Nikolay Davydenko won 21 ATP titles, reached the semi-finals of the Grand Slam four times and helped win the Davis Cup for his team in 2006. The former third racket of the world, with his powerful serve, beat eminent athletes during his career, including Rafael Nadal and. When Nikolai retired from tennis in 2014, he said that the game had become a business and a show, and he was not a showman. The champion was involved in a match-fixing scandal, but his guilt has not been proven.

Difficulties of Russian tennis

Nikolai Davydenko was born in 1981 in Severodonetsk, Luhansk region. Compared to other tennis players, the boy began playing sports quite late, at the age of 7. However, this did not prevent him from catching up over the next three years. At the age of 11, the future Russian tennis star moved to Volgograd. At home, it was too difficult to develop in this direction. Nikolai's coach was the older brother Eduard, who later took the ward to Germany, where there were even more opportunities. There they tried to obtain citizenship, but to no avail. In 1999, Nikolai returned to Russia, received citizenship and became a professional. In an interview, Davydenko said that Yeltsin contributed to the popularization of tennis in Russia, but many leave for Europe and America.

In 2000, Nikolai made his debut at a tournament in Amsterdam and immediately reached the semi-finals. A year later, at the Australian Open, the tennis player marked his ascent to the top. Critics predicted great success for Davydenko, but he failed to beat Patrick Rafter.

The athlete's lightning-fast reaction and powerful feeds served him well. The first significant victory took place already in 2003, when the tennis player won the ATP title at a tournament in Adelaide. A couple of months later, at the Estoril Open, Nicolai took first place again.

Significant victories of Nikolai Davydenko

Breakthrough in the Grand Slam tournaments in 2005 changed the career of a tennis player. He reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, losing to Andy Roddick in the end. In the same year, Nikolai reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros, losing to Mariano Puerta, who had banned substances found in his blood after the match. He was disqualified, and Davydenko was ranked seventh in the world rankings.

The tennis player never managed to get to the Grand Slam finals, he was interfered with by eminent athletes like. Nikolai often performed poorly on grass courts, unlike clay ones.

“It’s not very pleasant when you are called the King of Clay and considered the master of only one coating. Although it really depends on luck. Once my hand trembled on the grass, I lost an important ball, and then there is uncertainty.”

In 2007, after a scandal in Poland, when Davydenko, being the favorite, suddenly surrendered, allegedly due to an injury, the press started talking about a match-fixing. Prior to this, Nikolai was rarely mentioned in the media. But bad advertising is also advertising, although the tennis player himself has always said that he does not like the hype around his person.

Another positive success came in 2009, when the champion first made it to the third round at Wimbledon, and then defeated Rafael Nadal at the Masters in Shanghai. In the Final tournament, he again defeated, and then Federer, becoming the first Russian to win the World Tour final.

The following years brought Nikolai more than one victory and a successful three-year contract with the brand. In early 2010, Davydenko won the ATP tournament in Doha. This victory made him the second player in history to beat both Federer and Nadal in two tournaments in a row. However, subsequent seasons were less successful, Nikolai was pursued by injuries, and as a result, in 2014, he announced his retirement. According to official figures, Nikolai Davydenko earned about $16 million over the years, but he himself said that most of it went to taxes.

“From this amount, in addition to the Russian tax, the tax of the country where the tournament is held is also deducted. Let's say the States take 30-35 percent. So calculate how much, for example, Tiger Woods pays taxes on his millions. So the stories about Russian rich tennis players are a myth, by and large.

Personal life of Nikolai Davydenko

Nikolai has been married to Irina since 2006. They got married before the Davis Cup, where Russian team won. The couple has three children, the family lives in Moscow. Despite the fact that Nikolai gave interviews quite often, little is known about the details of his life. Davydenko won more than 480 matches, he was in the top ten for about 250 weeks and is a three-time winner of the Russian Cup tennis award in the Tennis Player of the Year nomination.

Now the champion has little interest in tennis, he spends his free time with his family and goes fishing. However, in the summer of 2018, a message appeared that Nikolai wanted to return:

“My second child has already grown up, so there is a lot of free time, I want to return to tennis. Maybe we will decide something with the federation, ”said the athlete in a recent interview.

