Nikolay Davydenko: The level of tennis in Russia is none

Nikolay Davydenko spoke about what he does after his career and what is happening in the world now Russian tennis.

Former world third racket singles Nikolay Davydenko said “ Soviet sports» about what he does after finishing his career and what, in his opinion, is happening in Russian tennis now.

“I NEVER MISS TENNIS”

- You finished your career and disappeared from the radar. What is your life filled with now?

Even then, at last year’s Kremlin Cup, when I announced my retirement, many asked: what will I do? But I was silent, I didn’t want to reveal my cards and talk about what didn’t happen yet. Now I can freely say: I went into business, opened my own company. And thanks to this, my life is very interesting.

- In what area does the company operate?

The main activity is new technologies. The organization itself is called “Biotech Implementation”. Our partners are the National Research Center Kurchatov Institute. Together we are engaged in research in the field of biotechnology. For example, we are now working on creating a new type of biofuel. Our developments were even presented at the Army 2015 exhibition.

- It turns out that you are doing something radically new for yourself?

Yes, after tennis I went into a completely different field of activity. On this moment I like this better. The field of biotechnology is very broad. I will develop and learn. I think that the company will gradually reach new levels and expand.

- Don’t you miss tennis at all?

No. And I don’t even want to play. I'm just not interested in it right now. After the last Roland Garros, I haven’t picked up a racquet for a year now. It's probably not time to get bored yet.

- Do you have any desire to compete in veteran tournaments, the same “Legends of Tennis”?

Maybe in a year or two. But not now. I completely withdrew from sports. And I don’t want to go back at all yet.

- Are you not invited to work at the FTR (Russian Tennis Federation - editor's note)?

They called me, but I’m not ready yet. Still, another direction is now a priority. Although, I always said that I am close to tennis and the Federation. We maintain relationships and communicate. If anything happens, I will always help.

- Have you thought about sending your children to tennis?

No, it’s too early to talk about this. The time has not yet come. First, you need to figure out what they themselves want, what they are drawn to, and then decide. I don’t want to send them to tennis, just because I myself am a former tennis player. Everything will depend on their desires.

“VICTORY OVER SPAIN IS SOMETHING NEW!”

- Do you manage to follow what is happening in tennis in your free time?

You won't believe it, but I don't follow this at all. It’s boring for me to watch tournaments, because the same players play in them as a year ago. Nothing changes, there are no new names. I may accidentally read something in the press, but I have no desire to watch the games on purpose. Tennis is like another world for me now. And in general, I don’t follow sports.

- And you didn’t watch the Russia-Spain Davis Cup?

I didn’t watch it,” Nikolai laughs. - But of course I know the result.

- And how do you like it?

I was very surprised. In a good way, of course. Guys, great job! Such a victory is something new! Even in my time with the Spaniards, the game did not always work out in our favor. True, at that time their composition was stronger: Rafael Nadal, for example, performed. To be honest, I thought that we had no chance. The score was 0:2. But the guys didn’t give up, rallied and won 3:2. This is strong! The result is really great.

- Rublev and Khachanov are our new stars?

I can only say that they are great fellows and have achieved great results. We can say that they have reached a new level for themselves in order to return the team to the major league. This is a very serious leap for our youth. They now have more experience. Based on my own example, I can judge that when you win such serious matches with a team, personal tournaments It's much easier to show a good game.

In your opinion, how does Shamil Tarpishchev manage to guess with substitutions and lead the team to victory in a seemingly hopeless situation?

It’s probably better to ask him,” Dyvydenko smiles. - Tarpishchev is our wisest captain, very experienced and far-sighted. He always has some plans. And in most cases they work.

- Our team will play the next Davis Cup match against Italy. Any chance?

I think the chances are very high. I hope the Russian team will win.

- In general, how do you think we are doing in tennis now?

If we talk about men's tennis, the level of players is still very low. If among our guys someone took a place in the top 20, or at least in the top 30, then we could say that the level is average. And so Gabashvili has a hundred and that’s it. This means that there is no level. I don't like women's tennis. I can't say anything about him.

- On October 17, the home tournament “Kremlin Cup” starts at the Olimpiysky. Will you support the Russians?

