Михаил Южный: Теннисшінің өмірі мен жетістіктері

Russian tennis coach and retired tennis player

Mikhail Mikhailovich Youzhny (born 25 June 1982), nicknamed "Misha" and "Colonel" by his fans, is a Russian former professional tennis player who was ranked inside the top 10 and was the Russian No. 1. He achieved a top 10 ranking by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) 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. Youzhny reached the quarterfinals of all majors, reaching the semifinals at the US Open in 2006 and 2010. The closest he came to a major final was at the 2006 US Open semifinals when he took the first set from world No. 9 Andy Roddick, after upsetting world No. 2 Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals. At the other semifinal he lost in straight sets to the eventual champion, Nadal. Youzhny reached the finals of 21 ATP Tour level titles, winning ten of them. He reached ATP Tour finals on all surfaces, but never won a singles title on grass. In 2010—his best season—Youzhny reached five ATP finals, winning two and ending the year as a top 10 player. 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 after coming back from two sets to love down.

Youzhny was born on 25 June 1982 to Mikhail, a Soviet army colonel and Lubov, a professional tennis player. Youzhny's father was recommended that Mikhail and his brother should join the tennis club Spartak Club if they wanted to become professional players.</blockquote>

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. He next played in a junior tournamentthe Ozerov Cupin 1997, Youzhny reached his highest junior world ranking of No. 20 in January 2000. He reached his first ATP Challenger final in Cherbourg, France, but lost to Julien Boutter, then ranked 162 in the world. In May that year, Youzhny won his first ATP Challenger title in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, by defeating Jan Frode Andersen from Norway. He 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. Playing at his first and only ATP Masters 1000 event that year in Monte Carlo, Youzhny reached the third round; an achievement he never repeated. In between Wimbledon and the US Open, Youzhny competed at two tournaments. At the Australian Open he reached the third round again, this time losing to fellow Russian, and world no. 9 Marat Safin in straight sets. At the Grand Prix Hassan II tournament in Casablanca, Youzhny reached his first ATP tour level semifinal, but lost to Younes El Aynaoui in straight sets. At the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart, Youzhny won his first ATP tour level title in a five set victory over Argentinian world number nineteen Guillermo Cañas. Youzhny did not participate at the US Open because of a back injury, and was absent from the sports for six weeks. At the Mutua Madrileña Masters in Madrid, Youzhny reached the third round, but lost to world number eight Sébastien Grosjean from France in two sets. 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. After this defeat Youzhny fell in the first or second round five consecutive times. At the Australian Open, Youzhny lost in the first round to Sébastien Grosjean, but then reached his first quarterfinals of the season at the Indesit ATP Milan Indoor, where he lost to Antony Dupuis. Coming to Wimbledon, Youzhny had won only 2 grass matches and he was upset in the first round by 415 ranked Goran Ivanišević. At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Youzhny upset Nicolas Kiefer to reach the quarterfinals, but lost to American Mardy Fish in straight sets. Youzhny's next two events were the Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon and the Kremlin Cup, where he reached the quarterfinals, losing to Xavier Malisse, and the semifinals, losing to Nikolay Davydenko, respectively. Youzhny ended the year by reaching the quarterfinals of the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris. He had earlier upset eighth ranked Tim Henman but lost in the quarterfinals to Radek Štěpánek. At the Australian Open, Youzhny was seeded 15th but lost in a five setter in the second round to Nadal. Nadal saved a match point in the fourth set. At the Dubai Tennis Championships, Youzhny reached the quarterfinals and lost to world No. 1 Roger Federer. This was followed by a first round defeat by Xavier Malisse at the Australian Open. In July at the Austrian Open, Youzhny reached his second semifinal of the season, losing to Juan Ignacio Chela. This marked the first time in four attempts that Youzhny was able to come through the fourth round of a Major. In his next tournament, Youzhny reached the third round of the Australian Open, losing to eventual champion and world No. 1 Roger Federer in three sets. He 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. Youzhny defeated Tomáš Berdych, Robin Haase, David Ferrer and Novak Djokovic, before taking out Ivan Ljubičić in the final. His good form continued a few weeks later at the BMW Open where again he reached the final, losing to Philipp Kohlschreiber. At the French Open, Youzhny reached the fourth round for the first time in his career, being defeated by Roger Federer in three sets. At Wimbledon, and now ranked 13th in the world, Nadal gained the momentum after 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. He then reached the semis of the Dutch Open and the third round of the Cincinnati Masters. Youzhny was now ranked No. 10 in the world. He reached the quarterfinals of the Paris Masters with wins over Arnaud Clément, Fernando González and Tommy Haas, but lost in straight sets to Rafael Nadal. However, the scoreline did not reflect the circumstances, Nadal's semi final finished mere hours beforehand and he had little rest. Youzhny