180 lb)
Turned pro	2002
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Career prize money	$5,246,190
Singles
Career record	216–175 (55.24%)
Career titles	2
Highest ranking	No. 8 (2 April 2012)
Current ranking	No. 8 (28 May 2012)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	3R (2008, 2012)
French Open	3R (2007, 2009, 2011, 2012)
Wimbledon	4R (2007, 2008)
US Open	QF (2011)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals	RR (2011)
Olympic Games	2R (2008)
Doubles
Career record	58–69 (45.67%)
Career titles	1
Highest ranking	No. 46 (25 April 2011)
Current ranking	No. 50 (28 May 2012)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	3R (2011)
French Open	QF (2008)
Wimbledon	3R (2010)
US Open	3R (2009)
Last updated on: 18:47, 31 May 2012 (UTC).

Janko Tipsarević (Serbian Cyrillic: Јанко Типсаревић, Serbian pronunciation: [jâːŋkɔ tipsǎːrɛʋit͡ɕ]) (born 22 June 1984) is a Serbian tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is World No. 8, achieved on 2 April 2012. He is the 117th player in history to crack the top 10.

In his career, he has won two ATP tour championships, two Futures and nine tournaments in the ATP Challenger Series. Tipsarevic has also won the 2001 Australian Open Junior title.

Tipsarević has achieved two victories over a World No. 1 player, having defeated compatriot Novak Djokovic twice. He also has twelwe (12) victories against other players from the top 10, consisting of four wins against Tomáš Berdych, two against Andy Roddick, and one against Fernando González, Mikhail Youzhny, David Ferrer, James Blake, Gaël Monfils, and Andy Murray. He also has wins against former World No. 1 players, Carlos Moyá, Marat Safin, Lleyton Hewitt, and Juan Carlos Ferrero. Arguably his most notable matches to date are his third-round match at the 2008 Australian Open, where he lost to Roger Federer 7–6, 6–7, 7–5, 1–6, 8–10, & reaching the quarter-finals at the 2011 US Open, losing to eventual champion Novak Djokovic in four sets. He has also defeated former top-ten players Andy Roddick and Fernando González at Grand Slam level.

Tennis career[link]

Tipsarević began playing at age six, at age eight, started playing at the New Belgrade Tennis Club with Russian coach Roman Savochkin.

As a Junior, he won the 2001 Australian Open title in boys' singles; reached the quarterfinals at the French Open; and finished No. 2 in the world Junior rankings in 2001. The same year, he made his debut for the Yugoslav Davis Cup team, winning three points against Poland. The following week, he won his first career Futures title in Belgrade. In 2002, he won his second Futures title in Mexico.

After winning his first ATP Challenger Series tournament in Germany, he made his ATP debut in Indianapolis in 2003. After beating fellow Serb Nenad Zimonjić in the first round, he lost in the second round to Yevgeny Kafelnikov in straight sets. He also made his Grand Slam debut in the U.S. Open as a qualifier. He lost to No. 20 seed, Mark Philippoussis in the first round. In 2004, as a qualifier, he made his first appearances at the French Open and Wimbledon, losing in the first round of each. Later that year, he won two Challenger titles in singles and one in doubles.

2005–2006[link]

Tipsarević played in 15 ATP tournaments in 2005 and broke into the top 100 for the first time. He also reached the second rounds of the Australian Open and French Open. He lost to Dominik Hrbatý in the Australian Open, but was able to beat him at Roland Garros. He also reached the third round of Wimbledon, beating Tommy Haas and Yen-Hsun Lu, but then lost to Thomas Johansson. In doubles, he partnered with Jiří Vaněk to win the Napoli Challenger title. He also reached the quarterfinals with fellow Serb Novak Djokovic in the Croatia Open Umag and the Vietnam Open with Marcos Baghdatis.

He finished 2006 as the No. 2 Serbian tennis player after Novak Djokovic, and in the top 100 for the first time at No. 65. He won four Challenger titles, compiling a 31–8 record at that level. On the ATP Tour, he reached the quarterfinals of the Nottingham Open, losing to Robin Söderling from Sweden.

2007–2008[link]

After he won Zagreb Challenger title in May 2007, Tipsarević played full-time on the ATP Tour. He reached the third round of the French Open and the quarterfinals of the Ordina Open. He has also achieved his best Grand Slam performance so far by reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon. He won all of his first three matches in five sets, and this marked the first time since 1974 that someone had won three straight five-set matches at Wimbledon.^[4] The win saw him rise to World No. 48, his first time inside the top 50.

Tipsarević pushed Roger Federer in the third round of the 2008 Australian Open, losing 7–6, 6–7, 7–5, 1–6, 8–10. At that time, Federer had never played a fifth set with 18 games. The match took four and a half hours to complete. His effort in making the third round of the 2008 Australian Open made Tipsarevic's ranking rise from No. 49 to a career-high of No. 42.

