152 Facts About Mikhail Youzhny

1.

Mikhail Youzhny achieved a top-10 ranking by the Association of Tennis Professionals for the first time on 13 August 2007, and reached a career peak of World No 8 in January 2008, and again in October 2010.

2.

Mikhail Youzhny reached the finals of twenty-one ATP tour-level titles, winning ten of them.

3.

Mikhail Youzhny reached ATP finals on all surfaces, but never won a singles title on grass.

4.

Mikhail Youzhny was a member of the winning Russian national team at the Davis Cup in both 2002 and 2006, playing a crucial role in 2002 when he won the deciding rubber coming back from 2 sets to love down.

5.

Mikhail Youzhny's father sacrificed his career in the Soviet army to steer Youzhny and his older brother Andrei into becoming tennis players.

6.

Mikhail Youzhny's mother had to take a part-time job to pay for their club membership fees.

7.

Mikhail Youzhny played in his first junior tournament in April 1995 at the 8th Sochi International Junior Tournament, but lost in the first round to Andrei Stoliarov.

8.

Mikhail Youzhny played doubles at the tournament, partnering with Davydenko; he reached the finals but lost to Belski and Igor Kunitsyn.

9.

Mikhail Youzhny first won a junior singles tournament in February 1998, defeating Frantisek Babej in the final.

10.

At the junior Australian Open Mikhail Youzhny defeated second-seed Jarkko Nieminen on his way to the final, which he lost in straight sets to Kristian Pless.

11.

Mikhail Youzhny reached his highest junior world ranking of No 20 in January 2000.

12.

Mikhail Youzhny reached his first ATP Challenger final in Cherbourg, France, but lost to Julien Boutter, then ranked 162 in the world.

13.

At the Kremlin Cup tournament in Moscow, Mikhail Youzhny reached his first ATP tour-level quarterfinals, beating 36-ranked Frenchman Fabrice Santoro and 60-ranked Swede Thomas Johansson, but lost to Marc Rosset, 35th in the world.

14.

Mikhail Youzhny ended the year ranked 113 in the world.

15.

Mikhail Youzhny continued his good form into February, reaching his first ATP tour-level semifinals at the 2000 Copenhagen Open, but lost to eventual runner-up Andreas Vinciguerra from Sweden.

16.

At the Queen's Club Championships, Mikhail Youzhny defeated future world number one Andy Roddick in straight sets, but then lost in the second round to world number 107 Raemon Sluiter.

17.

Mikhail Youzhny reached the fourth round at his Wimbledon debut, where he lost to 3rd-seed and runner-up, Australian Patrick Rafter in 4-sets.

18.

In between Wimbledon and the US Open, Mikhail Youzhny competed at two tournaments.

19.

At the Grand Prix Hassan II tournament in Casablanca, Mikhail Youzhny reached his first ATP tour-level semifinal, but lost to Younes El Aynaoui in straight sets.

20.

At the BMW Open in Munich, Mikhail Youzhny again reached the semifinals, but lost again to El Aynaoui, this time in three sets.

21.

At the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart, Mikhail Youzhny won his first ATP-tour level title in a five-set victory over Argentinian world number nineteen Guillermo Canas.

22.

Mikhail Youzhny did not participate at the US Open because of a back injury, and was absent from the sports for six weeks.

23.

At the Mutua Madrilena Masters in Madrid, Mikhail Youzhny reached the third round, but lost to world number eight Sebastien Grosjean from France in two sets.

24.

Mikhail Youzhny began the 2003 season with a semifinal appearance at the Qatar Open in Doha, losing to American world number forty-two Jan-Michael Gambill.

25.

Mikhail Youzhny, who was seeded for the first time at a grand slam event, reached the fourth round of the Australian Open losing to world number nine Andy Roddick in five sets after failing to close out the match with a two-set lead.

26.

At the BMW Open in Munich, Mikhail Youzhny reached the quarterfinals but lost to world number five Roger Federer.

27.

At the Hamburg Masters, Mikhail Youzhny reached the third round by defeating world number ten Jiri Novak in straight sets before losing in the third round to Argentine world number sixteen Guillermo Coria.

28.

At the French Open, Mikhail Youzhny was seeded number twenty-seven, and for the first time in his career he won his first round, but lost in the second round to Attila Savolt, world number 141 from Hungary, in a five-setter.

29.