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

Honored Master of Sports of Russia in tennis. In 2009, he was the first Russian to win in final tournament ATP, in 2006, as part 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, Ukrainian SSR, in the family of Tatiana and Vladimir Davydenko. He started playing tennis at the age of seven with his older brother Edward. At the age of 11, Nikolai Davydenko left Ukraine and moved to permanent residence in Russia. Eduard Davydenko, who was the initiator of the move, motivated his decision by the fact that the professional growth of his brother in his homeland is impossible,.

In Russia, the Davydenko brothers trained 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 professional debut under the Russian flag. In his first ATP tournament (Association of Tennis Professionals) in Amsterdam, he reached the semi-finals,,.

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

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

Nikolai Davydenko won his first ATP tournament at the beginning of 2003, beating the 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,,,.

He became one of the best tennis players in the world in 2005, when for the first time in his career he managed to reach the quarterfinals of the 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, entrenched in it, and at the end of the season 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, Argentine David Nalbandian (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 the Grand Slam tournaments, but he never managed to get into the final, regularly losing to the strongest tennis player on the planet, Swiss Roger Federer,,. In 2006, Davydenko won the final of the Masters tournament, held in Paris,,,.

After the tournament in Poland's Sopot in August 2007, media attention to the Russian tennis player increased dramatically, as he was accused of "surrendering" the match to Argentinean Martin Vassallo Arguello, who occupied a place at the bottom of the top hundred of the world rankings. Davydenko confidently won the first set, then lost the second, and in the third installment he refused to continue the fight, explaining his decision with an injury,.

However, the British bookmaker Betfair initiated an investigation into the circumstances of Davydenko's defeat, since unusually high stakes for such games were made on this match - a total of about seven million dollars, and mostly bet against the Russian. The ATP supported the initiative of the bookmakers and launched an investigation, the result of which should be either Davydenko's accusation of a deliberate defeat, or his full acquittal. The head of the Asia-Pacific region, Etienne de Villiers, stressed that the investigation will take a long time until it brings certain results,.

In connection with the suspicions of the British bookmakers, the judges began to follow Davydenko more closely. In particular, at a tournament in St. Petersburg, the referee accused the Russian tennis player of intentionally defeating Croatian Marin Cilic, who at that time was not in the top 100. the strongest players peace. Davydenko was fined $2,000 for "unwillingness to fight." A little later, Davydenko filed a protest against his punishment and achieved its cancellation,,.

Since 2003, Davydenko has 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. At the same time, 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 take Austrian citizenship, refusing to answer the question of whether he would continue to play in the Russian national team. However, there was no refusal to play for the Russian national team, and Davydenko played the semifinal match with the German national team as part of the team, appearing on the court in the game against Philipp Kohlschreiber and losing this meeting 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 the 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 (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 beat Davydenko for the 13th time, while the Russian had only 2 wins over him,,.

In September 2011, Davydenko lost to Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic in the third round of the US Open tournament, and a month later 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 the Italian Flavio Cipolla (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 of "Honored Master of Sports of Russia".

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

Used materials

Davydenko: "I could not stand 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 London Olympics depends on how he performs at Wimbledon. - Eurosport, 28.05.2012

Rustam Sharafutdinov. Habitual departure Davydenko. - Gazeta.Ru, 16.01.2012

Russian tennis player Nikolai Davydenko was born in 1981 in the Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk, Luhansk region. He has an older brother named Eduard, with whom Nikolai began to go to court at the age of seven. When the boy was eleven, at the insistence of Edward, he moved to Russia to play tennis more seriously. His training in this country was led by his older brother. Four years later, the Davydenko brothers went to Germany, but after being denied citizenship, they again moved to Russia.

In 2000, Nikolai Davydenko made his debut in professional competitions. At the first ATP tournament, he became a semi-finalist.

A year later, Nikolai Davydenko performed at the Grand Slam tournament, which was held in Australia. There he managed to reach the second round, as a result of which they started talking about him as a talented tennis player.

In 2003, Nikolai Davydenko became the winner of the ATP tournament for the first time, and very soon he won the second title. In total, the Russian tennis player has twenty-two victories in association competitions, and only one of them comes in doubles matches.

In 2006, Nikolai Davydenko, as part of the national team, won the Davis Cup.

