Alex Kuznetsov
{{short description|American tennis player}}
{{about|the tennis player|other people of the same name|Aleksandr Kuznetsov (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2013}}
{{Infobox tennis biography
| name = Alex Kuznetsov
| image = Kuznetsov Al. WMQ14 (6) (14606959325).jpg
| country = {{USA}}
| residence = Tampa, Florida, United States
| native_name_lang = uk
| native_name = Алекс Кузнєцов
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1987|2|5}}
| birth_place = Kiev, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Kyiv, Ukraine)
| height = {{height|m=1.83|precision=0}}
| turnedpro = 2004
| retired = 2016
| plays = Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
| careerprizemoney = $909,591
| singlesrecord = 9–30
| singlestitles = 0
| highestsinglesranking = No. 120 (September 30, 2013)
| currentsinglesranking =
| AustralianOpenresult = 2R (2007)
| FrenchOpenresult = 1R (2013)
| Wimbledonresult = 1R (2013, 2014)
| USOpenresult = 1R (2006, 2007)
| doublesrecord = 9–14
| doublestitles = 0
| highestdoublesranking = No. 78 (September 24, 2007)
| currentdoublesranking =
| updated = July 17, 2016
}}
Alex Kuznetsov{{efn|{{langx|uk|Алекс Кузнєцов|{{transliteration|uk|ukrainian|Aleks Kuznietsov}}}}}} (born February 5, 1987) is a retired professional tennis player. He is a former hitting partner of Maria Sharapova.
Personal life
Kuznetsov was born in Kiev, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Kyiv, Ukraine). His family moved to the United States when he was three years old, settling just outside Philadelphia.
He now lives in Tampa, Florida, where he trains at Saddlebrook Resort Club with John Isner and Tim Smyczek.{{fact|date=May 2025}}
Tennis career
=Juniors=
Kuznetsov was coached by Jason Katzer during his youth. As a junior, Kuznetsov compiled a singles win–loss record of 67–27 (50-21 in doubles), reaching a combined junior world ranking of number 4 in July 2004.
Junior Slam results – Singles:
Australian Open: -
French Open: F (2004)
Wimbledon: 2R (2004)
US Open: 3R (2005)
Nike offered Kuznetsov a one-million dollar sponsorship contract as soon as he turned pro, which he accepted.{{fact|date=May 2025}}
=2006=
In July 2006, Kuznetsov played in the Comerica Challenger in Aptos, defeating Go Soeda for the 2006 singles title. At the 2006 US Open, he lost to fourteenth seed Tommy Haas.
That same year, Kuznetsov appeared in the video game Top Spin 2 as an up-and-coming star.
=2007=
Kuznetsov reached the second round of the 2007 Australian Open, defeating Australian Peter Luczak before losing to fellow American James Blake, 6–4, 6–1, 6–2. Kuznetsov gave Blake an early scare by breaking Blake's first two service games.
In April 2007, he reached his career-high singles ranking of World number 158.
In the 2007 US Open he played doubles with American Jesse Levine. They won their first round match over Dominik Hrbatý of Slovakia and Harel Levy of Israel, 6–1, 6–4, and their second round match, upsetting seventh-seeded Frenchmen Arnaud Clément and Michaël Llodra 7–6(5), 6–4, before losing in the third round to ninth-seeded Czechs Lukáš Dlouhý and Pavel Vízner, 6–4, 7–5.
In December, Kuznetsov, Levine, and Wayne Odesnik were invited by the USTA to play off in a round-robin for the wild-card berth in the Australian Open.[https://www.espn.com/sports/tennis/notebook?page=notebook/tennis1211 "Isner on outside looking in at Australian Open ... for now"] ESPN, 12/11/07, accessed 12/13/07 Levine won the wild card.{{Cite news|url=https://www.usta.com/Archive/News/Pro-Tennis/514792_Madison_Brengle_and_Jesse_Levine_Win_Australian_Open_Wild_Cards/|title=Madison Brengle and Jesse Levine Win Australian Open Wild Cards|publisher=United States Tennis Association|access-date=March 28, 2016|archive-date=April 14, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160414045143/https://www.usta.com/Archive/News/Pro-Tennis/514792_Madison_Brengle_and_Jesse_Levine_Win_Australian_Open_Wild_Cards/|url-status=dead}}
Performance timelines
{{Performance key|short=yes|active=no}}
= Singles =
Current through 2015 Australian Open.
| class=wikitable style=text-align:center;font-size:97%
!Tournament!!2006!!2007!!2008!!2009!!2010!!2011!!2012!!2013!!2014!!2015!!{{Tooltip|W–L|Win–loss}} |
| colspan=15 align=left|Grand Slam tournaments |
| align=left|Australian Open
|A |bgcolor=afeeee|2R |Q2 |A |Q1 |Q3 |bgcolor=afeeee|1R |Q1 |Q3 |Q3 |1–2 |
| align=left|French Open
|A |Q2 |Q1 |A |A |Q1 |Q2 |bgcolor=afeeee|1R |Q1 |A |0–1 |
| align=left|Wimbledon
|A |Q2 |Q1 |A |Q2 |Q2 |Q1 |bgcolor=afeeee|1R |bgcolor=afeeee|1R | |0–2 |
| align=left|US Open
|bgcolor=afeeee|1R |bgcolor=afeeee|1R |Q3 |Q1 |Q1 |Q1 |Q1 |Q3 |Q1 | |2–3 |
| style=text-align:left|Win–loss
!0–1 !1–2 !0–0 !0–0 !0–0 !0–0 !0–1 !2–3 !0–1 !0–0 !3–8 |
|---|
| colspan=15 align=left|Career statistics |
| style=text-align:left|Titles–Finals
!0–0 !0–0 !0–0 !0–0 !0–0 !0–0 !0–0 !0–0 !0–0 !0–0 !0–0 |
| align=left|Year-end ranking
|223 |180 |344 |198 |250 |169 |224 |142 |182 | ! |
=Doubles=
Current till US Open.
| class=wikitable style=text-align:center;font-size:97% |
| colspan=15 align=left|Grand Slam tournaments |
| align=left|Australian Open
| | | | | | | |0-0 |
| align=left|French Open
| | | | | | | |0–0 |
| align=left|Wimbledon
| | | |bgcolor=afeeee|1R | | | |0–1 |
| align=left|US Open
|bgcolor=afeeee|1R |bgcolor=afeeee|2R |bgcolor=afeeee|1R |bgcolor=afeeee|3R |bgcolor=afeeee|1R |bgcolor=afeeee|1R |bgcolor=afeeee|1R |3-7 |
| style=text-align:left|Win–loss
!0–1 !1–1 !0–1 !2–2 !0–1 !0–1 !0–1 !3–8 |
|---|
| colspan=15 align=left|Career statistics |
| style=text-align:left|Titles–Finals
!0–0 !0–0 !0–0 !0–0 !0–0 !0–0 !0–0 !0–0 |
Notes
{{notelist}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{ATP}}
- {{ITF}}
- {{ESPN Tennis}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20111005075514/http://alexkuznetsov.8m.com/ The official website of Alex Kuznetsov]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuznetsov, Alex}}
Category:American male tennis players
Category:Ukrainian emigrants to the United States