At the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany, Mikhail Youzhny reached the semifinals, but lost to Roger Federer.

30.

Mikhail Youzhny started the 2004 season with a second round defeat by Sargis Sargsian at the Qatar Open in Doha.

31.

At the Australian Open, Mikhail Youzhny lost in the first round to Sebastien Grosjean, but then reached his first quarterfinals of the season at the Indesit ATP Milan Indoor, where he lost to Antony Dupuis.

32.

At the Indian Wells Masters Mikhail Youzhny beat Mark Philippoussis in the second round, but lost to world No 5 Andre Agassi in straight sets in round four.

33.

At the Hamburg Masters, Mikhail Youzhny reached his first quarterfinals at an ATP Masters 1000 event.

34.

Mikhail Youzhny lost to Ivan Ljubicic in a three setter.

35.

Mikhail Youzhny responded to his US Open loss by reaching the final of the China Open in Beijing, defeating three top 20 players; Rainer Schuttler, Dominik Hrbaty and Paradorn Srichaphan.

36.

In October at the St Petersburg Open, Mikhail Youzhny won his first title since 2002, defeating world No 53 Karol Beck in two sets.

37.

Mikhail Youzhny ended the year by reaching the quarterfinals of the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris.

38.

Mikhail Youzhny had earlier upset eighth ranked Tim Henman but lost in the quarterfinals to Radek Stepanek.

39.

At the Australian Open, Mikhail Youzhny was seeded 15th but lost in a five-setter in the second round to Nadal.

40.

At the Dubai Tennis Championships, Mikhail Youzhny reached the quarterfinals and lost to world No 1 Roger Federer.

41.

Mikhail Youzhny lost in either the first or second round in six tournaments in a row, including the French Open, where he lost to Jurgen Melzer in three sets.

42.

At Wimbledon, Mikhail Youzhny, reached the fourth round for the first time since 2002, losing to Fernando Gonzalez in three sets.

43.

However, Mikhail Youzhny steadily improved by reaching the quarterfinals of the PBS Zabreb Indoors and then the semifinals of the Dubai Tennis Championships, defeating players such as Dominik Hrbaty and Igor Andreev on the way.

44.

At the French Open Mikhail Youzhny lost to Carlos Moya in three sets.

45.

Mikhail Youzhny reached the third round at Wimbledon but lost to Novak Djokovic in four sets.

46.

Mikhail Youzhny went into the 2006 US Open ranked number fifty-four.

47.

Mikhail Youzhny defeated Dominik Hrbaty, Nicolas Massu, David Ferrer and Tommy Robredo before upsetting 2nd-seed Rafael Nadal in four sets in the quarterfinals.

48.

The 2007 season started with Mikhail Youzhny reaching the quarterfinals at the Qatar Open, losing in three tight sets to Ivan Ljubicic.

49.

Mikhail Youzhny then reached the semifinals of the PBZ Zagreb Indoors and the quarterfinals of the Open 13 before winning his first title of the season, and his first ATP 500 title in his career, at the Rotterdam Open.

50.

Mikhail Youzhny defeated Tomas Berdych, Robin Haase, David Ferrer and Novak Djokovic, before taking out Ivan Ljubicic in the final.

51.

At the French Open, Mikhail Youzhny reached the fourth round for the first time in his career, being defeated by Roger Federer in three sets.

52.

Nadal gained the momentum after Mikhail Youzhny sought a medical timeout for a recurring back injury, the same injury which forced him retire from his quarterfinals match at that year's Gerry Weber Open.

53.

Mikhail Youzhny then reached the semis of the Dutch Open and the third round of the Cincinnati Masters.

54.

At the US Open Mikhail Youzhny suffered a disappointing second round loss to Philipp Kohlschreiber.

55.

Mikhail Youzhny reached the quarterfinals of the Paris Masters with wins over Arnaud Clement, Fernando Gonzalez and Tommy Haas, but lost in straight sets to Rafael Nadal.

56.

Mikhail Youzhny started the 2008 season by defeating world number two Rafael Nadal in under an hour at the final of the Chennai Open in India.

57.

At the Open 13 in Marseille, France, Mikhail Youzhny reached the quarterfinals, losing in straight sets to world number seventeen Marcos Baghdatis.

58.

Mikhail Youzhny gestured angrily towards his own temple, and then hit his head strongly with the edge of frame of his tennis racket three times, drawing blood.