At the 2008 Wimbledon Championships, Tipsarević pulled off a second-round upset of sixth-seeded American Andy Roddick in four sets 6–7, 7–5, 6–4, 7–6. It was his fourth top-10 win. He followed that up with a 7–6, 7–6, 6–3 win over 25th seed Dmitry Tursunov to make his second straight round of 16 appearance at Wimbledon. He then lost his fourth round match to Rainer Schüttler because of a leg injury.

2009–2010[link]

In October 2009, at the Kremlin Cup tournament in Moscow, he advanced to his first-ever ATP final, beating Daniel Köllerer, Christophe Rochus, Robby Ginepri (beating him for the first time in three meetings), and qualifier Illya Marchenko en route. He lost to Mikhail Youzhny in the final 7–6, 0–6, 4–6.

Despite his disappointing loss in his first final, he came out firing in the very next week, as he reached his second consecutive semifinal (for the first time) at the 2009 Bank Austria-TennisTrophy, beating eighth seed John Isner 7–6, 6–4, Michael Berrer 7–6, 6–1 and third seed Gaël Monfils 6–4, 6–7, 6–3, en route. He lost to Jürgen Melzer in the semifinal, after being a set up and two points away from victory 6–4, 6–7, 4–6.

Tipsarević during his Davis Cup match against the Czech Republic

In 2010, he started off the season well by reaching the semifinals at the 2010 Chennai Open, but lost to eventual champion Marin Čilić). He reached the second round of the 2010 Australian Open, losing to Tommy Haas in five sets 6–4, 4–6, 3–6, 6–1, 3–6. He lost in the opening rounds at the 2010 PBZ Zagreb Indoors and the 2010 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam. At the 2010 Dubai Tennis Championships, he beat Andreas Seppi 7–6, 7–5, in the opening round, and then stunned No. 3 seed Andy Murray 7–6, 4–6, 6–4, for the best win of his career so far. He has now beaten Murray three times (now tied 3–3 in head-to-head meetings). Having little time to rest following the big win, he lost to No. 7 seed Mikhail Youzhny 3–6, 4–6, in the quarterfinals.

Tipsarević competes in the Men's Doubles of the 2011 Australian Open

In June, he reached his second ATP Tour-level final at the 2010 UNICEF Open. He beat Jérémy Chardy, Arnaud Clément, Peter Luczak, and defending champion Benjamin Becker en route, only to lose to in-form Sergiy Stakhovsky 3–6, 0–6.

At the US Open, Tipsarević defeated Olivier Rochus in the first round, and then scored a big upset by beating former champion and ninth seed Andy Roddick in the second round 3–6, 7–5, 6–3, 7–6. Advancing to the third round of the US Open for the first time, he played Gaël Monfils in a three-hour four-setter. He lost the match 6–7, 7–6, 2–6, 4–6.

After the US Open, Tipsarević scored key wins over Tomáš Berdych and Radek Štěpánek in the Davis Cup for Serbia, filling in for an ill Novak Djokovic. In Basel, Tipsarević lost to World No. 2. Roger Federer 3–6, 4–6.

2011[link]

Tipsarević again started the season well in Chennai, reaching the semifinals, but losing to Xavier Malisse in three sets. At the 2011 Australian Open, Tipsarevic reached the second round and lost in five sets to Fernando Verdasco, despite twice serving for the match and holding match points in the fourth set 6–2, 6–4, 4–6, 6–7, 0–6.

Tipsarević played in Memphis, where he defeated qualifier Ryan Sweeting in the first round 6–0, 7–6, but lost to eventual champion Andy Roddick in the quarterfinals 1–6, 6–7.

His next tournament was in Delray Beach, where he defeated Ivo Karlovic in the first round and qualifier Blaz Kavcic in the second round to set up a quarterfinal match against in-form Ivan Dodig. Tipsarevic won the match 7–6, 6–1, and continued his winning form by defeating Japanese No. 1 Kei Nishikori 6–4, 6–4 (a scoreline replicating their previous encounter in Chennai), to ensure his place in the final. This was his third ATP final appearance overall, but he lost to Juan Martin del Potro in straight sets, despite holding a 4–1 lead in the first set. He then reached the second round of the Indian Wells Masters, defeating Tobias Kamke in straight sets, but losing to Sam Querrey in the second round. Tipsarević then played the Miami Masters, reaching the fourth round on a run where he defeated Robin Haase, Marin Cilic, and Philipp Petzschner, before losing to Gilles Simon 6–4, 6–7, 2–6.

At the Monte-Carlo Masters, Tipsaerević was defeated in the first round by Feliciano Lopez 6–4, 3–6, 6–7. He bounced back at his home event, the Serbia Open, reaching the semifinals. He defeated Kei Nishikori, Mischa Zverev, and Somdev Devvarman, before he withdrew in his match with compatriot Novak Djokovic. At Roland Garros, he reached the third round, defeating Brian Dabul and Pere Riba in straight sets, before losing to Roger Federer 1–6, 4–6, 3–6. His next event was the Queen's Club Championships, where he reached the round of 16, defeating Blaz Kavcic and Michael Russell, before losing to Andy Murray 4–6, 6–7.