admitted as much, and said; "This victory is a present from Rafael", but Nadal responded by saying "I was a bit tired, but I must admit Mikhail played unbelievable tennis and deserved to win. There is nothing wrong with me." As the 14th seed at the Australian Open Youzhny reached his first quarterfinals there by defeating world number four Nikolay Davydenko in straight sets. At the Open 13 in Marseille, France, Youzhny reached the quarterfinals, losing in straight sets to world number seventeen Marcos Baghdatis. In his next match, he lost to Serbia's Janko Tipsarević. He reached back to back quarterfinals at ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam and the Open 13 in Marseille, defeating David Ferrer and Tomáš Berdych on his way. Youzhny continued his good form by reaching the semifinals of the Interwetten Austrian Open Kitzbühel in Austria, and lost to world number seventy four and eventual champion Guillermo García López in three sets. He then clinched his first title of 2009 at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow where he defeated world number forty six Janko Tipsarević. At Valencia Open Youzhny reached the final by defeating two top 10 players, Jo Wilfried Tsonga and Nikolay Davydenko. In the first round, he beat Richard Gasquet after being down 2 sets to 0. He beat Jan Hájek in the second round. After the recovery, he made the final at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam, worth 500 ATP points. In his next tournament, he reached his second successive final at the Dubai Tennis Championships. En route to the final, he beat Lukáš Lacko, Björn Phau, Janko Tipsarević, and Jürgen Melzer. He reached the quarterfinals of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, losing to world number seven Robin Söderling. 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. Youzhny lost to Tomáš Berdych, the 15th seed. Seeded 13th, Youzhny lost a tough five setter to resurgent Paul Henri Mathieu in the second round of Wimbledon. At the Allianz Suisse Open Gstaad in Switzerland, Youzhny lost to world number 147 Yuri Schukin from Kazakhstan. Following his victory, Youzhny reached a career high ranking of world number eight. At his next tournament, the St. Petersburg Open, Youzhny reached the final, but lost to world number eighty eight Mikhail Kukushkin from Kazakhstan. 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. For the first time in his career, Youzhny finished the year as world number ten and as the highest ranked player from Russia. He responded to his early loss with a semifinal showing at the Open 13 in Marseille, France, and lost to world number twenty eight Marin Čilić. From his defeat by Simon in Dubai to the French Open, with the exception of one third round defeat, he lost either in the first or second round. Between Wimbledon and the US Open, Youzhny reached two semifinals. At the first, at the International German Open in Hamburg, he lost to Gilles Simon, and at the second, the Crédit Agricole Suisse Open Gstaad in Switzerland, he lost to world number forty five Marcel Granollers. His early upset at the US Open saw him slip from world number fifteen to world number thirty two. From there, it was on to the Australian Open, where he fell to qualifier Andrey Golubev in the first round. He also won the doubles title with Marcos Baghdatis, defeating Jonathan Erlich/Andy Ram in the semifinal and Mate Pavić/Ivan Dodig in the final. This is his 9th doubles title and the last title so far. He reached the quarterfinals at the Dubai Tennis Championships in February, but lost in to Roger Federer. His grass season began with a semifinals showing at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, losing to Roger Federer. At Wimbledon, Youzhny, seeded 26th, won his fourth round match for the first time on seven attempts to reach the quarterfinals. After this tournament, Youzhny became the third Russian male player to enter the quarterfinals of all four major events. Youzhny represented Russia at the Summer Olympics, the last grass court tournament of the year. In men's singles event, he lost in the first round to world number thirty two Julien Benneteau. At the Australian Open he battled past his first round opponent world number 108 Matthew Ebden in a five set thriller. He was defeated in the fourth round by 12th seed Tommy Haas, during which he infamously smashed his racquet with the bench. Youzhny continued his good form into the Gerry Weber Open by reaching his first grass court final in his career. At Wimbledon, where he was the 20th seed, Youzhny lost in the fourth round to world number two and eventual champion Andy Murray. Not long after, Youzhny won his first title of the year at the Swiss Open in Gstaad, defeating Robin Haase in the final. Youzhny had a strong showing at the U. S Open, reaching his sixth major quarterfinal, eventually losing to Novak Djokovic in four sets. On his way Youzhny defeated Alexandr Dolgopolov in straight sets in the round of 64 and Tommy Haas in four sets in the round of 32. In his round of 16 match against Lleyton Hewitt, Youzhny trailed in the fourth set and in the fifth set, but fought back on both occasions to win the match in a five set thriller. Later, Youzhny reached the quarterfinal at Bangkok and lost to Richard Gasquet in three sets. At Valencia Open 500, unseeded Youzhny claimed the 10th singles title and the 2nd title of ATP 500 events of his career. This is also the 2nd singles title of the year. In the final, he defeated the top seed David Ferrer in straight set. Youzhny finished his 2013 season with a retirement against Kevin Anderson in the first round at the BNP Paribas Masters. He ended with a 39–24 winning record and with a year end ranking of 15.

