Mikhail Youzhny life and biography

Mikhail Youzhny is a professional Russian tennis player, noted for his consistency and all-court play style. He has been coached by Boris Sobkin for 17 years.

CAREER:

Well-known for drawing blood by repeatedly smashing his racquet against his head in a 2008 match, Mikhail Youzhny has shown better use of his frame throughout the rest of his career. The Russian has won five ATP titles, and was ranked as high as No. 8 in the world, in January 2008. Youzhny reached the semifinals of the U.S. Open in 2006, beating Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals before bowing out to Andy Roddick. Youzhny is a frequent participant in the Davis Cup, and helped lead Russia to the 2002 title, coming back from two sets down to defeat Paul-Henri Mathieu in the deciding fifth rubber.

Singles Titles

2010: Kuala Lumpur, Munich
2009: Moscow
2008: Chennai
2007: Rotterdam
2004: St. Petersburg
2002: Stuttgart

Doubles Titles

2010: Halle
2009: London / Queen's Club
2008: Tokyo, Halle
2007: Munich, Doha
2005: Moscow

2011

Youzhny's first tournament in 2011 was the Australian Open where he reached the third round, losing to Canadian qualifier Milos Raonic 4-6, 5-7, 6-4, 4-6.

He made his next appearance at the 2011 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam. Seeded sixth, Youzhny reached the quarterfinals with straight-set wins over Marcel Granollers and Thiemo de Bakker before falling to top seed Robin Söderling 4-6, 6-7(5).

The following week, Youzhny advanced past the quarterfinals in Marseille for the first time in his career at the 2011 Open 13. He defeated Gilles Simon 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the round of 16 and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 in the quarterfinals to reach his first ATP World Tour semifinal of the season. In the semifinals, Marin Čilić saved one matchpoint to beat Youzhny 6-2, 1-6, 7-5.

Youzhny lost to Gilles Simon for the first time in the opening round of the 2011 Dubai Tennis Championships. In doubles, he and Sergiy Stakhovsky went on to defeat Feliciano Lopez and Jeremy Chardy in the final to win their second title as a team and Youzhny's eighth career doubles title.

After skipping Indian Wells due to a back injury, Youzhny made his next appearance at the 2011 Sony Ericsson Open in Miami. He reached the third round, falling to Olivier Rochus 6-1, 3-6, 3-6.

PERSONAL:

Began playing tennis at age six. Father, Mikhail, passed away; mother, Lubov, is an economist
Has one older brother, Andrei, who has played mostly pro Futures events in his career from 1998-2000
Compiled outstanding junior results, reaching final of Australian Open juniors in 1999 (l. to Pless)
Childhood hero was Stefan Edberg and "liked his mentality"
At age 13, ballboyed for Russia-U.S. Davis Cup final in Moscow in 1995 and posed for photos with U.S. members Courier, Sampras and Todd Martin
Has a 14-15 Davis Cup record (9-9 in singles) in 19 ties since 2000
Gives military style salute to fans after big wins with racket above his head with left hand and salute with right
Fitness trainer is Oleg Mosiakov and coached by Boris Sobkin (since age 10).

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