At the Eastbourne International, Tipsarević reached the final. He defeated James Ward, Mikhail Kukushkin, Grigor Dimitrov, and Kei Nishikori, before losing to Andreas Seppi 6–7, 6–3, 3–5, retiring hurt. At Wimbledon, still troubled by injury, Tipsarević made a hasty exit to Ivo Karlovic in the first round 5–7, 1–3, retiring hurt.

At the German Open Tennis Championships, after receiving a bye in the first round, he was defeated 2–6, 4–6, by Juan Monaco.

His form improved at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic, where he reached the quarterfinals, defeating Michael Berrer and Grigor Dimitrov, but lost to eventual finalist Gael Monfils 4–6, 4–6.

At the Rogers Cup, Tipsarević had an impressive run, defeating Alejandro Falla, Fernando Verdasco, Ivan Dodig, and Tomáš Berdych to reach his first Masters series semifinal, where he lost 3–6, 4–6 to Mardy Fish. Subsequently, Tipsarević entered the top 20 for the first time. At the 2011 Western & Southern Open, Tipsarević narrowly defeated World No. 113 Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6–0, 3–6, 7–6 before losing to 12th-ranked and Hamburg champion Gilles Simon 7–6, 2–6, 3–6.

At the US Open, Tipsarević reached his first Grand Slam quarter-final, after defeating Augustin Gensse, Philipp Petzschner, Tomáš Berdych and Juan-Carlos Ferrero, but lost to Novak Djokovic in the last eight, retiring in the fourth set due to a thigh injury. His ranking subsequently rose to No. 13.

In the Davis Cup semifinal showdown between Serbia and Argentina, Tipsarević was defeated 5–7, 3–6, 4–6 by an impressive Juan Martin del Potro during the second singles rubber of the tie. Defending champions Serbia, eventually lost the tie 2–3 against Argentina.

At the 2011 Proton Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur, he was named the 3rd seed. He defeated Flavio Cipolla 6–2, 6–4 in the opening round. In the quarterfinals, he played just four games as Nikolay Davydenko retired as Tipsarević lead 3–1. In the semifinals, he improved his unbeaten head-to-head record to 5–0 against Kei Nishikori as he dispatched him 6–4, 6–3. In the final, he managed to win his first ATP title in five attempts, defeating Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis 6–4, 7–5.

He then suffered first round exits at the 2011 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships to Dmitry Tursunov 6–7, 7–6, 5–7 and at the 2011 Shanghai Rolex Masters to Feliciano Lopez 6–7, 6–7.

He rebounded at the 2011 Kremlin Cup in Moscow, winning the title as the top seed of the tournament. He defeated Igor Kunitsyn 6–7, 6–1, 6–0, avenged his loss against Dmitry Tursunov 6–4, 6–2 and downed home-favourite Nikolay Davydenko 6–2, 7–5 while saving 3 consecutive set points on his serve at *0–40 during *4–5 in the 2nd set, to reach his 6th final of his career. In the first all-Serbian final in tennis history, Tipsarević defeated his good friend, compatriot and defending champion Viktor Troicki 6–4, 6–2 to win his 2nd career title.

In the following week, he reached the 2011 St. Petersburg Open final, losing to Croatian Marin Čilić in three sets 6–3, 3–6, 6–2. Thanks to his regularity and despite the loss, he became the 1st player in the world, to reach both Kremlin Cup and St. Petersburg finals consecutively in the same year.

At the 2011 Swiss Indoors in Basel, he retired in his opening round match against Florian Mayer while trailing 1–5 due to a hamstring injury.

At the 2011 BNP Paribas Masters, he defeated Alex Bogomolov, Jr. 6–1, 6–0 in his opening second round match. In the third round, he wasted a 5–1 lead in the first set and a 4–2 lead in the second set to disappointingly lose against Tomas Berdych for the first time in five meetings 5–7, 4–6. Despite this, Tipsarević finished his career-best season with a career-high ranking of No. 9.

On 22 November, Andy Murray announced his retirement from the ATP World Tour Finals. Because Tipsarević was first in line for the replacement regime at the year-end championships, as a result of being ranked No. 9, Murray's retirement allowed the way for Tipsarević to step in and make his debut at the year-end championships. Placed in Group A and at the round-robin stage, Tipsarević was drawn against Tomas Berdych and had a chance to avenge his recent loss in Paris against him. Janko almost defeated him by reaching match point. But on his serve at *6–5 in the 3rd set tiebreak, he missed a backhand volley by the smallest of margins and ended up losing to Berdych in a heartbreaker 6–2, 3–6, 6–7(6) after a string of bad luck which included double-faulting for the first time at *6–6 in the tiebreak, as well as tripping over after his backhand return at 6–7* on Berdych's serve on his match point. Undeterred by the painful loss, he capped off his career-best season in style as he notched arguably the best win of his career in his next match by defeating his good friend and compatriot Novak Djokovic 3–6, 6–3, 6–3 for his first win over a World No.1 player, as well as his first win in the Year-end Championships. Despite the victory, Janko will still finish his strong year on his career-high ranking of No. 9, just behind World No. 8 Mardy Fish.