Nikolai Davydenko: The level of tennis in Russia is no

Nikolai Davydenko spoke about what he does after his career ends and about what is happening in Russian tennis now.

Former third racket in the world singles Nikolai Davydenko told Soviet Sport about what he does after his career ends and what, in his opinion, is happening in Russian tennis now.

"I DON'T MISS TENNIS"

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

Back then, at last year's Kremlin Cup, when I announced my retirement, many people asked: what will I do? But I was silent, I did not want to open my cards and talk about what had not happened 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 NITsKurchatov Institute. Together we are engaged in research in the field of biotechnology. For example, we are currently working on the creation of 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. It just doesn't interest me now. After the last Roland Garros, I have not picked up a racket for a year now. Maybe it's not time to get bored yet.

- And in veteran tournaments, the same "Legends of Tennis", there is no desire to perform?

Maybe in a year or two. But not now. I completely retired from sports. And I don't want to go back yet.

- Are you not invited to work in the FTR (Federation of Tennis of Russia - ed.)?

They called, but I myself am not ready yet. Still, another direction is now a priority. Although, I always said that I am close to tennis and the Federation. We keep in touch, we communicate. If anything, I'll always help.

- Didn't you think to give the children vtennis?

No, it's too early to talk about it. The time has not yet come. First you need to figure out what they themselves want, what they are striving for, and only then decide. I don’t want to give them to tennis, just because I myself am a tennis player in the past. Everything will depend on their desire.

"VICTORY OVER SPAIN IS SOMETHING NEW!"

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

Believe it or not, 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 can accidentally read something in the press, but there is no desire to purposefully watch the games yet. Tennis is like a different world for me now. And in general, I don’t follow sports.

- Didn't you watch the Davis Cup Russia-Spain?

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

- And how do you like it?

I was very surprised. In a good way, of course. The guys are great fellows! Such a victory is something new! Even in my time with the Spaniards, the game did not always go in our favor. True, at that time their composition was stronger: Rafael Nadal, for example, performed. Honestly, I thought that our chances are not. The score was 0:2. But the guys did not give up, got together and won 3:2. It's strong! The result is really great.

- Rublev and Khachanov are our new stars?

I can only say that they are great fellows - they have achieved a high result. We can say that they have reached a new level for themselves in order to return the team to the big leagues. This is a very serious leap for our youth. They now have more experience. By my own example, I can judge that when you win such serious matches with the team, it is much easier to show a good game in personal tournaments.

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

Probably, it is 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.

- Next match Within the framework of the Davis Cup, our team will play with Italy. Is there any chance?

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

- And in general, what do you think, what are our affairs 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.

- October 17 at the "Olympic" starts home tournament "Kremlin Cup". Will you support the Russians?

If I am invited, I will definitely come to cheer for our tennis players. It is interesting for me to see how this tournament will be held, what organization will be, which of the athletes will perform. Besides, maybe my nephew will play the qualification. I live in Moscow, and I don't want to miss such an event in the capital. For me, this tournament will be interesting.

source: "Soviet Sport"

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

The first trainings of Nikolai Davydenko

A native of Ukrainian Severodonetsk, Nikolai Davydenko moved to Volgograd with his family. At that time, the future outstanding tennis player was seven years old. His elder brother Edward was engaged in his training. Four years later, Davydenko decided to move to Germany, hoping for the support of 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 Ukrainian citizenship to Russian.

Professional level

As professional athlete Davydenko has been performing since 1999, and the very next year he reaches the quarterfinals in his first ATP tournament and wins 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 the ATP tournaments and a triumph in doubles together with Igor Andreev in Moscow.

Pinnacle of tennis career

Davydenko in 2005 becomes the owner of only one title, however, the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and the semifinals at Roland Garros contributed to the athlete getting into fifth place in the ATP rankings and first place among the best tennis players in Russia. In 2006, he wins five ATP games, goes to the semi-finals Open Championship United States and together with Safin and Tursunov as part of the Russian team wins the Davis Cup. All these triumphant events raise Nikolai Davydenko to the third place in the ATP ranking - the highest point of his sports career.

Until 2010, the Russian tennis player conquered 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 failure - a wrist injury forced Davydenko to stop playing for several months and determined the decline of his sports glory. After falling in the ranking to 300 places and several defeats in 2014, Nikolai Davydenko announced his retirement from tennis.