Viktor Troicki

Personal life

Troicki was born in Belgrade. He is of Russian and Serbian origin. His paternal grandparents emigrated from Tver and Rostov-on-Don to Serbia in 1917.

Career

Troicki started playing tennis in his hometown of Belgrade at the age of 5 and began to show early promise to local coaches.

Juniors

As a junior, Troicki compiled a singles win/loss record of 68–31 (52–20 in doubles) and reached a combined ranking of No. 10 in the junior world rankings in October 2004.

Junior Slam results:

Australian Open: –
French Open: 3R (2004)
Wimbledon: 2R (2004)
US Open: QF (2004)

2003–2007

From 2003, he started playing Futures tournaments in Serbia; and in 2004, he won his first tennis tournament in Niš. He won his first Challenger tournament also in Belgrade, on 20 January 2005, beating Fabio Colangelo from Italy 6–2, 6–1.

He made his debut on ATP Tour in Tokyo, in October 2006. He passed the first round, beating Fernando Vicente from Spain 6–7, 6–4, 6–2, but lost in the second round to then-World No. 1 Roger Federer, in a tight match 7–6, 7–6.

In July 2007, in Umag as a qualifier, he had his biggest win over World No. 3, countryman and friend Novak Djoković in the second round 2–6, 6–4, 7–5, but he eventually lost in his first semifinal to Andrei Pavel of Romania.

2008: First ATP final

Troicki's first Grand Slam tournament came when he advanced as a qualifier in the 2008 Australian Open. Facing second seed Rafael Nadal in the first round, he played a tight match and held a set point in the first set, but lost 6–7, 5–7, 1–6.

He then represented Serbia in the Davis Cup against Russia, losing to Nikolay Davydenko 1–6, 6–1, 3–6, 6–1, 2–6, and defeating Dmitry Tursunov 7–6, 4–6, 6–3.

His next appearance was in the ATP Masters Series in Miami, Florida. He faced Andy Roddick in the second round. It was an interesting match, with Troicki taking the first set from Roddick, where he attempted an angled drop shot which Roddick returned it with an even more angled shot on his backhand. After this, it seemed to go downhill for Troicki, and he eventually lost 7–5, 2–6, 4–6. He then competed in the 2008 Torneo Godó, where he retired against Nicolás Almagro 2–6, ret. In his French Open debut, he lost in the opening round to Marc Gicquel 4–6, 3–6, 6–4, 5–7. He then competed in three straight tournaments, in the 2008 Queen's Club Championships losing to David Nalbandian in the second round, in the 2008 Ordina Open, losing to Guillermo Cañas in the quarterfinals, and in the 2008 Wimbledon Championships to Radek Štěpánek in the second round, after winning the first two sets 7–6, 7–6, 3–6, 1–6, 2–6.

Following Wimbledon, he competed in 2008 Croatia Open Umag, losing to Carlos Moyá in the second round.

He then reached his first ATP final in Washington, D.C. at the 2008 Legg Mason Tennis Classic. Troicki defeated American Bobby Reynolds in the round of 16 to face Andy Roddick in the quarterfinals, where Troicki pulled off a major upset by defeating the defending 2007 Legg Mason Tennis Classic champion and top-seeded American 0–6, 6–2, 6–4, to reach the semifinals, where Troicki defeated Igor Kunitsyn, before falling to the second seeded Argentine Juan Martín del Potro 3–6, 3–6.

At the 2008 US Open, Troicki defeated Carsten Ball in the first round and Philipp Kohlschreiber in the second round, before losing to Rafael Nadal.

He then represented Serbia again in the Davis Cup against Slovakia, winning his only match against Lukáš Lacko 6–3, 6–4. He then competed in the 2008 Thailand Open, losing to Jürgen Melzer in the second round, in the 2008 AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships, losing to Andy Roddick, and the 2008 Kremlin Cup, losing to Mischa Zverev, both in the quarterfinals. He ended the year losing in the first round of the St. Petersburg and Paris Masters. He ended the year no. 56 in the world.

2009: Second ATP final & ARAG World Team Cup title

In January 2009, he lost in first round of the 2009 Qatar ExxonMobil Open to Victor Hănescu and in the quarterfinals to Juan Martín del Potro. In second round of the 2009 Australian Open, he was crushed by Tommy Robredo 1–6, 3–6, 0–6. After that, Troicki made a good result in the 2009 PBZ Zagreb Indoors. He lost in the semifinals to Croatian Marin Čilić 6–2, 7–5. Also in February, Troicki won the 2009 GEMAX Open, a Tretorn Serie + Challenger held in Belgrade. In the final, he defeated Dominik Hrbatý in two sets.