Youzhny began his 2014 season at the Australian Open where he reached the second round before losing to Florian Mayer. At the French Open, Youzhny again made the second round, but lost to Radek Štěpánek. At Wimbledon, he reached the second round of a major for the third time, only to lose to qualifier Jimmy Wang. At the US Open, Youzhny was upset in the first round to world No. 60, Nick Kyrgios in four sets. Mikhail signs to Hyderabad Aces to play first season of Champions Tennis League India. Youzhny's 2015 season saw a number of first round loses. His best result was entering the quarterfinals of the Zagreb Indoors, losing there to Marcos Baghdatis. On 3 August, he left the top 100 ranking for the first time since 2001. On 8 November, he won his first ATP challenger event champion since 2000, Bauer Watertechnology Cup at Eckental, Germany, defeating 4th seed Benjamin Becker straight sets in the final. He finished the year with a year end ranking of 127, which is the worst since 2000. 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. In the final of KPN Bangkok Open, Youzhny, as the third seed, defeated fifth seed Go Soeda of Japan. In the KNP Bangkok Open II, he won the title without losing a set. In the Manila Challenger, Youzhny, as the second seed, thrilled through the semifinal by defeating Lukáš Lacko, and claimed the title by defeating Marco Chiudinelli in straight sets. By winning these titles, Youzhny raised his ranking back into top 100. At the US Open, Youzhny beat 28th seed Martin Kližan to reach the second round where he faced Guido Pella. Youzhny continued his impressive form, dispatching Pella to advance to the third round where he faced No. 1 Novak Djokovic. Youzhny was forced to retire in the first set due to an injury. At the St. Petersburg Open, Youzhny defeated Milos Raonic, dispatching yet another top 30 player as he returned to the ATP Top 50. He competed in the 2016 Shanghai Rolex Masters as a qualifier, but lost to Nicolás Almagro from Spain in the first round after winning the first set. 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. Youzhny had a year end singles ranking of 57 for 2016. 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. However, although having a strong beginning set, he was overturned by Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut by 6–2, 4–6, 4–6. In Australian Open, he retired to Marcos Baghdatis from Cyprus in the opening round. Then, he suffered from a number of first or second round losses. At Halle, he defeated Yūichi Sugita from Japan by 7–6(7–5), 6–7(11–13), 7–6(14–12), in the qualifying round. The match, which lasted for 3 hours and 35 minutes, recorded the longest ATP match of the year at that time. He then defeated Croatian Ivo Karlović in the first round, but lost to the compatriot wild card holder Andrey Rublev in three sets in the second round. At Wimbledon, he stunned Nicolas Mahut in straight sets the first round. This is Youzhny's 100th win at Grand Slam events. In the second round, despite winning the first set, he eventually lost to the sixth seed and 2016 runner up Milos Raonic. Youzhny's ranking slipped to no. 98 after 5 first round exits in Austria, Croatia, and Switzerland, as well as 2 first round exits at the Coupe de Rogers in Montreal and the Western and Southern Open, in Cincinnati. He then competed at the US Open and fell to Roger Federer in the 2R after being up two sets to one.