59.

At Wimbledon Mikhail Youzhny was seeded 17th, and reached the fourth round by defeating 16th-seed Radek Stepanek in a five-setter in the third round.

60.

Mikhail Youzhny lost to 2nd-seed and eventual champion Rafael Nadal in the fourth round.

61.

At his next tournament, the Allianz Suisse Open Gstaad in Switzerland, Mikhail Youzhny reached his last quarterfinals of the season and lost to Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.

62.

At the Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, Mikhail Youzhny lost in the third round to world number three Novak Djokovic.

63.

Mikhail Youzhny withdrew from the US Open due to viral illness, making his first withdrawal from a grand slam after appearing in 23 in a row.

64.

Mikhail Youzhny continued his poor results, reaching the first and second round in all the remaining tournaments, with one exception in Tokyo, Japan.

65.

Mikhail Youzhny reached back-to-back quarterfinals at ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam and the Open 13 in Marseille, defeating David Ferrer and Tomas Berdych on his way.

66.

However, in his next seven tournaments, Mikhail Youzhny lost either in qualifying, the first round or the second round.

67.

Mikhail Youzhny entered the BMW Open in Munich ranked world number sixty-four, reached the final and lost to world number twenty-eight Tomas Berdych in three tight sets.

68.

Mikhail Youzhny continued his good form by reaching the semifinals of the Interwetten Austrian Open Kitzbuhel in Austria, and lost to world number seventy-four and eventual champion Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in three sets.

69.

At his next tournament, the Aegon Championships in Queens, Great Britain, Mikhail Youzhny reached the quarterfinals, defeating world number seven Gilles Simon from France on the way.

70.

Mikhail Youzhny lost to world number sixteen James Blake in straight sets.

71.

At Wimbledon Mikhail Youzhny failed to defend his ranking points earned the previous year, and lost in the first round to Spain Juan Carlos Ferrero.

72.

From his Wimbledon defeat towards the US Open, Mikhail Youzhny lost in the first or second round six times in a row, with the sole exception coming at the Rogers Masters in Toronto, Canada.

73.

At the US Open Mikhail Youzhny reached the second round, losing to qualifier Marco Chiudinelli from Switzerland in four sets.

74.

However, Mikhail Youzhny immediately bounced back by reaching the quarterfinals of the Proton Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur, where he lost to world number twelve Fernando Gonzalez.

75.

Mikhail Youzhny made the finals at the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships in Tokyo, after beating Lleyton Hewitt for the first time in a grueling three set win.

76.

Mikhail Youzhny then clinched his first title of 2009 at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow where he defeated world number forty-six Janko Tipsarevic.

77.

At Valencia Open Mikhail Youzhny reached the final by defeating two top 10 players, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Nikolay Davydenko.

78.

Mikhail Youzhny started the 2010 season by pulling out of the third round of the Australian Open with a wrist injury.

79.

Mikhail Youzhny reached the quarterfinals of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, losing to world number seven Robin Soderling.

80.

On his third final appearance, Mikhail Youzhny defeated world number eleven Marin Cilic to win his first BMW Open in Munich, Germany.

81.

Mikhail Youzhny entered the French Open as the 11th-seed, and reached the quarterfinals for the first time by defeating world number ten Jo-Wilfried Tsonga when Tsonga retired in the second set.

82.

At the Allianz Suisse Open Gstaad in Switzerland, Mikhail Youzhny lost to world number 147 Yuri Schukin from Kazakhstan.

83.

Mikhail Youzhny, seeded 14th, reached the semifinals of the US Open for the first time since 2010, but lost to world number one Rafael Nadal.

84.

Mikhail Youzhny was forced to withdraw from the Kremlin Cup, in which he was the defending champion, due to a viral illness.

85.

Mikhail Youzhny's season ended when he was forced to retire with a back injury against world number twenty-six Ernests Gulbis at the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris.

86.

Mikhail Youzhny began the 2011 season at the Australian Open where he reached the third round, losing to Canadian qualifier Milos Raonic in four sets.

87.

Mikhail Youzhny made his next appearance at the 2011 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam, but failed in protecting his points from the previous year, and lost to world number four Robin Soderling.

88.

Mikhail Youzhny responded to his early loss with a semifinal showing at the Open 13 in Marseille, France, and lost to world number twenty-eight Marin Cilic.