In March 2009, Troicki played for the Serbian Davis Cup team, losing to David Ferrer 0–6, 3–6. He then competed in the next Four Masters Series. In the 2009 BNP Paribas Open, he lost to David Nalbandian in the third round 4–6, 2–6 In the Miami Masters, he reached the fourth round before Britain's Andy Murray defeated him 1–6, 0–6. He then lost in the first round to Stanislas Wawrinka in the Monte Carlo Masters, and in the 2009 Rome Masters to Juan Martín del Potro in the second round. Viktor competed in the first tournament of his home nation in the 2009 Serbia Open, losing to compatriot Novak Djokovic. In the 2009 Madrid Masters, he lost to Nikolay Davydenko 2–6, 2–6, in the opener. He then represented Serbia in the ARAG World Team Cup, helping Serbia to win the title by beating Rainer Schüttler in the finals. In the 2009 French Open, he lost to fifth seed and eventual semifinalist Juan Martín del Potro in the second round 3–6, 5–7, 0–6, after defeating Łukasz Kubot in a tight five-setter 3–6, 6–3, 6–4, 6–7, 6–3, a match that lasted 3 hours and 58 minutes.

Troicki was seeded for the first time in a Grand Slam tournament in 2009 Wimbledon Championships, as 30th seed, beating Brian Dabul in straight sets in the first, and winning a five-setter against Daniel Gimeno-Traver in the second round. He lost to Andy Murray in the third round. He then competed in the 2009 International German Open in Hamburg, losing to eventual finalist Paul-Henri Mathieu 0–3, ret., in the quarterfinals due to a foot injury he suffered when he fell hard in the start of the match. He then lost to Máximo González in Umag in the first round 4–6, 6–3, 6–7. He lost to Marc Gicquel in the second round of the 2009 Legg Mason Tennis Classic, 0–3, ret., due to his recurring foot injury suffered in Hamburg after receiving a bye in the first round. He then lost to David Ferrer in the first round of the 2009 Rogers Masters 3–6, 0–6, and retired in the first round of the 2009 Western & Southern Financial Group Masters against Radek Štěpánek 7–6, 1–0, ret. He had recorded five straight loses. Troicki competed in the 2009 US Open as 30th seed and claimed his first victory since Hamburg, defeating Peter Luczak 6–3, 6–3, 1–6, 2–6, 6–1, in the first round, but lost to Julien Benneteau in the following round. He then competed in the 2009 Davis Cup Play-offs, where he won both his matches against Uzbekistan.

Troicki reached another final in the Thailand Open. After defeating Brazil's Thomaz Bellucci 6–3, 7–6, in the round of 16, he then defeated 8th-seeded American John Isner 7–6, 6–2, in the quarterfinals. In his semifinal match, he went on to upset the defending 2008 Bangkok champion, 2008 Australian Open finalist, and top seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga from France 1–6, 6–2, 6–3, to reach his second ATP World Tour final to face the second seeded Frenchman Gilles Simon. He lost 5–7, 3–6. He then competed in the 2009 China Open, where he lost in the second round to compatriot and eventual champion Novak Djokovic 3–6, 0–6. He then competed in the 2009 Shanghai ATP Masters 1000, where he lost to eighth seed Gilles Simon 3–6, 4–6, after defeating Juan Mónaco 6–1, 6–2, in the first round. He was then upset by Karol Beck in the first round of the 2009 St. Petersburg Open, marking his 10th first-round loss in 26 tournaments. He then defeated Benjamin Becker 6–2, 7–6, before losing to Marin Čilić in the second round in a close three setter 6–7, 7–6, 6–7, in the 2009 Davidoff Swiss Indoors. He played his last tournament in the 2009 BNP Paribas Masters, losing in the second round to Radek Štěpánek 4–6, 2–6, after defeating Paul-Henri Mathieu 7–6, 3–0, ret.

2010: First ATP and Davis Cup title

Troicki began the year by competing in the 2010 Qatar ExxonMobil Open as the fifth seed, where he advanced to the semifinals after defeating Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6–1, 7–5, Olivier Rochus 6–2, 6–2, and Łukasz Kubot 4–6, 6–4, 7–6, but lost to Rafael Nadal 1–6, 3–6. At the 2010 Medibank International Sydney, he beat Florent Serra 7–6, 6–4, in the first round and lost to Marcos Baghdatis in the second round 5–7, 3–6. He then lost in the second round of the 2010 Australian Open to Florian Mayer 6–4, 4–6, 6–7, 1–6. In the 2010 PBZ Zagreb Indoors, he was upset by Michael Berrer 4–6, 3–6, in the quarterfinals, after defeating Rainer Schüttler 6–3, 6–2, and Mikhail Kukushkin 7–5, 7–5. He then retired against Jürgen Melzer in the first round of the 2010 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament due to an elbow injury, being 3–6, 0–3 down. He then competed in the 2010 Dubai Tennis Championships, where he lost to compatriot Novak Djokovic in the second round. In the 2010 BNP Paribas Open, he lost in the fourth round to Tomáš Berdych 1–6, 3–6, having only played and won one game in the previous rounds, as he received a bye when his second round opponent Pablo Cuevas retired after one game and Nikolay Davydenko withdrew. In the 2010 Sony Ericsson Open, he lost to David Nalbandian in a close match 3–6, 6–4, 4–6, in the second round, after receiving a bye.

