Alex Kuznetsov
 | |
| Country (sports) |  United States |
|---|---|
| Residence | Richboro, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Born | February 5, 1987 Kiev, USSR (now Ukraine) |
| Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) |
| Turned pro | 2004 |
| Plays | Right-handed |
| Prize money | $416,958 |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 4–13 |
| Career titles | 0 |
| Highest ranking | No. 158 (April 16, 2007) |
| Current ranking | No. 167 (January 9, 2012) |
| Grand Slam singles results | |
| Australian Open | 2R (2007) |
| French Open | Q2 (2007) |
| Wimbledon | Q2 (2007, 2010) |
| US Open | 1R (2006, 2007) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 9–12 |
| Career titles | 0 |
| Highest ranking | No. 78 (September 24, 2007) |
| Last updated on: January 17, 2010. | |
Alex Kuznetsov (born 5 February 1987) is an American tennis player, accomplished in junior tennis. He moved from Ukraine to the US when he was 3 years old. Some consider him to be among the "next wave" of American tennis players, along with other young American players such as Sam Querrey, John Isner, Jesse Witten, Ryan Sweeting, and Jesse Levine.
Some hope that young players such as Kuznetsov, Isner, Witten, Levine, Sweeting and Querrey can provide a boost to American tennis, with Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi retired and "aging" American tennis players Andy Roddick, James Blake, and Mardy Fish. Though born in Ukraine, his family moved to the United States when he was three, and settled just outside of Philadelphia. He still resides there, in Richboro, Pennsylvania. Alex is represented by Gavin Forbes and Olivier van Lindonk of IMG.
Tennis career
Pre-2006
Juniors
Coached by Robert Fisher at Germantown Cricket Club during youth. Considered by Brad Gilbert at one time "(The)Next big thing in American Tennis" after Andy Roddick, Passing on then top American Junior, Jarrett Chirico who now coaches at Germantown Cricket Club. Alex was given this title because at the time the USTA thought big body with hard serve would turn out the best players, like Andy Roddick.
Turning Pro
Nike offered Alex a 2 million dollar sponsorship contract as soon as he turned pro which he accepted.
2006
In July 2006 Alex played in the Comerica Challenger in Aptos def Go Soeda for the 2006 singles title In his ATP Tour Grand Slam career, he played singles in the US Open in 2006, losing to 14th seeded Tommy Haas, and the 2007 Australian Open, advancing to the second round defeating Australian Peter Luczak before losing to fellow American James Blake, 6–4, 6–1, 6–2. Kuznetsov gave Blake a scare by breaking Blake on Blake's first two service games.
In 2006, Kuznetsov appeared in the video game Top Spin 2 as an up-and-coming star.
2007
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 7th-seeded Frenchmen Arnaud Clément and Michaël Llodra 7–6 (5), 6–4, before losing in the third round to 9th-seeded Czechs Lukáš Dlouhý and Pavel Vízner, 6–4, 7–5.
The USTA asked Kuznetsov and two other young American men to play off in late December for the wild-card berth in the Australian Open that the organization received in a reciprocal agreement with Tennis Australia. The other players selected based on age (22 and under) and ranking (top 200) to compete in Boca Raton, Florida, were Levine and Wayne Odesnik. They played in a round-robin format.[1] Levine won the wild card.[2]
Personal
He is not related to Russian tennis player Svetlana Kuznetsova.
References
- ^ "Isner on outside looking in at Australian Open ... for now" ESPN, 12/11/07, accessed 12/13/07
- ^ "Boca's Levine earns Aussie wild card with win over Odesnik", South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 12/20/07, accessed 12/20/07]