2012[link]

Janko Tipsarevic began 2012 at the ATP Aircel Chennai Open losing in the final against Milos Raonic 7–6, 6–7, 6–7. At the 2012 Australian open Janko Tipsarevic was seeded 9th. He defeated Dmitry Tursunov in the first round, continuing in the same fashion against James Duckworth in the second round. Though eventually losing to 17th seed Richard Gasquet in the third round 3–6, 3–6, 1–6. He reached the quarterfinals of the Miami Masters losing to runner-up Andy Murray, he was then moved up to World No. 8 surpassing Mardy Fish.

He then represented Serbia in the Davis Cup quarterfinal clash with the Czech Republic, which was played on clay in the Czech's hometown. Tipsarevic managed to beat Stepanek in his opening singles rubber 5–7, 6–4, 6–4, 4–6, 9–7 while saving 3 match points, but fell in the fourth rubber to Berdych 6–7, 6–7, 6–7 after squandering set points in all three sets, to lose the overall tie 1-3.

At the first ATP Master Series 1000 clay event of 2012 in Monte Carlo, he defeated Albert Montanes before losing to Gilles Simon in three sets in the third round.

At the Madrid Open, he defeated Federico Delbonis 7–6, 6–7, 6–3 in the first round before avenging his loss to Gilles Simon by beating him 7–6, 5–7, 6–1 for the first time in five meetings. In the quarterfinals, he upset World No. 1 Novak Djokovic 7–6, 6–3 to reach his second semifinal in a masters event, and his first on clay. In the semifinals however, he lost to World No.3 Roger Federer 2–6, 3–6.

Davis Cup[link]

Tipsarević has played Davis Cup every year since 2000. For FR Yugoslavia in 2001 and 2002, Serbia and Montenegro between 2003 and 2006 and currently represents Serbia in Serbia Davis Cup team (2007). In 2010, he was the hero in steering the Serbian team into their first historic Davis Cup final after prevailing over Radek Štěpánek 6–0, 7–6, 6–4 to complete the 1–2 come from behind victory to help clinch the tie 3–2 over the Czech Republic. His record is 20–7 in singles and 5–1 in doubles.

Personal life[link]

Tipsarević was born in Belgrade, Serbia (then SFR Yugoslavia). His father, Pavle (Павле), is a professor, and his mother, Vesna (Весна), is a homemaker. He also has a younger brother, Veljko (Вељко). He finished high school and in 2006 completed his degree in Sports Management at the University of Belgrade. Commentators and the press often mention his love of classic literature as something unusual for a high-level athlete. He has a quotation, tattooed in Japanese, from Dostoyevsky ("Beauty will save the world", from The Idiot) on his left arm. He also has a Japanese tattoo on his right arm, which represents the first two letters of the names of his father, his mother, his brother, and himself in katakana. According to US Open announcers Ted Robinson and John McEnroe, he also has a tattoo of a quote from Arthur Schopenhauer on his back. He has been in a relationship with Biljana Šešević (Биљана Шешевић) since 2007, and they married on July 4, 2010. In his free time he plays music as a DJ.

ATP Career Finals[link]

Singles: 8 (2–6)[link]

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	1.	25 October 2009	Moscow, Russia	Hard (i)	Mikhail Youzhny	7–6(7–5), 0–6, 4–6
Runner-up	2.	19 June 2010	's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands	Grass	Sergiy Stakhovsky	3–6, 0–6
Runner-up	3.	27 February 2011	Delray Beach, United States	Hard	Juan Martín del Potro	4–6, 4–6
Runner-up	4.	18 June 2011	Eastbourne, United Kingdom	Grass	Andreas Seppi	6–7(5–7), 6–3, 3–5 ret.
Winner	1.	2 October 2011	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Hard (i)	Marcos Baghdatis	6–4, 7–5
Winner	2.	23 October 2011	Moscow, Russia	Hard (i)	Viktor Troicki	6–4, 6–2
Runner-up	5.	30 October 2011	Saint Petersburg, Russia	Hard (i)	Marin Čilić	3–6, 6–3, 2–6
Runner-up	6.	8 January 2012	Chennai, India	Hard	Milos Raonic	7–6(7–4), 6–7(4–7), 6–7(4–7)

Doubles: 4 (1–3)[link]

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Runner-up	1.	January 10, 2010	Chennai, India	Hard	Lu Yen-Hsun	Marcel Granollers Santiago Ventura	5–7, 2–6
Runner-up	2.	October 24, 2010	Moscow, Russia	Hard	Viktor Troicki	Igor Kunitsyn Dmitry Tursunov	6–7(6–8), 3–6
Winner	1.	January 8, 2012	Chennai, India	Hard	Leander Paes	Jonathan Erlich Andy Ram	6–4, 6–4
Runner-up	3.	May 20, 2012	Rome, Italy	Clay	Łukasz Kubot	Marcel Granollers Marc López	3–6, 2–6

