Andrey Kuznetsov (tennis)

Early life

Andrey Kuznestov started playing tennis at age six, coached by his father Alexander. In 2001, his family moved to Balashikha, attending the sports club there. His father resumed coaching Andrey and his elder brother Alexey.

According to some mass media reports, Andrey allegedly had problems with his back since his childhood, so he attended manual therapies. But Andrey's coach and father declined it, stating he had problems with his hip and the therapy could be described as tough fitness.

2006–09: Grand Slam Junior title

Kuznetsov played his first ITF junior tournament at the 2006 Black Gold of Udmurtia, but received a walkover in the qualifying round. His first notable achievement was at the Governor Cup in St. Petersburg, reaching the semi-finals there. He reached his first final at the NBU Cup in Uzbekistan. Most of the tournaments were on a clay court, but in 2007 he played on carpet and hard. In this season he reached three finals in singles, winning once, and three doubles finals in doubles, winning twice. His best season was in 2008, when he won three singles titles and played well in doubles. Andrey's last junior tournament became the 2009 Wimbledon, winning his first Grand Slam title. For the first time in 43 years a Russian won the Wimbledon since Soviet Vladimir Korotkov achieved that feat in 1965 and 1966.

As a junior Kuznetsov posted an 80–24 win/loss record in singles, reaching a combined ranking of No. 3 in the world in July 2009.

2010–15: Top 100 and inconsistencies

He made his first main draw Grand Slam appearance at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships where he lost in five sets to seeded Romanian Victor Hănescu. He defeated the 11th seed of the 2013 Australian Open, Juan Mónaco in straight sets in the first round to reach the second round of a grand slam for the first time.

At Wimbledon in 2014, Kuznetsov recorded his first win over a player ranked inside the world's top ten by defeating seventh seed David Ferrer in five sets. The win also took Kuznetsov to the third round of a grand slam for the first time. Later that year, in the US Open, he defeated Fernando Verdasco in the second round, but lost to Andy Murray in the third round.

At the 2015 Australian Open, he got into the second round, but lost to Novak Djokovic.

2016: Russia's number one

Andrey debuted in 2016 at the Qatar Open, losing in the quarterfinals to Rafael Nadal in three tight sets. At the 2016 Australian Open, he got his best ever result in a grand slam, beating Dudi Sela to make it to the fourth round. In the following tournaments he successfully got beyond the first rounds. Reaching the second round of the Miami Open, Kuznetsov became Russia's new number one male tennis player, replacing Teymuraz Gabashvili, who lost in Miami in the first round. Kuznetsov in the second round confidently defeated 4th-seeded Stan Wawrinka, the second time he won against a top-10 player. He then proceeded to beat Adrian Mannarino in the third round 2–6, 7–5, 6–0. In the fourth round he lost to Nick Kyrgios 6–7, 3–6.

Kuznetsov debuted at the Olympic Games. In the first round he was forced to retire before the start of the third set of the match against Roberto Bautista Agut because of injury.

2017: First 3 ATP single semifinals and first doubles final

After a first round loss to fifth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Doha, Kuznetsov made his maiden ATP semifinal appearance in Sydney where he fell to fellow first time semifinalist Dan Evans in another three setter. In the first round of the Australian Open, he pushed fifth seed Kei Nishikori to five sets. In the first round of the Davis Cup World Group, he teamed up with Konstantin Kravchuk in Russia's doubles rubber against Serbia but they lost in four sets to Viktor Troicki and Nenad Zimonjić. A week later, he lost to Troicki and Zimonjić again, this time in the doubles final of the Garanti Koza Sofia Open. He ended a three match losing streak at the Miami Open where he reached the second round.

Kuznetsov began his clay season in Monte Carlo where he qualified for the main draw following wins over established players Julien Benneteau and Mikhail Youzhny. He then lost to the ninth seed Tomas Berdych after taking the first set. He reached his second quarterfinal of the year at the inaugural Hungarian Open where he upset the third seed Fabio Fognini en route. After a three set first round loss to Tsonga at the Mutua Madrid Open, Kuznetsov advanced to his second ATP semifinal in singles at the Geneva Open where he fell to world No. 3 and defending champion Stan Wawrinka in straight sets. At the French Open, he took a set off world No. 1 Andy Murray in the first round. In the SkiStar Swedish Open he made it to his third career semifinal, also his third semifinal this year. He first beat German tennis player Jan-Lennard Struff in only 2 sets. He then defeated no.1 seed, Pablo Carreño Busta, after Carreño Busta retired in the third set. He then beat 7th seed Diego Schwartzman in the quarterfinals in straight sets to eventually lose to Alexandr Dolgopolov in the semifinals.

Playing style

Kuznetsov is an aggressive baseliner. He likes to hit it very hard and especially cross-court. While his forehand used to be somewhat of a weakness, it has now developed into a competent shot which he can use as a weapon. On the other hand, his main weakness is his second serve.

Patrick Mouratoglou in 2011 noted his flat shots, nice serve and volley play and a great forehand, but also felt his shot placement and movement should be improved.

Singles performance timeline

Current through the 2017 US Open.

Participations: (8–1)