At the 2018 Atlanta Open, Youzhny announced his retirement from professional tennis, with the 2018 St. Petersburg Open marking his final appearance. After beating Mirza Bašić in the first round for his 499th and final career win, Youzhny lost to Roberto Bautista Agut in three sets in the second round.

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

Youzhny played his first Davis Cup match in the World Group first round against Belgium in a dead rubber. He defeated Olivier Rochus in the fourth match. In 2003, in Russia's first round match against Belarus, Youzhny played the fifth and decisive match and lost to Vladimir Voltchkov. At the 2008 World Group Youzhny only participated in the first round against Serbia, winning his singles match against Nenad Zimonjić. He said he was very disappointed, and added: "I began very well, but after I took the first set, my luck fell away." The next day Israelis Andy Ram and Jonathan Erlich beat Safin and doubles specialist Igor Kunitsyn. Israel defeated Russia 4–1 for the win. 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". However, he competed at the 2011 Davis Cup tie with Brazil, stating that "We're in a tough situation right now and I thought it was my duty to help the team. Therefore, I've made myself available for that tie." Youzhny won both of his rubbers, the first against Ricardo Mello, while he took over five hours to defeat Thomaz Bellucci, 14–12 in the fifth set. In his last Davis Cup match so far, in 2012, Youzhny partnered with Nikolay Davydenko to beat Austria doubles team Oliver Marach and Alexander Peya.

Youzhny had powerful groundstrokes on both sides. Former professional tennis player and now coach Peter Lundgren stated that Youzhny's "backhand slice is one of the best in the world. His slice had a lot of variety and he can neutralise an opponent's offence quickly with it. "</blockquote>

When asked at the 2014 Dubai Tennis Championships about Youzhny, Novak Djokovic, then world no. 2, replied;
Mikhail [ ] has one of the nicest and most efficient one handed backhands on the tour. It seems a little bit unorthodox the way he holds his racquet, then [he] releases with two hands and in the end with one hand. But he's a very talented player. According to The New York Times columnist Christopher Clarley, Youzhny's one handed backhand was one of the more unusual ones on tour, hit with a "free left arm accompanying his right arm as he swings through the ball." Youzhny hit the ball early on both sides, so as to "achieve a flatter flight trajectory and to get the ball to the opponent's side quicker." and he was very talented at volleying. Youzhny was good on all surfaces, and was noted for his all court game. Kevin Mitchell from The Guardian referred to Youzhny as a grass court specialist. Former Russian top 10 player Alex Metreveli referred to Youzhny as a "really a great fighter", he said, "I cannot even remember how many matches he has won in tough situations. Russian people respect Mischa because he is a man who works hard. And his fighting spirit is just incredible. What he did in Paris for Davis Cup is just one of many such examples." Youzhny was known on tour for his post match military salute at the end of the match. Honoring his late father, Youzhny placed his racquet on his head while saluting the crowd instead of the hat that Russian military protocol dictates. Boris Sobkin was Youzhny's coach since the age of 10 because of Youzhny's father's interference.

The Russian government awarded Youzhny the title Honoured Master of Sports in 2003 for his participation in Russia's Davis Cup victory the previous year. Youzhny began studying for a degree in philosophy at the University of Moscow in 2005, specializing in the philosophy and attitudes of tennis. He obtained his PhD in December 2010. His thesis was entitled "Professional Tennis Players on the Court" and "was about other players and how they compared up against one another". When asked about his thesis, he said "I wrote it slowly when I had the time   You find out about other players and try to compare them with you. You look at what you have to do against them or what changes they may make before their matches or during your match with them." Youzhny married Yulia on 22 November 2008 in Moscow; the couple have two sons and one daughter, Maxim born 2009, Igor born 2012 and Milana born 2019. Unfortunately, Yulia tragically passed away 9 January 2024.