Team competition finals: 3 (3–0)[link]

Outcome	No.	Date	Team competition	Surface	Partner/Team	Opponents	Score
Winner	1.	May 23, 2009	World Team Cup, Düsseldorf, Germany	Clay	Viktor Troicki Nenad Zimonjić	Rainer Schüttler Philipp Kohlschreiber Nicolas Kiefer Mischa Zverev	2–1
Winner	2.	December 3–5, 2010	Davis Cup, Belgrade, Serbia	Hard (i)	Novak Djokovic Viktor Troicki Nenad Zimonjić	Gaël Monfils Michaël Llodra Arnaud Clément Gilles Simon	3–2
Winner	3.	May 21, 2012	World Team Cup, Düsseldorf, Germany	Clay	Viktor Troicki Nenad Zimonjić Miki Janković	Tomáš Berdych Radek Štěpánek František Čermák	3–0

Singles performance timeline[link]

Key

Won tournament, or reached Final, Semifinal, Quarterfinal, Round 4, 3, 2, 1, played in Round Robin or lost in Qualification Round 3, Round 2, Round 1, Absent from a tournament or Participated in a team event, played in a Davis Cup Zonal Group (with its number indication) or Play-off, won a bronze or silver match at the Olympics. The last is for a Masters Series/1000 tournament that was relegated (Not a Masters Series).

To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only once a tournament or the player's participation in the tournament has concluded. Qualifying matches and Walkovers are neither official match wins nor losses. This table is current through the 2012 Power Horse World Team Cup.

Head–to–Head with top 10 players[link]

Notice:bold is No.1 ranking players

Awards[link]

2002

• Best Male Tennis Player in Yugoslavia

2003

• Best Male Tennis Player in Yugoslavia

2004

• Best Male Tennis Player in Serbia and Montenegro

See also[link]

Tennis portal

• Serbia Davis Cup team
• List of Grand Slam boys' singles champions
• ATP World Tour Finals appearances
• List of male tennis players

References[link]

1. ^ B92 (2008-07-30). "Povređeni "Pipsi" odustao od dubla" (in Serbian). http://www.b92.net/sport/tenis/vesti.php?yyyy=2008&mm=07&dd=30&nav_id=310785. Retrieved 2008-07-31. 
2. ^ Andy Murray v Janko Tipsarevic as it happened
3. ^ Farmers Classic
4. ^ tennisnews.com

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Janko Tipsarević

• Janko Tipsarević at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Janko Tipsarević at the International Tennis Federation
• Janko Tipsarević at the Davis Cup
• His official website
• bio * file interview with Janko Tipsarević
• Tipsarević Recent Match Results
• Tipsarević World Ranking History
• Tipsarević in a summer essentials slideshow for Men's Vogue June 2008 issue

v t e Association of Tennis Professionals: Top ten Serbian male singles tennis players as of May 28, 2012 Novak Djokovic (1 ) Janko Tipsarević (8 ) Viktor Troicki (28 3) Dušan Lajović (194 1) Nikola Ćirić (200 ) Ilija Bozoljac (302 4) Miljan Zekić (365 4) Nikola Čačić (366 4) Boris Pašanski (369 5) Ivan Bjelica (391 4)

v t e Association of Tennis Professionals: Top ten Serbian male doubles tennis players as of May 28, 2012 Nenad Zimonjić (6 ) Janko Tipsarević (50 1) Viktor Troicki (88 ) Nikola Čačić (257 5) Nikola Ćirić (366 1) Dušan Lajović (471 4) Novak Djokovic (546 9) Miljan Zekić (556 7) Ivan Bjelica (560 8) Ilija Bozoljac (879 6)

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (January 2011)

Alexandr Dolgopolov
Олександр Долгополов

Country	Ukraine
Residence	Kiev, Ukraine
Born	(1988-11-07) 7 November 1988 (age 23) Kiev, Ukraine
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Weight	73 kg (160 lb)
Turned pro	2006
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Career prize money	$1,957,452
Singles
Career record	67–62
Career titles	1
Highest ranking	No. 13 (January 16, 2012)
Current ranking	No. 18 (May 14, 2012)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	QF (2011)
French Open	3R (2010, 2011)
Wimbledon	2R (2010)
US Open	4R (2011)
Doubles
Career record	15–26
Career titles	1
Highest ranking	No. 42 (9 January 2012)
Last updated on: 25 April 2011.

Alexandr Dolgopolov (Ukrainian: Олександр Олександрович Долгополов) (born 7 November 1988), formerly known as Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr., is the top-ranked Ukrainian male tennis player. He changed his first name spelling to the current form in May 2010.^[2]

Early life[link]

Alexandr's father, Oleksandr Dolgopolov, was a professional tennis player for the Soviet team, and his mother was a gymnast. He started playing tennis at age 3, coached by his father. The senior Dolgopolov was also the coach of Andrei Medvedev, Ukraine's most successful tennis player to date. At a young age, Dolgopolov lived on the tour with his parents, traveling frequently and playing players such as Medvedev, Andre Agassi, and Boris Becker.^[3] Players such as Jim Courier remembered hitting balls with Dolgopolov when he was a toddler.