If I’m invited, I’ll definitely come and cheer for our tennis players. I am interested to see how this tournament will be held, what kind of organization it will be, which athletes will perform. Besides, maybe my nephew will play in the qualifications. I live in Moscow, and I don’t want to miss such an event in the capital. This tournament will be interesting for me.

source: “Soviet Sport”

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- Nikolai, your son was recently born. Now there are twice as many worries?
- My son was born on May 9, early in the morning. Of course, it is a joy for me that he was born. But what else on such a date is something special. We generally had a deadline of May 3-4. We thought: it would be cool if it was 5th. But when we waited until 9, it was a bit of a shock for us, but in a good way, of course. A child was born, a boy, named Konstantin. It’s not that they were in honor of someone, they just thought and chose – Alexander or Konstantin. We decided this only when he was born. His wife looked at him and said: “Kostya!” ( laughs).

- Is your son already showing his character in some way?
- Yes, sure. He is almost all like his mother. He even looks like her in appearance. For example, the eldest girl is all like me: emotions and everything, everything, everything. She has everything mine. But he is completely different - it’s easier with him, calmer, he doesn’t shout so much, he’s more patient. Everything is a little different. It’s interesting when there are two children in a family and you can see how different they are. This is interesting to notice.

A child was born, a boy, named Konstantin. It’s not that they were in honor of someone, they just thought and chose – Alexander or Konstantin. We decided this only when he was born. His wife looked at him and said: “Kostya!”

- Your eldest girl, Katya, is very active. Do you plan to send her to sports?
- Now she is still 3.5 years old. I thought about it. Since I live in the Tagansky district, the closest club for me is Kamelzon. I was there a couple of times and asked him about children - he said that they have a set of children from 5 years old. Well, okay, from five so from five. I think I'll take her there. It's nearby, five minutes by car. Taking your child without traffic jams is very convenient in the summer. As for winter, I haven’t decided yet. I remember that the federation still has a club on Nizhegorodskaya Street, not reaching the Moscow Ring Road, there is a hall with 4, 5 or 6 courts. I was there with Igor Kunitsyn. Maybe there are small children's groups there too, and she can be taken there. Yes, I would like tennis. Plus write it down to English language. There are classes from 3-4 years old. But she hasn’t yet learned to speak normal Russian in order to be recorded somewhere. They signed her up for dancing.

- You live mainly in Moscow now?
- Almost all the time.

- Does your daughter have a problem with Russian speech because you lived in Germany and there was confusion?
- Not really. She just spoke very late, and there is no clear spoken language to understand yet. If now we start sending her in some other direction, then she will get confused in Russian. Therefore, for now we want to collect such a base now, and then give it somewhere. But this will be in the preschool period. I think at 4-5 years old. This can all be done a year or two before school.

Your daughter was a very memorable participant in your farewell from tennis in October during the Bank of Moscow Kremlin Cup tournament. How do you remember this event now, after a while?
- When, I said then that I still dream about tennis. Now everything is over, all stages have passed. Over the past 3-4 months I have practically forgotten tennis. I was still getting used to January, but I had almost forgotten February-March. I don't feel like I'm on tour anymore, I don't feel like myself professional tennis player. Somehow this came easily to me, but I repeat that it took some time - more than six months - to come to terms with it psychologically.

- Since you were suspended from tennis, how do you now look at it from the outside?
- Now I moved away from him so much that I didn’t follow him at all. Yes, sometimes I watch it by accident, but what is there to watch? Djokovic, Federer - nothing changes, everything is the same. Well, someone appears, one or two people. I read it purely by chance in the press. But to watch, to follow the results, who won what tournament, I don’t know anything at all, I have no idea. For me it's like a different world now.

I don’t know what they gave the Spaniards to eat on the last day in Vladivostok, what ours won, or what ours ate. In fact, according to the rating, according to the results after the first day - 0-2 - it was impossible to even think about it.

- But, nevertheless, you probably know about the success of the Russian team with the Spaniards in the Davis Cup.
- Yes, of course! Read. This is absolutely true! I think if Kunitsyn is there today, I would like to talk to him. How?! I don’t know what they gave the Spaniards in Vladivostok to eat on the last day so that ours won. Or what did our people eat ( smiling). In fact, according to the rating, according to the results after the first day - 0-2 - it was impossible to even think about it. Winning 3-2 – even when I was playing it was almost impossible (laughs).

At that moment, Igor Kunitsyn approached, and the former teammates on the national team greeted each other warmly.

- Do you perceive these young guys who were now playing in Vladivostok as your heirs?
- Of course, I'm very happy. And I was also glad that now there will be a game for the right to move to the major leagues. I just didn’t keep track of who we were going to play with.