In the start of the clay season, Troicki competed in the 2010 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, losing to 12th seed Tommy Robredo in the second round, after defeating Łukasz Kubot 4–6, 6–2, 6–2. In October 2010 Viktor won his first ATP World Tour title in Moscow, defeating Marcos Baghdatis in the final 3–6, 6–4, 6–3. On his road to the title, he had also eliminated Dmitry Tursunov, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Horacio Zeballos, and Pablo Cuevas.

Troicki was part of Serbia's Davis Cup team that reached the final for the first time in their history in 2010. He was initially overlooked for the singles rubbers, but after compatriot Janko Tipsarević was beaten by Gaël Monfils in straight sets, Troicki was chosen to play the final singles rubber, as well as the doubles. With Serbia and France tied at 2–2, Troicki won the deciding match 6–2, 6–2, 6–3, against Michaël Llodra to clinch Serbia's first Davis Cup, a triumph labeled by national coach Bogdan Obradovic as "the greatest sporting triumph in Serbia's history".

2011: Reaching Top 15

Troicki started 2011 in ATP Doha, where he lost to Roger Federer 2–6, 2–6, in the quarterfinals. Troicki advanced to the finals at ATP Sydney, where he beat Juan Ignacio Chela, Richard Gasquet, Florian Mayer, and in the final, lost to Gilles Simon 5–7, 6–7. Then at the 2011 Australian Open, he reached the third round for the first time, but retired against compatriot and eventual champion Novak Djokovic due to a stomach pain, after losing the first set 2–6. He next played at the 2011 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament and reached the semifinals without dropping a set, but fell to Robin Söderling 5–7, 4–6. He then fell to Philipp Kohlschreiber 1–6, 6–7, in the first round of the 2011 Dubai Tennis Championships. He represented Serbia in the first round of 2011 Davis Cup and won both his matches. He then played the Masters 1000 events, the 2011 BNP Paribas Open and the 2011 Sony Ericsson Open, falling to eventual champion Novak Djokovic in the fourth round in both tournaments. He then reached his first Masters 1000 quarterfinals at the 2011 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, losing to David Ferrer 3–6, 3–6, after his opponent in the previous round Tommy Robredo retired while leading the match 6–3, 1–2. He then suffered early losses in the 2011 Serbia Open, the 2011 Mutua Madrid Open, and the 2011 Internazionali BNL d'Italia. Troicki then represented Serbia in the 2011 Power Horse World Team Cup, winning his matches against Mikhail Youzhny and Marcel Granollers, but losing his match to Florian Mayer. At the 2011 French Open, Troicki reached his first Grand Slam fourth round with wins over Julian Reister, Tobias Kamke, and Alexandr Dolgopolov. In the fourth round, he faced fourth seed Andy Murray, where he lost 6–4, 6–4, 3–6, 2–6, 5–7, despite serving for the match at 5–3 and 30–0 in the final set in a match that was played over two days. He then reached a new career high of no. 12.

At the Gerry Weber Open, Troicki defeated Mischa Zverev and Igor Andreev, before losing to Tomáš Berdych 6–7, 1–6, in the quarterfinal. Troicki reached the second round at Wimbledon, defeating Máximo González, 3–6, 6–0, 7–6, 6–3, before losing to Yen-Hsun Lu 6–7, 4–6, 4–6. At the Legg Mason Tennis Classic, Troicki reached the quarterfinals, defeating Ryan Harrison and Kevin Anderson, but lost to John Isner 6–7, 6–3, 1–6. Next, Troicki played at the Rogers Cup, defeating Michael Yani 2–6, 6–3, 6–1, and John Isner 6–4, 3–6, 6–2, before losing to Gaël Monfils 6–3, 6–7, 6–7, in the third round.

In the US Open, he lost in the first round to Colombian Alejandro Falla. In Moscow in the first all-Serbian final in tennis history, Troicki lost to his good friend Janko Tipsarević 4–6, 2–6.