Tennis career[link]

Dolgopolov made his ATP Tour debut in September 2006 at the BCR Open Romania as a qualifier, losing in the first round to Christophe Rochus. He was also part of the Ukrainian Davis Cup team in the tie against Great Britain, where he was defeated by Andy Murray.

Eventually, the younger Dolgopolov decided that he wanted less of his father's influence and develop himself in his own way. In 2009, at age 20, he parted ways with his father and enlisted the help of Australian Jack Reader as his coach.^[3] Dolgopolov and his father didn't speak for 6 months but has since reconciled with the Dolgopolov Snr stating that he is in fact, very proud of his son.^[3]

2010[link]

Dolgopolov started the year at the 2010 Brisbane International, where he qualified for the tournament by beating Joseph Sirianni and Kaden Hensel. In the main draw, he defeated Bernard Tomic 6–4, 6–4, before losing in the second round to Radek Stepanek in three sets. At the 2010 Australian Open, he lost in the first round of qualifying to Simon Stadler, 8–6 in the third set.

Dolgopolov qualified for the 2010 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters with wins over Santiago Ventura and Mischa Zverev, but lost to Julien Benneteau in the first round 4–6, 7–5, 2–6. Dolgopolov continued to the 2010 Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open, where he qualified to get into the tournament. In the first round, he beat Andreas Seppi 6–3, 6–4, but in the second round lost to eventual champion Rafael Nadal 4–6, 3–6. At the 2010 French Open, he beat Arnaud Clément in a long five-setter, which he won 6–3 in the final set. Dolgopolov upset 12th seed Fernando González in straight sets. This was the biggest win in his career and best showing at a Grand Slam to that time. In the third round, he lost to Nicolás Almagro 3–6, 3–6, 4–6.

Dolgopolov started off his grass-court season seeded seventh at the AEGON International, with wins over Jamie Baker, Lu Yen-hsun, and James Ward, before falling to Michaël Llodra 3–6, 5–7, in the semifinals, despite being 4–1 up in the second set. Dolgopolov defeated Marco Chiudinelli 6–4, 6–3, 6–3, in the first round of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships. He put on a solid performance against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the second round, but ultimately succumbed to the Frenchman in five sets 4–6, 4–6, 7–6, 7–5, 8–10.

2011[link]

Dolgopolov began 2011 at the Medibank International in Sydney, Australia, where he won the first two rounds over Bernard Tomic and top-seeded Sam Querrey, and later lost to the eventual champion, Gilles Simon, in the quarterfinals.

At the 2011 Australian Open, Dolgopolov had his best showing at a Grand Slam thus far, reaching the quarterfinals. He beat Mikhail Kukushkin and Benjamin Becker in the first two rounds, then avenged his defeat to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at The Championships, Wimbledon in 2010, in five sets 3–6, 6–3, 3–6, 6–1, 6–1. He went on to beat world no. 4 Robin Söderling in the fourth round 1–6, 6–3, 6–1, 4–6, 6–2, reaching his first Grand Slam quarterfinal.^[4] In the quarterfinals, he lost to Andy Murray, the fifth seed 5–7, 3–6, 7–6, 3–6.

Dolgopolov next hit the clay courts of Latin America. He entered the 2011 Brasil Open in Costa do Sauípe as the fourth seed, receiving a first-round bye. He defeated Rubén Ramírez Hidalgo 7–5, 6–4, in the second round. He then beat Potito Starace in the quarterfinals 6–3, 6–4. Dolgopolov then crushed home-town favourite Ricardo Mello 6–2, 6–1, to enter his first ATP tour final.^[5] He was then defeated by the top seed, world no. 13 Nicolás Almagro 3–6, 6–7. Dolgopolov then headed to Buenos Aires to play in the 2011 Copa Claro as the seventh seed. He suffered a surprising first-round defeat to Argentinian wildcard José Acasuso in straight sets 2–6, 4–6. However, partnering Igor Andreev, Dolgopolov reached his first ATP tour doubles semifinal, where they lost 2–6, 1–6 to eventual champions Oliver Marach and Leonardo Mayer. Dolgopolov then participated in the final leg of the Golden Triangle swing in the 2011 Abierto Mexicano Telcel tournament in Acapulco, as the sixth seed. He defeated Chilean Paul Capdeville 7–5, 6–2, in the first round, and then beat doubles partner Carlos Berlocq 6–4, 6–1, in the second round. He then reached the semifinals after beating fourth seed Stanislas Wawrinka 6–4, 7–6. He stretched the top seed and world no. 6 David Ferrer to three sets, but lost 7–5, 1–6, 1–6.