- With Italy, at home. However, the venue is still unknown.
- This is a chance! I think this is a good chance to reach the big leagues. If they come out, they will be great guys. After such a failure, it will be simply gorgeous.

Did you take that failure painfully? When the team fell from the World Group and not only could not return immediately, but also defended for two years the right to remain in Group I.
“It’s hard that such a big country like ours could sink into such a niche.” This was a little unclear: we were among the leaders all the time - we were in the top five strongest teams world, and then almost dropped to the third league - it was unpleasant. Now, of course, I’m glad that the guys did well and were able to defeat the Spaniards.

National team captain Shamil Tarpishchev says that he consults with the players before choosing a surface. If you were asked now, what would you recommend to wear for the match against the Italians?
- Fast coverage. Almost all Italians love soil. This is their coverage, they started with it. None of them like the most fast coverage. The same Fognini. Maybe he can play on hard, but it’s still worse for him. We have such tennis players that I don’t even know what to choose for them – slow or fast. I have no idea. But against the Italians you need something quick.

- What about our RuKort, where almost all tournaments in Russia are held? Can you call it fast enough?
- No. He's slow. A lot also depends on the balls. They are different. The surface and the ball are the most important elements. And then they decide which ball is better for which surface. And this is not for me to decide ( smiling).

Now the Moscow tournament has signed another agreement with a sponsor, and this year the tournament in St. Petersburg is resuming...
- I am very glad that we will have a tournament in St. Petersburg again. They invited me there, and I told them that I would go there for the semi-finals and finals, on Saturday-Sunday. That is, if I’m in Moscow at that time, I’ll come, I’d like that. I haven’t been to St. Petersburg for a long time, I haven’t played for a long time, I would like to visit it. It will be nice.

31.05.2018

Davydenko Nikolay Vladimirovich

Honored Tennis Player

Master of Sport

Nikolay Davydenko was born on June 2, 1981 in the city of Severodonetsk, Ukraine. He grew up in the family of Vladimir and Tatyana Davydenko. He started playing tennis at the age of 7, together with his older brother Eduard. At the age of 11 he leaves hometown to the Russian city of Volgograd. The initiator of the departure was his older brother, who at that time worked as a children's coach in Volgograd and motivated his brother's move by the fact that his brother's professional growth in his homeland was impossible. Four years later, the brothers decide to move to Germany to Salmtal.

The brothers lived in Germany for three years and applied for German citizenship, but the German Tennis Federation did not assist this application and as a result they returned to Russia. In 1999, Nikolai, at the age of 18, changed his Ukrainian citizenship to Russian. In 2007, Nikolai also applied for Austrian citizenship. Such frequent tossing from country to country was also reflected in the attitude of other Russian tennis players towards Nikolai - so in the fall of 2006, after defeat in the Kremlin Cup final, another then strong Russian tennis player - Marat Safin - expressed displeasure, what kind of tennis player does he not fully consider Russia as their home, in the stands they cheered more than for him.

Repeated winner of the national tennis award “Russian Cup” in the “Tennis Player of the Year” category. Davis Cup winner as part of the Russian national team. Winner of the 2009 World Tour final in singles.

During his career, Davydenko won 21 ATP singles tournaments, including three Masters tournaments and a World Tour final. Won at least one tournament for 9 consecutive seasons. In terms of the number of victories at ATP tournaments in singles among Russians, he is second only to Yevgeny Kafelnikov. Won over 480 matches on ATP tournaments, second only to Kafelnikov among Russians in this indicator.

Earned more than $16 million in career prize money, ranking 17th among male tennis players of all time and the best among those who have never played in a tournament final. Grand Slam. He is one of the few tennis players who has a positive balance of personal meetings with Rafael Nadal. In total, he spent more than 250 weeks in the top ten of the world rankings during his career.

Nikolai Davydenko's victory in the 2009 World Tour final was the first such achievement in the history of Soviet and Russian men's tennis.

Wife - Irina Davydenko. Before marriage, she tried herself as a fashion model. The wedding took place on November 25, 2006 in Moscow. Davydenko met his future wife in 2003 in the Czech Republic during Davis Cup matches. Irina came there with a group of fans and lived in the same hotel with Nikolai. On April 17, 2012, their daughter Ekaterina was born.