89.

Mikhail Youzhny was seeded 12th at the French Open, and lost in the third round to world number thirty-eight Albert Montanes, a Spanish clay-court specialist, in straight sets.

90.

At Wimbledon Mikhail Youzhny, seeded 18th, reached the fourth round where he was defeated by world number three Roger Federer in four sets.

91.

Between Wimbledon and the US Open, Mikhail Youzhny reached two semifinals.

92.

Mikhail Youzhny was seeded 16th at the US Open, but lost in the first round to world number fifty-three Ernests Gulbis in the first round.

93.

Mikhail Youzhny reached his last semifinal of the season at the St Petersburg Open, losing to world number twenty-two Marin Cilic, the eventual champion.

94.

At his next tournament, the PBZ Zagreb Indoors in Croatia, Mikhail Youzhny defeated Lukas Lacko, the world number ninety-six, in the singles final and claimed the eighth singles title of his career.

95.

Mikhail Youzhny was seeded 27th at the French Open, and lost in the third round to world number six David Ferrer.

96.

The match is notable for Mikhail Youzhny apologizing to the crowd about his performance by writing "SORRI" in the clay.

97.

At Wimbledon, Mikhail Youzhny, seeded 26th, won his fourth round match for the first time on seven attempts to reach the quarterfinals.

98.

Mikhail Youzhny represented Russia at the Summer Olympics, the last grass court tournament of the year.

99.

Mikhail Youzhny participated in the mixed doubles event, partnering Elena Vesnina, and lost in the first round against Gisela Dulko and Juan Martin del Potro from Argentina.

100.

At the US Open Mikhail Youzhny was seeded 28th, but lost in the first round to world number fifty-three Gilles Muller.

101.

At his next tournament, the China Open in Beijing, Mikhail Youzhny reached the quarterfinals, but lost to world number seven Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

102.

Mikhail Youzhny lost in the second round to world number eighty-two Evgeny Donskoy, a Russian newcomer to the top 100, in another five-setter.

103.

Later on in the season, at the French Open, in which he was the 29th-seed, Mikhail Youzhny reached the fourth round.

104.

Mikhail Youzhny was defeated in the fourth round by 12th-seed Tommy Haas, during which he infamously smashed his racquet with the bench.

105.

Mikhail Youzhny continued his good form into the Gerry Weber Open by reaching his first grass-court final in his career.

106.

On his way to the final Mikhail Youzhny defeated top 20 player Philipp Kohlschreiber in the quarterfinals, top 15 player Kei Nishikori in the second round and top 10 player Richard Gasquet in the semifinals.

107.

Mikhail Youzhny lost in three sets in the final to world number three Roger Federer.

108.

At Wimbledon, where he was the 20th-seed, Mikhail Youzhny lost in the fourth round to world number two and eventual champion Andy Murray.

109.

Not long after, Mikhail Youzhny won his first title of the year at the Swiss Open in Gstaad, defeating Robin Haase in the final.

110.

Mikhail Youzhny had a strong showing at the USOpen, reaching his sixth major quarterfinal, eventually losing to Novak Djokovic in four sets.

111.

On his way Mikhail Youzhny defeated Alexandr Dolgopolov in straight sets in the round of 64 and Tommy Haas in four sets in the round of 32.

112.

Later, Mikhail Youzhny reached the quarterfinal at Bangkok and lost to Richard Gasquet in three sets.

113.

At Valencia Open 500, unseeded Mikhail Youzhny claimed the 10th singles title and the 2nd title of ATP 500 events of his career.

114.

Mikhail Youzhny finished his 2013 season with a retirement against Kevin Anderson in the first round at the BNP Paribas Masters.

115.

Mikhail Youzhny began his 2014 season at the Australian Open where he reached the second round before losing to Florian Mayer.

116.

At the French Open, Mikhail Youzhny again made the second round, but lost to Radek Stepanek.

117.

At the US Open, Mikhail Youzhny was upset in the first round to world No 60, Nick Kyrgios in four sets.

118.

Mikhail Youzhny finished the year with a year-end ranking of 127, which is the worst since 2000.

119.

Mikhail Youzhny began his 2016 season strong in the challenger events in Southeast Asia, where he claimed three titles in three consecutive weeks in Thailand and the Philippines.

120.

At the US Open, Mikhail Youzhny beat 28th seed Martin Klizan to reach the second round where he faced Guido Pella.