Dolgopolov then played in the first Masters 1000 series of the year in the 2011 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, his debut in the tournament. As the 20th seed, he received a first-round bye, and then beat Romanian Victor Hanescu, 6–4, 6–4, to reach the third round, where he faced Grand Slam champion Juan Martin Del Potro. He lost the match 6–7, 3–6. Dolgopolov was also entered in the doubles tournament. Partnering Xavier Malisse, they defeated Tomas Berdych and Janko Tipsarevic 4–6, 6–4, [10–8]. They then shocked top seeds and world no. 1 Mike Bryan and Bob Bryan 7–5, 7–6, [10–8]. They played Jamie Murray and Andy Murray next and defeated the British brothers 6–7, 6–3, [10–8], after being a set down, a break down, and 1–6 down in the super tiebreak. Dolgopolov and Malisse then beat Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi Charmin in the semifinals 3–6, 6–3, [10–8] to enter Dolgopolov's first ATP tour doubles final. They played 2008 Beijing gold medalists Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka, and they prevailed 6–4, 6–7, [10–7].

Dolgopolov continued his form at the next Masters event, the 2011 Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, reaching the fourth round with wins against Italian Andreas Seppi 6–1, 5–3, retired, and repeating his Australian Open win over Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6–7, 6–4, 7–5, played over two days due to rain delay. He then lost to world no. 1 Rafael Nadal in straight sets 1–6, 2–6.

Dolgopolov then suffered a disappointing start to the clay season, suffering four consecutive first-round defeats. He was defeated in the first round of the 2011 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters by Ernests Gulbis 1–6, 4–6. He then lost to Nikolay Davydenko in the 2011 Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell 4–6, 6–7. He was then beaten by Santiago Giraldo in the 2011 Mutua Madrid Open 1–6. 5–7. His fourth consecutive clay-court loss was at the hands of Potito Starace at the 2011 Internazionali BNL d'Italia, where he was defeated 3–6, 3–6. It was later disclosed that he was suffering from pancreatitis since the North American swing, which led him to play sparingly during the early clay season.^[6]

Dolgopolov managed to regain some of his earlier form in his last clay tournament, 2011 Open de Nice Côte d'Azur, before the 2011 French Open. He beat Filippo Volandri in the first round 7–5, 6–3, and followed by a win over Pere Riba 7–6, 7–6, to reach the quarterfinals. There, Dolgopolov pulled off an upset win over top seed David Ferrer 6–4, 1–6, 7–5. He then lost to Victor Hanescu in straight sets in the semifinals.

Dolgopolov entered the 2011 French Open as the 21st seed. In his first-round match, he played the oldest player in the ATP top 100, Rainer Schuettler at age 35, and won the match easily 6–3, 6–3, 6–1. He then beat Andreas Haider-Maurer comfortably 6–2, 6–4, 6–2, to move into the third round and equal his best showing at the French Open the previous year. He was beaten by Serbian 15th seed Viktor Troicki in four sets 4–6, 6–3, 3–6, 4–6.

Moving to the grass courts of Europe, Dolgopolov's first tournament was the 2011 Gerry Weber Open, seeded seventh, he faced Robin Haase in the first round and defeated him in three sets 6–7, 6–4, 6–4, before succumbing to Philipp Kohlschreiber in two sets 3–6, 6–7. Dolgopolov's next tournament was the 2011 AEGON International, where he was seeded second. He lost to Carlos Berlocq in straight sets 5–7, 2–6. His dismal grass-court season continued into Wimbledon 2011, where he was seeded 22nd, with a first-round loss to Fernando Gonzalez (who had not played in almost a year prior to a few small tournaments before Wimbledon) 3–6, 6–7, 7–6, 4–6.

Before heading into the US Open series of hard-court tournaments, Dolgopolov returned to his beloved clay to play 2011 International German Open in Hamburg. Seeded tenth, he received a first-round bye, and then lost to Finnish player Jarkko Nieminen 3–6, 6–1, 4–6, despite being up two breaks in the third set. Dolgopolov then travelled to Croatia, where he took part in the 2011 ATP Studena Croatia Open, where he was seeded second. Receiving a first-round bye, he beat Filippo Volandri 6–1, 6–2, in the second round, finally winning an opening-round match after suffering four consecutive opening-round exits. In the quarterfinals, he beat Albert Ramos 6–3, 7–5, to set up a semifinal meeting with defending champion and former world no. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero. There, Dolgopolov pulled off an impressive display to defeat the Grand Slam champion in straight sets 6–4, 6–4. Entering his second final of the year, Dolgopolov played Croatian home-town favourite, former top-10 player and fourth seed Marin Čilić. Faced with a determined opponent, Dolgopolov needed three sets to beat Čilić 6–4, 3–6, 6–3, and finally broke through on the ATP tour, winning his first ATP singles title.

Dolgopolov entered the 2011 Rogers Cup unseeded, missing out on a seeding as world no. 21 (only the top 16 were seeded). He played Canadian wildcard and world no. 290 Erik Chvojka and was stretched to three sets, eventually prevailing 6–4, 5–7, 6–4. He was defeated by seventh seed Tomáš Berdych in the second round.