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Honored Master of Sports of Russia in tennis, winner of the ATP Tour 2009

Honored Master of Sports of Russia in tennis. In 2009, he was the first Russian to win final tournament ATP, in 2006, as a member of the national team, he won the Davis Cup. In 2007, he was accused of participating in fixed matches, but the Association of Professional Tennis Players could not prove this.

Nikolai Vladimirovich Davydenko was born on June 2, 1981 in the city of Severodonetsk, Lugansk region of the Ukrainian SSR in the family of Tatyana and Vladimir Davydenko. He started playing tennis at the age of seven with his older brother Eduard. At the age of 11, Nikolai Davydenko left Ukraine and moved permanently to Russia. Eduard Davydenko, who initiated the move, motivated his decision by the fact that his brother’s professional growth in his homeland was impossible.

The Davydenko brothers trained in Russia for four years and then left for Germany. “I lived in Russia for four years, constantly trained under the guidance of Eduard, who did not give me any respite. Then we left for Germany. Our old friend who lived there convinced his brother that it would be better for me. In Europe I could play more tournaments and earn more money than in Russia,” Davydenko later said.

Eduard and Nikolai Davydenko lived in Germany for three years, applied for German citizenship, but their attempt ended in failure. As a result, the brothers returned to Russia. In 1999, Nikolai Davydenko received a Russian passport, and in 2000 he made his debut on professional level under the Russian flag. In his first ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) tournament in Amsterdam, he reached the semi-finals.

Davydenko's rise in the tennis rankings began in 2001, when he played in the Grand Slam tournament, the Australian Open, for the first time in his career. Having won his first round match, he lost to legendary Australian Patrick Rafter in the second round in four sets. After this match, experts said that Davydenko could become one of the strongest tennis players in the world.

It was then that the gaming style began to develop Russian athlete. The press noted Davydenko's "trump cards" - very fast movement around the court, confident play on the back line, a backhand shot, which is considered one of the most accurate among all active tennis players. It was also written about the shortcomings of his game - a lack of faith in his own strength in matches with tennis players who are higher in the ranking, ,.

Nikolay Davydenko won his first ATP tournament in early 2003, beating Belgian Kristof Vliegen in the decisive match in Adelaide. A few months later he won a second title, beating Argentine Agustin Calleri in the final of the tournament in Estoril. During his career, Davydenko won the Kremlin Cup three times - for the first time in 2004, then in 2006 and 2007.

In number best tennis players He entered the world in 2005, when for the first time in his career he managed to reach first the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament (Australian Open), and then the semifinals (Roland Garros). After the Paris tournament, he entered the top ten strongest tennis players in the world, established himself in it, and at the end of the season he won the right to participate in the final ATP tournament in Shanghai. At these competitions, he made it to the semi-finals, losing at this stage to the future winner, Argentinean David Nalbandian.

Davydenko finished 2005 in fifth place in the ranking, and in the next two seasons he retained his place in the top five. He regularly reached the quarterfinals and semifinals of Grand Slam tournaments, but was never able to reach the finals, regularly losing to the strongest tennis player on the planet, the Swiss Roger Federer. In 2006, Davydenko won the finals of the Masters tournament, held in Paris.

After the tournament in Sopot, Poland in August 2007, media attention to the Russian tennis player increased sharply, as he was accused of “surrendering” a match to the Argentinean Martin Vassallo Arguello, who was ranked at the bottom of the top hundred in the world rankings. Davydenko confidently won the first set, then lost the second, and in the third game he refused to continue the fight, explaining his decision by injury.

However, the British bookmaker Betfair initiated an investigation into the circumstances of Davydenko's defeat, since unusually high bets were placed on this match for such games - a total of about seven million dollars, and they were mainly bet against the Russian. The ATP supported the bookmakers' initiative and began an investigation, the result of which should be either accusing Davydenko of deliberate defeat or his complete acquittal. The head of the APR, Etienne de Villiers, emphasized that the investigation will last a long time until it brings certain results.

In connection with the suspicions of British bookmakers, the judges began to monitor Davydenko more closely. In particular, at a tournament in St. Petersburg, the referee accused the Russian tennis player of deliberately losing to the Croatian Marin Cilic, who at that time was not among the hundred strongest players in the world. Davydenko was fined two thousand dollars for “unwillingness to fight.” A little later, Davydenko filed a protest against his punishment and got it cancelled.