121.

Mikhail Youzhny continued his impressive form, dispatching Pella to advance to the third round where he faced No 1 Novak Djokovic.

122.

Mikhail Youzhny was forced to retire in the first set due to an injury.

123.

At the St Petersburg Open, Mikhail Youzhny defeated Milos Raonic, dispatching yet another top 30 player as he returned to the ATP Top 50.

124.

Mikhail Youzhny competed in the 2016 Shanghai Rolex Masters as a qualifier, but lost to Nicolas Almagro from Spain in the first round after winning the first set.

125.

Mikhail Youzhny finished his 2016 season with a five-match losing streak, with four more matches lost at Antwerp, Basel, Paris Masters Qualifying and the Challenger event at Mouilleron-le-Captif.

126.

Mikhail Youzhny had a year-end singles ranking of 57 for 2016.

127.

Mikhail Youzhny started his 2017 season at the 2017 Aircel Chennai Open, where he reached the quarterfinals by beating Indian Saketh Myneni and Argentine Renzo Olivo without losing a set.

128.

Mikhail Youzhny then defeated Croatian Ivo Karlovic in the first round, but lost to the compatriot wild-card holder Andrey Rublev in three sets in the second round.

129.

Mikhail Youzhny then competed at the US Open and fell to Roger Federer in the 2R after being up two sets to one.

130.

At the 2018 Atlanta Open, Mikhail Youzhny announced his retirement from professional tennis, with the 2018 St Petersburg Open marking his final appearance.

131.

Mikhail Youzhny was sighted working with Denis Shapovalov at the Winston-Salem Open in 2019 and it has been confirmed that he will be working with the young Canadian for the US Open Series.

132.

Mikhail Youzhny has been an outspoken opposition to the Russian Tennis Federation since the 2010 Kremlin Cup.

133.

Mikhail Youzhny played his first Davis Cup match in the World Group first round against Belgium in a dead rubber.

134.

At the 2002 World Group final, Mikhail Youzhny played the deciding match against Paul-Henri Mathieu and came back from two sets down to win.

135.

In 2003, in Russia's first round match against Belarus, Mikhail Youzhny played the fifth and decisive match and lost to Vladimir Voltchkov.

136.

At the 2008 World Group Mikhail Youzhny only participated in the first round against Serbia, winning his singles match against Nenad Zimonjic.

137.

Mikhail Youzhny resigned from the Russian Davis Cup team in February 2011, stating, "I think the time has come for me step aside and give younger players a chance".

138.

Mikhail Youzhny added, "Now, I want to devote more time to my family and concentrate on individual tournaments".

139.

Mikhail Youzhny participated in three Summer Olympics; Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012.

140.

Mikhail Youzhny played doubles in Athens, partnering up with Marat Safin, but ended up losing to Bob and Mike Bryan in the first round.

141.

In Beijing, Mikhail Youzhny reached the third round, but lost to Novak Djokovic.

142.

Mikhail Youzhny's slice had a lot of variety and he can neutralise an opponent's offence quickly with it.

143.

Mikhail Youzhny's grip is close enough to Modified Eastern to allow him to hit topspin with reasonable comfort, but most players would hit stronger topspin with a grip right on Modified Eastern or closer to Full Eastern.

144.

Mikhail Youzhny was good on all surfaces, and was noted for his all-court game.

145.

Mikhail Youzhny was noted for his ability to be able to change surfaces quickly without difficulty.

146.

Robert Davis, an employee of the Association of Tennis Professionals, once wrote that "Mikhail Youzhny serves up less aces than a poor luck poker player".

147.

Former top-10 British tennis player Tim Henman said that Mikhail Youzhny had a solid serve, at least on grass.

148.

Mikhail Youzhny was known on tour for his post-match military salute at the end of the match.

149.

Mikhail Youzhny wore adidas clothing and Barricade 7.0 shoes and used a Head Head Graphene XT Extreme Pro racquet.

150.

Mikhail Youzhny began studying for a degree in philosophy at the University of Moscow in 2005, specializing in the philosophy and attitudes of tennis.

151.

Mikhail Youzhny's thesis was entitled "Professional Tennis Players on the Court" and "was about other players and how they compared up against one another".

152.

Note: At the 2010 Australian Open, Mikhail Youzhny withdrew prior to the third round.