On April 18, 2011, Dolgopolov reached a career-high ranking of no. 20.^[7] He is currently ranked #21 in the world.^[8]

Seeded 22nd for the 2011 US Open, Dolgopolov defeated Frederico Gil, Flavio Cipolla, and Ivo Karlovic to reach the fourth round, where he faced world no. 1 Novak Djokovic. Dolgopolov took Djokovic to a 28 and a half minute first-set tiebreak, with Djokovic finally prevailing 16–14. Dolgopolov went on to a 6–7, 4–6, 2–6 defeat, ending his US Open campaign.

2012[link]

Seeded 4th for the 2012 Brisbane International Tennis Tournament, Dolgopolov defeated Alejandro Falla, Igor Andreev, Radek Stepanek, and Gilles Simon to make it to the final, where he lost to Andy Murray 6–1, 6–3. This loss was attributed to fatigue over a previous groin injury in the semi-final victory over Simon.

Davis Cup[link]

Alex has played two games for his country so far: in 2006 he lost to Andy Murray 3–6, 4–6, 2–6, in Odessa in a match against Great Britain. In 2007, he lost to Alexandros Jakupovic from Greece 6–7, 3–6, 5–7. At the moment, he is struggling with the Ukrainian tennis federation to get significant bonuses to play in the Davis Cup.^[9][10] On March 13, 2011 Dolgopolov stated he wants to represent Ukraine as a player, but only after the leadership of the Tennis Federation of Ukraine changes.^[11] Dolgopolov has hinted in late January 2011 that he might change his citizenship.^[12] According to him "Tennis is not a political sport as such as football. In tennis you choose what is best for you, where there are more prospects".^[12] At the time, Dolgopolov stated this would mean "of course" he would switch to another Davis Cup team.^[12] The President of the Tennis Federation of Ukraine Vadym Shulman stated in late February 2011 that he thought Dolgopolov was bluffing and blackmailing his federation.^[13]

Playing style[link]

Dolgopolov has an unorthodox but all-court playing style; he can counter-punch when needed, but can also be very aggressive. His serve has a very quick cadence to it, the motion having little to no pauses within it. This allows him to generate fast first serves and great second serves, which catches most of his opponent off guard, making it one of the most notable serves on tour. His service motion is smiliar to groundstrokes, in terms of timing. Having great muscle twitch fibres, Dolgopolov is able to quickly and 'suddenly' hit the ball at the last moment. This makes him one of the most deceptive players on tour, as it is hard to anticipate where he is going to hit it. On service return he will often chip back the first serve. He uses a unique jumping topspin forehand, which can be used to pull his opponents wide off the court. His backhand is usually hit two-handed with topspin but he often uses a one-handed slice. He's not afraid to come to the net to finish off points, and he volleys quite well. With his speed he is very efficient around the court. Some have compared his style to Federer's and the Ukrainian's unusual style of varied pace and spins had been most likened to that of Andy Murray among the leading players.^[14] He's also been compared to French showman Fabrice Santoro for his unique use of shots and strokes.^[6]

Health issues[link]

Dolgopolov suffers from a hereditary disorder known as Gilbert's Syndrome, which affects his liver, blood and often causes fatigue.^[6] His condition worsens when he has to cross continents in extensive travel, requiring intravenous drug treatments and monitored diets to get himself back on track.^[15]

ATP Career Finals[link]

Singles: 3 (1–2)[link]

Outcome	No	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	1.	02011-02-12February 12, 2011	Costa do Sauípe, Brazil	Clay	Nicolás Almagro	3–6, 6–7(3–7)
Winner	1.	02011-07-31July 31, 2011	Umag, Croatia	Clay	Marin Čilić	6–4, 3–6, 6–3
Runner-up	2.	02012-01-08January 8, 2012	Brisbane, Australia	Hard	Andy Murray	1–6, 3–6

Doubles: 1 (1–0)[link]

Outcome	No	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponent	Score
Winner	1.	02011-03-19March 19, 2011	Indian Wells, United States	Hard	Xavier Malisse	Roger Federer Stanislas Wawrinka	6–4, 6–7(5–7), [10–7]

Singles performance timeline[link]

Key

Won tournament, or reached Final, Semifinal, Quarterfinal, Round 4, 3, 2, 1, played in Round Robin or lost in Qualification Round 3, Round 2, Round 1, Absent from a tournament or Participated in a team event, played in a Davis Cup Zonal Group (with its number indication) or Play-off, won a bronze or silver match at the Olympics. The last is for a Masters Series/1000 tournament that was relegated (Not a Masters Series).

Current till 2012 French Open.

References[link]

Notes

External links[link]

• Alexsandr Dolgopolov profile
• Alexandr Dolgopolov pictures gallery
• ITF Player Bio
• Alexandr Dolgopolov at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Alexandr Dolgopolov at the Davis Cup
• Ukrainian Tennis Portal profile