Since 2003, Davydenko regularly played for the Russian national team in the Davis Cup. In 2006, as part of the national team, he won the Silver Salad Bowl. At the same time, Davydenko has repeatedly emphasized that playing for the national team is always difficult to combine with his tournament schedule, and Russian journalists do not objectively evaluate his contribution to the team’s success. Moreover, in decisive matches, when the further fate of the team depended on the result of the game, he won only two victories - in 2003 in a match with the Czech Republic and in 2005 in a match with France.

In mid-2007, Davydenko announced his intention to accept Austrian citizenship, refusing to answer the question of whether he would continue to play as part of the Russian national team. However, there was no refusal to play for the Russian national team, and Davydenko played as part of the team in the semi-final match with the German national team, appearing on the court in a game against Philipp Kohlschreiber and losing this match in five sets.

In November 2009, Davydenko became the first Russian to win the final tournament of the year on the ATP Tour. In the final battle he defeated Argentinean Juan Martin del Potro ( Juan Martin Del Potro), and before that he defeated the Swiss Roger Federer and the current first racket of the world - Rafael Nadal. As a result, he rose to sixth position in the ATP rankings.

In 2010, Davydenko reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, but lost to Roger Federer. The Swiss won against Davydenko for the 13th time, while the Russian had only 2 victories over him.

In September 2011, Davydenko lost to Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic in the third round of the US Open, and a month later he reached the semi-finals of the Kremlin Cup, but failed to beat Serb Janko Tipsarevic.

In January 2012, in the first round match of the Australian Open, Davydenko lost to Italian Flavio Cipolla. In May 2012, Davydenko left the Rolland Garros tournament, also losing in the first round to Italian Andreas Seppi.

In the summer of 2012, Davydenko joined the Russian tennis team at Olympic Games in London, but was eliminated in the second round tennis tournament , .

In 2007, Davydenko was awarded the title "Honored Master of Sports of Russia."

Davydenko is married. He met his wife Irina in 2003 at one of the Czech tournaments, and got married before the 2006 Davis Cup final, in which Russia beat Argentina with a score of 3:2. Free time Davydenko prefers to spend time fishing, enjoys watching football and hockey matches, speaks fluent English and German , , , .

Used materials

Davydenko: “I couldn’t keep up with my own pace.” - Eurosport, 31.07.2012

The composition of the Russian Olympic tennis team has become known. - RBC Sport, 22.06.2012

Nikolai Davydenko said that his participation in the Olympic Games in London depends on how he performs at Wimbledon. - Eurosport, 28.05.2012

Rustam Sharafutdinov. Davydenko's usual flight. - Gazeta.Ru, 16.01.2012

Honored Master of Sports of Russia, Nikolai Davydenko during his fifteen-year professional career received 21 ATP titles, of which 3 victories were in the Masters category, and became the third racket in the world after Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

First training sessions of Nikolai Davydenko

A native of the Ukrainian Severodonetsk, Nikolai Davydenko and his family move to Volgograd. At that time, the future outstanding tennis player was seven years old. His older brother Eduard trained him. Four years later, Davydenko decided to move to Germany, hoping for support from the German Tennis Federation. Disappointed in the hospitality of the German side, the Davydenko family returns to Russia, where at the age of 18 Nikolai officially changes his Ukrainian citizenship to Russian.

Professional level

Davydenko has been performing as a professional athlete since 1999, and the very next year he reached the quarterfinals in his first ATP tournament and won the Challenger. After participating in the BS tournaments in 2003 and winning three Challengers, he won his first ATP tournament and entered the top 50 tennis players in the ATP rankings.

A year later, Nikolai Davydenko was already in the top thirty - this was facilitated by two victories in ATP tournaments and a triumph in doubles together with Igor Andreev in Moscow.

The pinnacle of a tennis player's career

In 2005, Davydenko won only one title, but the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and the semifinals at Roland Garros helped the athlete reach fifth place in the ATP rankings and first place among the best tennis players in Russia. In 2006, he won five ATP games, reached the semifinals of the US Open and, together with Safin and Tursunov, won the Davis Cup as part of the Russian team. All these triumphant events raise Nikolai Davydenko to third place in the ATP rankings - the highest point of his sports career.

Until 2010, the Russian tennis player won the Kremlin Cup and several ATP tournaments, including Masters level games. In 2010, the victory over Rafael Nadal in the final match in Doha was the last before the line of failures - a wrist injury forced Davydenko to stop performing for several months and determined the decline of his sporting glory. After falling in the rankings to 300 places and several defeats in 2014, Nikolai Davydenko announced his retirement from tennis.