2012: Second World Team Cup title

In 2012 with only two quarterfinal appearances, this season compared to previous seasons's individual results were sub-par, however his contributions to the Serbian national team did result in winning the 2012 Power Horse World Team Cup along with a third consecutive quarterfinal appearance at the Davis Cup.

2013: Davis Cup runner-up & doping ban

On 25 July 2013, Troicki was banned from playing tennis for 18 months, for failing to provide a blood sample at the Monte-Carlo Masters event. However, the suspension was reduced on appeal to one year, meaning he could play from 15 July 2014. After the Court of Arbitration for Sport announced their decision, Troicki, who had hoped his suspension would be overturned, said that he has "no idea about what to do now or where to go. I hope somehow I will be able to fight back."

2014: Late return to form

After reaching the end of his drug ban, Troicki made his return to professional tennis at an ATP 250 event in Gstaad, receiving a wildcard into the main draw. He defeated 8th seed Dominic Thiem and Andrey Golubev en route to the quarterfinals, where he lost to 4th seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco. He spent the next couple of months on the Challenger Tour, a period in which he won titles in Como, Italy and Banja Luka, Bosnia & Herzegovina. He returned to the ATP World Tour at the Shenzhen Open in China, coming through three rounds of qualifying and defeating world number 5 David Ferrer on his way to the quarterfinals, where he ultimately lost to Santiago Giraldo. He received a wildcard into the China Open in Beijing, and defeated Mikhail Youzhny in his opening match before losing to world number 6 Tomas Berdych. Troicki lost in the second round of qualifying at the Shanghai Masters, however qualified for the main draw in 2014 Erste Bank Open, and ultimately made it to the semifinals before losing to eventual champion Andy Murray in straight sets. His form after returning to the ATP Tour meant his ranking rose from 847th in the world to a year-end ranking just outside the top 100, finishing 101.

2015: Second career title & return to top 20

At the Apia International in Sydney in January 2015, Troicki defeated Gilles Müller 6–2, 6–4 in the semifinals en route to defeating Mikhail Kukushkin 6–2, 6–3 in the finals to capture his second career title. In the first ATP final in history featuring two qualifiers, Troicki dispatched Kukushkin in 64 minutes after breaking the Kazakh twice in each set. This victory brought him 38 positions up on ATP ladder to the position of 54 prior to the 2015 Australian Open. At 2015 Australian Open he made it to 3rd round before being eliminated by world number 7 Tomas Berdych in straight sets. In March, Troicki defeated young Croatian prodigy Borna Ćorić in 5 epic sets in round one of Davis Cup; Serbia would go on to win & progress to the quarterfinals. After defeating Marin Čilić on 14 June Troicki played in the finals of Stuttgart Mercedes Cup versus Rafael Nadal. Troicki played very well but Nadal won in straight sets, 7–6, 6–3. His 2015 US Open campaign opened with a straight sets victory over Frances Tiafoe and a 3–1 win over Rajeev Ram.

2016: Third career title & 250th victory

In January, Troicki collected this third career title as well as defending his Apia title defeating Grigor Dimitrov 2–6, 6–1, 7–6(9–7). It was their second encounter in consecutive weeks with Dimitrov getting the better of him in three sets prior. At the Australian Open he equaled the previous years result making the 3rd round. In February, he was the runner-up at the Sofia Open. At French Open 2016 he made it to fourth round where he lost to previous year champion Stan Wawrinka 7–6(7–5), 6–7(7–9), 6–3, 6–2 after three hours of play. Troicki lost in the second round of the 2016 Wimbledon Championships to Albert Ramos-Viñolas. He was fined for the protracted verbal abuse of umpire Damiano Torella following Torella's overrule of a line call that resulted in a match point for Ramos-Viñolas. Troicki lost the subsequent point and the match. At the Shanghai masters, he finally defeated Rafael Nadal for the first time after six meetings.

2017: Fourth Davis Cup semifinal

He reached the third round at the Australian open, losing to US open champion Stan Wawrinka in four sets, narrowly missing a tiebreaker in the fourth to push for a fifth set. Two solid wins at the first round of the Davis Cup ensured Serbia would reached the quarterfinals for the seventh time in eight years. At the Davis Cup quarterfinals in April, a straight sets victory over world. 19 Pablo Carreño Busta saw him record a personal best serve of 233 km/h. A doubles victory with Zimonjic ensured a fourth Davis Cup semifinal for him & his country.

Career overview

Troicki is a solid all-court player, who has won more matches than he has lost on each surface, however one factor that has kept him from more success is his poor record against top 10 players (60 losses vs 9 wins in career).

Singles

This table is current through the 2017 US Open.

vs. players who have been ranked in the top 10 in their career

Troicki's win–loss record against players who have been ranked World No. 10 or higher: