Yevgeny Kafelnikov recognized best tennis player XX century in Russia. He is the owner of all possible titles in tennis: Olympic champion, Grand Slam winner, Davis Cup winner.
Kafelnikov Evgeniy Alexandrovich
Born 02/18/1974
Personal achievements:
- Olympic champion 2000 in singles.
- Winner of 2 Grand Slam singles tournaments ( Roland Garros-1996; Australian Open-1999).
- Australian Open 2000 finalist in singles.
- Winner of 26 ATP singles tournaments.
- Finalist of 20 ATP tournaments in singles.
- Professional career singles win-loss record: 609-306.
- Retained the title of world number one for 6 weeks.
- Winner of 4 Grand Slam tournaments in doubles(Roland Garros – 1996, 1997, 2002, US Open – 1997).
- Finalist of Roland Garros 2003 in doubles.
- Winner of 27 ATP doubles tournaments.
- Finalist of 14 ATP tournaments in doubles.
- Professional career doubles win-loss record: 358-213.
Team Achievements:
- Winner of the 2002 Davis Cup.
- Davis Cup finalist 1994, 1995.
Start
Evgeniy began playing tennis at the age of six and trained in his native Sochi until he came of age. Literally a year after the start of training, Kafelnikov came to the attention of the coaches of the USSR youth team, who began to closely monitor the young tennis player.
Zhenya’s first victories came in doubles. Together with Andrei Medvedev, he became a two-time European champion at his age, and in 1990 they became winners of the junior Davis Cup.
In 1991, Kafelnikov changed his coach and moved to Moscow along with Anatoly Aleksandrovich Lepeshin, who was able to find sponsors for a promising player.
Climbing
New country - new order. Since 1992, Kafelnikov has been a professional, meaning his income directly depends on his results. In just two seasons, Evgeniy went from an mediocre master to an elite player. Judge for yourself: he met the year 1993 as the 275th racket in the world, and at the time of the chiming clock on December 31, 1994, he was in full swing knocking on the TOP 10, settling in 11th position.
The first victories at the ATP tournaments Tour. Kafelnikov also performs successfully at Grand Slam tournaments. So, in the 1995 season he reached the semi-finals of Roland Garros and was among the top eight at the Australian Open and Wimbledon.
With growth sportsmanship Evgeniy, the Russian national team takes the leading position in the Davis Cup, with Kafelnikov participating in the final battles against the Swedes and Americans for two years in a row.
Champion
By 1996, Kafelnikov was finally consolidating his status as an elite tennis player. First of all, experts note the versatility of our player: he performs with equal success on all courts, demonstrating smart game on the back line, which, coupled with excellent endurance, allows Evgeniy to be considered one of the main favorites of the Tour.
Our compatriot becomes a true star of world tennis after defeating the great one in the semi-finals of Roland Garros. But these were flowers: two days later, Kafelnikov beat Michael Stich and became the first Russian tennis player to celebrate success at the Grand Slam tournament.
Yevgeny Kafelnikov - winner of Roland Garros 1996 What is noteworthy is that Evgeniy achieved a golden double: together with Daniel Vacek, he won the doubles competition. The Russian-Czech tandem will become a Grand Slam triumphant twice more in the 1997 season: first, confirming the non-accidentality of its success on French soil and crowning the year with a victory at the US Open.
In singles, Kafelnikov showed himself especially brightly at the Australian Open, becoming its winner in the winter of 1999, defeating Thomas Enquist, and losing in the final of the first tournament of the 21st century to Andre Agassi.
Well, Kafelnikov won his main victory on October 2, 2000 in Sydney. Having broken the pressure of Tommy Haas in a five-set match, Evgeniy becomes an Olympic champion and a hero of Russia, summing up with this triumph his many years of being among the top ten strongest tennis players in the world.
Recession and the long-awaited Davis Cup
Unfortunately, success in Sydney was the last significant personal victory in Evgeniy’s career. If at the end of 2001 he even improved his position on the Tour, finishing the season in 4th place and having two quarterfinals and one semifinal at Grand Slam tournaments, then in 2002 Kafelnikov’s results began to deteriorate sharply.
Yevgeny Kafelnikov - winner of the 2002 Davis Cup as part of the Russian national team By the fall, Evgeniy’s game had completely gone wrong, and he was unable to become the winner of the home Kremlin Cup for the sixth time in a row. But the third time, Kafelnikov won the Davis Cup. And even though the formal laurels of the winners belong primarily to Mikhail Youzhny and, our hero’s contribution to the team’s success cannot be underestimated. It was Kafelnikov who was the locomotive of domestic tennis, followed by the rest.
Heritage
Despite the fact that Kafelnikov was unable to leave on a winning note, ending his career as the 41st racket in the world, his legacy is beyond doubt. While Russia was recovering from the collapse of the USSR, he became one of the main athletes new country, proving with their play that there are professionals not only in the West.
In addition to his own achievements, Evgeniy paved the way to glory for Marat Safin, showing by his example how one can be successful. This assessment of his performance is confirmed by the fact that Kafelnikov finished the season six times in the top ten tennis players in the world. Add to this two victories at the Grand Slam tournaments and the title of Olympic champion - by all measures, a grandiose career!
Yevgeny Kafelnikov is a Russian athlete, a star of the tennis court, the first Russian to climb to the first place on the podium at the Roland Garros 1996 tournament, and three years later he already held the title of first racket of the world. Olympic champion (Sydney, 2000), Davis Cup winner (2002), Russian golf champion (2011).
The Russian tennis player, who is called the most titled in the history of the country, was born in the south, in Krasnodar region. Children's and teenage years Evgenia Kafelnikov.
The first to notice his son’s excellent athletic abilities was his father, a volleyball player. At the age of 5, Evgeniy picked up tennis racket and soon demonstrated an amazing “feel for the ball.” This was confirmed by the boy’s first coaches Valery Peschanko and Valery Shishkin. At the age of 6 he already participated in tournaments. At 7 Kafelnikov was included in the group Olympic reserve Soviet national tennis team.
The speed of reaction and skill demonstrated by Yevgeny Kafelnikov was amazing. The young athlete learned the secrets of the game extremely quickly. At the age of 11, Zhenya was already demonstrating his own intellectual style.
Tennis
The prospects of 13-year-old Kafelnikov were highly assessed, but coach Valery Shishkin did not want to force events and “held back” the athlete for a breakthrough. And so it happened: in 1990, Evgeniy won the Youth World Cup.
The following year, the young athlete trained at Nick Bollettieri's academy in Florida. After this, Yevgeny Kafelnikov returned to the country and finally moved to the capital. The young athlete was accepted into the VFSO Dynamo. Leading Russian master Anatoly Lepeshin became Kafelnikov’s coach for many years. According to Evgeniy, it was this mentor who made a real athlete out of the young man. To promote his mentee, the coach found sponsors, since the young athlete’s family could not afford to finance their son’s education and travel to tournaments.
Lepeshin went to all competitions with Evgeniy, teaching him strict discipline. The young man received his higher education at the Kuban Academy of Physical Education.
Sports biography Evgenia Kafelnikova is like a rapidly taking off rocket. From the initial 423rd place in the world rankings, which he occupied in 1991, Kafelnikov managed to reach the first hundred of the best tennis players in the world. And a year later, the Russian approached the top ten leaders on the tennis court. Evgeniy was accepted into the elite of world tennis.
Since 1995, Yevgeny Kafelnikov has consistently been among the top ten strongest tennis players in the world. The Russian's rivals were Pete Sampras, Patrick Rafter, Michael Stich, Thomas Muster and others. Kafelnikov won and reached the finals and quarterfinals of the Kremlin Cup, Grand Slam and Davis Cup tournaments.
But main victory Evgenia Kafelnikova happened in 1996. The Russian tennis player was the first among his compatriots to win the Roland Garros tournament in singles.
In 1998, the athlete set himself an ambitious goal: to achieve leadership positions in the world rankings. To do this, the tennis player changed his coach. Lepeshin's place was taken by American Larry Stefanki.
Kafelnikov achieved his goal and soon won the 2nd Grand Slam tournament, and in the spring of 1999 Evgeniy was named the first racket of the world. But the real triumph was brought to the tennis player by XXVII summer olympics in Sydney. Yevgeny Kafelnikov became the champion, managing to beat German tennis player Tommy Haas in the final. State Russian star Tennis was valued at $15 million in 2001.
In 2002, another significant victory: the Russian was in the lead at the most prestigious tournament in the history of world tennis - the Davis Cup. Since then, the tennis player has been considered a true legend of the sport. Kafelnikov is famous for his unique attacking style of play, for which he received the nickname “Kalashnikov.”
Having reached an unprecedented height, the athlete quietly left the “front line”. Evgeniy did not announce this and did not organize any “farewell” competitions. Kafelnikov simply stopped participating in tournaments. But, having managed to reach the top, he could not leave the sport. Evgeniy switched to golf, in which he also managed to achieve victories. Since 2005, the athlete has been participating in competitions top level. In 2011, he was the leader in the Russian championship, literally snatching victory in last minutes round.
In the late 2000s, Evgeni temporarily resumed his tennis career. Kafelnikov became a participant in veteran tennis tournaments. Tennis fans could watch friendly match between the Russian athlete and Thomas Muster, who shone at the Grand Slam tournaments in the mid-90s. The meeting of two sports legends took place at Roland Garros 2009.
A year later, Kafelnikov re-entered the court against Andrei Medvedev, Goran Ivanisevic and Michael Stich. In the same year, Evgeniy for the first time sports career reached the final competition at Wimbledon, paired with Wayne Ferreira.
In 2010-2011, Kafelnikov became one of the participants in the “Legends of Tennis in Moscow” tournament along with Jim Courier, Andrei Cherkasov and.
Yevgeny Kafelnikov also pilots planes and plays poker brilliantly. The athlete took part in the competition tournament World Series of Poker-2005. The legendary athlete does not forget about charity. In 2001, Evgeniy won the Kremlin Cup and donated the entire winnings of $100 thousand to the relatives of those killed in a plane crash over the Black Sea. IN hometown Kafelnikov finances a section for young tennis players. Evgeniy also became a sponsor of the local clinical hospital, purchasing expensive equipment.
Personal life
The tennis player’s enormous busyness did not allow him to be distracted by everything that did not relate to sports. But at the age of 23, Yevgeny Kafelnikov’s personal life changed. The athlete met the beautiful model Maria Tishkova. Masha traveled with Evgeniy for a long time different cities and countries where the spouse participated in tournaments and Olympiads.
In 1998, the news of Masha’s pregnancy “hurried” the couple into marriage. That same year, a daughter was born. For Maria, the girl turned out to be the second child, because the model already had a daughter, Diana, born in her first marriage to singer Christian Ray.
After the birth of her second daughter, Maria had no time left to travel for her husband. The wife and daughters were waiting for her husband at home. Among other things, Masha became interested in a religious movement, of which her father also became a prominent adherent. The woman donated considerable sums to the needs of the Canadian sect, which her husband did not want to put up with. The relationship went wrong and led to divorce.
The couple's separation, which occurred three years after the wedding, turned out to be painful and scandalous. Kafelnikov sued his daughter Alesya from his wife. Evgeniy tried to arrange his personal life, but soon reunited with his wife. Together with Maria, Evgeniy managed to appear at social events. Later, Maria again disappeared from the former tennis player’s inner circle.
Now the daughter of tennis player Alesya Kafelnikova lives with her father and is making progress in her modeling career. As a child, Alesya lived in Sochi with Evgeniy’s parents, where she spent time on the tennis court, at a riding school, then studied in Moscow and abroad. At the age of 15 she began her modeling career. The girl decided to get her higher education in Russia and entered two universities: the Financial Academy and the Ostankino Television School. On the silver screen, Alesya made her debut in the talk show “Let Them Talk” with.
For some time there was a misunderstanding between the father and Alesya, which provoked the father into “
On February 18, 1974, newborn Sochi resident Zhenya Kafelnikov, nicknamed “prince” for his five-kilogram weight, did not yet suspect what awaited him in the future: tennis courts, millions of fans around the world, victories at the most prestigious competitions. Of course, all this did not come to him right away and took many hours of intense training.
Zhenya’s love for tennis was instilled in him by his father, a former volleyball player, who placed little Evgeni in the care of coach V.B. Peschanko. We went through our first training sessions, learned basic techniques, and it became clear that Zhenya has a sense of the ball. It was decided to transfer five-year-old Evgeniy to mentor V.V. Shishkin. The coach immediately fell in love with Zhenya, loved him as a tennis player and a person, considering him his most promising student. They worked together for about 12 years. Under the leadership of Valery Shishkin, Evgeniy developed as a player. Already in 1981, Zhenya was included in the “Olympic reserve” group of the USSR national team. Kafelnikov achieved his first significant successes in doubles, twice becoming European champion (under 14 and under 16 years old) together with Andrei Medvedev. In 1989, 1990 he won the World Cup as part of the USSR national team - with Medvedev, Tomashevich and Ogorodov. In the spring of 1991, he attended an internship at Nick Bolliteri's academy, where he played several sets with Pete Sampras for the first time. After a trip to the USA (in the fall of 1991), Shishkin and Kafelnikov broke up.
Anatoly Lepeshin became Zhenya’s new coach. The mentor initially did not believe in Evgeniy, considering the young athlete no different from others, although even then Shamil Tarpishchev saw Zhenya and appreciated him well. He wrote: “Yevgeny Kafelnikov, a talented tennis player, broke into the elite - at the age of 12-14 he was rated higher than Andrei Medvedev.”
Forgetting about the initial differences, Lepeshin and Kafelnikov worked together. The coach turned out to be a strong psychologist and strong-willed person. He helped Zhenya a lot, disciplined him, and forced him to take the matter seriously. And who knows, Zhenya would have achieved such success if he had been coached by another person at that moment. And the successes were truly amazing: victories on the professional tour, winning the Grand Slam tournament - Roland Garros, both in singles and doubles. Before Zhenya, no Russian had conquered such peaks!
However, in 1998, Lepeshin and Kafelnikov diverged. Since 1999, Larry Stefanki began to coach the best Russian tennis player, very famous trainer, which gave impetus to potentially untapped talent. And Zhenya won another Grand Slam tournament, the Australian Open! And then again and again Evgeniy won various tournaments. Under the leadership of Stefanka, Kafelnikov became the first racket of the world and Olympic champion. It would seem like an ideal duet. Apparently, something was still wrong: Larry and Zhenya broke up. Things didn’t work out for Zhenya and his wife Masha - he was left alone with his daughter Olesya. Some kind of evil fate - parting with loved ones!
Despite all the hardships, Yevgeny Kafelnikov is an extraordinary person and great athlete. Zhenya loves not only tennis - since childhood he likes fishing, mature age began to fly an airplane, and recently became interested in golf. For professional career he won 26 singles tournaments and 27 doubles, became the champion of the French and Australian Opens, and in 2000 he won gold at the Sydney Olympics. And in 2002, another dream of Zhenya came true - the Davis Cup. Together with Marat Safin, Mikhail Yuzhny and Andrey Stolyarov, Evgeniy won the most prestigious team tennis trophy. After the victory of the Russian team in the Davis Cup, Evgeniy planned to leave tennis. However, he stayed and spent the entire 2003 on tour. Reached the final in Milan, was in the semi-finals at the Masters in Rome, won 2 tournaments in pairs - Indian Wells and Washington.
Biography Evgenia Kafelnikova
The future tennis player was born in the warm city of Sochi; it is known that his father was a volleyball player. It was he who recognized suitable sports inclinations in his little son. It was he who taught five-year-old Evgeniy how to hold a tennis racket correctly and feel the ball. Then professional trainers took over the child’s upbringing and prepared Kafelnikov Jr. for participation in tournaments. At the age of 6, Evgeniy first appeared on the court, and at the age of 7 he was already enrolled in the Olympic reserve group of the Soviet tennis team. Good reaction and acquired skills allowed young athlete by the age of 11, develop your own intellectual style in the game. Soon the first victory at the Youth World Cup came. After which Kafelnikov was taken to Moscow, to the VFSO Dynamo. Coach Anatoly Lepeshin personally looked for sponsors to pay for the young tennis player’s education and his trips to prestigious tournaments. Together with his ward, he went to competitions, at the same time instilling in him iron discipline. Kafelnikov received his higher education diploma from the Kuban Academy of Physical Education, in absentia.
Evgeniy’s sports career developed rapidly; in 1991, he managed to enter the top 100 tennis leaders in the world. And in 1992 he became one of the top ten. The athlete confidently held this position for several subsequent years. He competed with the most famous opponents and often emerged victorious in tournaments. 1996 brought Kafelnikov first among Russian athletes prestigious Roland Garros. In 1999, he received the status of the first racket of the world, after which he became the Olympic champion at the Olympic Games in Sydney and a little later won the Davis Cup. By this time, the Russian tennis player’s fortune was already estimated at $15 million.
Gradually, Kafelnikov simply stopped participating in tournaments. But, having reached the top, he could not completely leave the sport. Evgeniy began to take part in veterans' tennis tournaments and also became interested in golf, in which he also excelled. In addition, the famous tennis player pilots planes, plays excellent poker and is involved in charity work. He also holds the post of vice-president of the Tennis Federation in the Russian Federation.
Personal life of Yevgeny Kafelnikov
At the age of 23, the athlete married model Maria Tishkova, who, until the birth of their common daughter Alesya, accompanied her husband on all trips to tournaments. Maria had another daughter from her first marriage to singer Christian Ray. After Alesya was born in 1998, the couple’s travels together ended. In addition, Maria fell under the influence of sectarians and began donating huge sums to this organization. Because of this, family relationships went wrong and led to divorce. Evgeniy sued his daughter ex-wife and for some time he took her to be raised by his parents in Sochi. The girl received a good education, both in Russia and abroad. At the age of fifteen she began her modeling career. From time to time, father and daughter share problems and disagreements on social networks. Recently it became known that, whose name is the same as his daughter.
Awards and achievements of Yevgeny Kafelnikov
- 1996 - Roland Garros champion in singles
- 1996, 1997, 2002 - Roland Garros champion in doubles
- 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 - winner of the Kremlin Cup
- 1997 - US Open doubles champion
- 1999 - Australian Open singles champion
- 2000 - gold medal at the Sydney Olympics
- 2002 - Winner of the 2002 Davis Cup as part of the Russian national team
- 2000 - medal “For outstanding contribution to the development of Kuban”
- 2001 - special Fair play award from the Russian Olympic Committee
- Recognized in Russia as the best tennis player of the century
Yevgeny Kafelnikov was born on February 18, 1974 in the city of Sochi. WITH early childhood the boy played tennis. Zhenya’s first coach was Valery Borisovich Peschanko. In 1981, the young athlete was included in the Olympic reserve.
Evgeniy’s first successes came in doubles with Andrei Medvedev, with whom they won the European Junior Championships twice, and won the World Cup as part of the national team in 1989 and 1990 Soviet Union. Evgeny Kafelnikov, training with Anatoly Aleksandrovich Lepeshin, becomes the first Russian to win the Grand Slam tournament, Roland Garros, both in singles and doubles.
Then, in 1999, Lari Stefanki became Evgeniy’s coach. It was during this period that Kafelnikov won another tournament in the series “ Grand slam", "Australian open" and becomes the first racket of the world. And in 2000, the tennis player won the Olympic Games in Sydney. For my sports life Yevgeny Kafelnikov won 26 singles tournaments and 27 doubles tournaments.
In December 2002, as a member of the Russian national team, he won the long-awaited Davis Cup. The famous tennis player waited for this victory for ten years.
Honored Master of Sports of Russia, the most titled tennis player in the history of Russia, Kafelnikov was awarded the Order of Honor, the medal “For Outstanding Contribution to the Development of Kuban” and the special Fair Play Award of the Russian Olympic Committee.
In 2003, Kafelnikov completed his sports career. Two years later he began working as a full-time employee. sports commentator television company NTV-plus. But after leaving tennis, he did not leave the sport and, having reached the age of thirty-five, since 2009 he has been taking part in tennis tournaments veterans.
Since that time, he has been playing golf professionally, becoming the Russian champion in 2011. this species sports. Yevgeny Kafelnikov is also an honorary member of the Russian Golf Association, first vice-president and member of the Presidium of the Russian Golf Association.
Evgeniy Aleksandrovich was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, UK on January 21, 2019. Kafelnikov became the second Russian to receive such an honor. Marat Safin was the first there.
Sports Achievements of Yevgeny Kafelnikov
1996 - Roland Garros champion in singles
1996, 1997, 2002 - Roland Garros champion in doubles
1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 - winner of the Kremlin Cup
1997 - US Open doubles champion
1999 - Australian Open champion in singles
2000 - Gold medal at the Sydney Olympics
2002 - Winner of the 2002 Davis Cup as part of the Russian national team
2000 - Medal “For outstanding contribution to the development of Kuban”
2001 - Special Fair play award from the Russian Olympic Committee
In 2000, he entered the top ten most titled all-rounders in the world: he became the tenth player in the history of the Open Era since 1968 to win at least 20 titles in both singles and doubles.
