Andrei Chesnokov
Андрей Чесноков
Country (sports) Soviet Union
 Russia
ResidenceMoscow, Russia
Born (1966-02-02) 2 February 1966 (age 58)
Moscow, Soviet Union
Height1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Turned pro1985
Retired1999
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money$3,084,188
Singles
Career record344–259 (57.4%)
Career titles7
Highest rankingNo. 9 (8 April 1991)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian OpenQF (1988)
French OpenSF (1989)
Wimbledon1R (1986, 1988, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996)
US Open4R (1986, 1987, 1989)
Doubles
Career record7–21
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 342 (12 October 1992)

Andrei Eduardovich Chesnokov (Russian: Андрей Эдуардович Чесноков; born 2 February 1966) is a former professional tennis player from Russia.

Career

Chesnokov's highest singles ranking was World No. 9 in 1991. The biggest tournament victories of his career came at the Monte Carlo Open in 1990, and at the Canadian Open in 1991 (both Tennis Masters Series events).

Chesnokov's best performance at a Grand Slam event came at the French Open in 1989, where he reached the semi-finals by eliminating Pablo Arraya, Jonas Svensson, Carl-Uwe Steeb, Jim Courier and the defending champion Mats Wilander in straight sets in the quarterfinals. He was eliminated by the eventual champion Michael Chang in four sets.

The most famous match in Chesnokov's career took place on 24 September 1995 in the semi-final of the 1995 Davis Cup against Germany. In the fifth set of the final deciding match of the semi-final, playing against Michael Stich, Chesnokov saved nine match points before emerging the winner, the final score being: 6–4, 1–6, 1–6, 6–3, 14–12. The next day President of Russia Boris Yeltsin awarded Chesnokov with Order of Courage.

During his career, Chesnokov won seven top-level singles titles and earned prize-money totalling US$3,084,188. He retired from the professional tour in 1999, even if the last full year on tour was 1995 and from 1996 on he played only a few tournaments.

On 20 November 2005, during a visit to Dnipropetrovsk (Ukraine), he was shot twice with rubber bullets after a quarrel in a restaurant with two unidentified men.

As a sixteen-year-old Chesnokov was one of those present at the UEFA Cup match between FC Spartak Moscow and HFC Haarlem during which the Luzhniki disaster happened. He was an honorary member of the committee that organized a benefit match for the victims between Spartak Moscow and Haarlem, that took place on October 20, 2007.

Chesnokov is currently coaching Elena Vesnina.

In 2013, Chesnokov, whose mother was Jewish, who carried the last name Litvinova, celebrated his bar mitzvah in France.[1]

Legacy

Chesnokov has always been outspoken about the Soviet system as a crucial reason for his less triumphant career.[2][3] In February 2021, considering the fact of a higher level of availability of tennis to the general audience of citizens in the USSR, if compared to modern Russia, he stated: "Formally it was more available. But we had nothing. No balls, no racquets, no tennis shoes. You could count indoor courts on one hand. As a teenager, I could train on the court only 3 hours a week, and in winter I played mostly hockey. I think, if I was not born in the USSR I would have achieved more in tennis."[4] In September 2021, he continued by declaring there was absolutely nothing good in the Soviet rule.[5]

Career finals

Singles (7 titles, 8 runners-up)

Legend
Grand Slam (0-0)
Tennis Masters Cup (0-0)
ATP Masters Series (2-3)
ATP Tour (5-7)
Result W/L Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Win 1–0 May 1987 Florence, Italy Clay Italy Alessandro de Minicis 6–1, 6–3
Loss 1–1 Jan 1988 Wellington, New Zealand Hard India Ramesh Krishnan 7–6(9–7), 0–6, 4–6, 3–6
Loss 1–2 Jan 1988 Sydney, Australia Grass Australia John Fitzgerald 3–6, 4–6
Win 2–2 Mar 1988 Orlando, U.S. Hard Czechoslovakia Miloslav Mečíř 7–6(8–6), 6–1
Loss 2–3 Oct 1988 Toulouse, France Hard United States Jimmy Connors 2–6, 0–6
Win 3–3 Apr 1989 Nice, France Clay France Jérôme Potier 6–4, 6–4
Win 4–3 May 1989 Munich, West Germany Clay Czechoslovakia Martin Střelba 5–7, 7–6(8–6), 6–2
Loss 4–4 Jan 1990 Auckland, New Zealand Hard United States Scott Davis 6–4, 3–6, 3–6
Win 5–4 Apr 1990 Monte Carlo, Monaco Clay Austria Thomas Muster 7–5, 6–3, 6–3
Loss 5–5 May 1990 Rome, Italy Clay Austria Thomas Muster 1–6, 3–6, 1–6
Win 6–5 Oct 1990 Tel Aviv, Israel Hard Israel Amos Mansdorf 6–4, 6–3
Win 7–5 Jul 1991 Montreal, Canada Hard Czechoslovakia Petr Korda 3–6, 6–4, 6–3
Loss 7–6 Mar 1992 Indian Wells, U.S. Hard United States Michael Chang 3–6, 4–6, 5–7
Loss 7–7 May 1993 Hamburg, Germany Clay Germany Michael Stich 3–6, 7–6(7–1), 6–7(7–9), 4–6
Loss 7–8 Aug 1993 Prague, Czech republic Clay Spain Sergi Bruguera 5–7, 4–6

Performance timelines

Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# P# DNQ A Z# PO G S B NMS NTI P NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

Singles

Tournament 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 SR W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A 1R A A QF A 2R 1R 4R 2R 1R A 1R 1R A A A 0 / 9 9–9
French Open A 3R QF 3R QF SF 4R 3R 1R 2R 1R 4R 1R A 1R A A 0 / 13 26–13
Wimbledon A A 1R A 1R 1R A A 1R 1R A 1R 1R A A A A 0 / 7 0–7
US Open A A 4R 4R A 4R 3R 2R 2R 1R 2R 2R 1R A A A A 0 / 10 15–10
Win–loss 0–0 2–2 7–3 5–2 8–3 8–3 6–3 3–3 4–4 2–4 1–3 4–3 0–4 0–1 0–1 0–0 0–0 0 / 39 50–39
ATP Masters Series
Indian Wells A A A 1R A 3R 1R A F 1R 2R 1R A A A A A 0 / 7 8–7
Miami A A A 2R QF 2R 2R A 2R 3R 3R A A A A A A 0 / 7 8–7
Monte Carlo A A A QF 3R 2R W QF QF 2R 2R 1R A A A A A 1 / 9 17–8
Rome A A 3R 1R A A F A A QF 3R 2R A A A A A 0 / 6 13–6
Hamburg A A A 2R A 1R A 1R A F 3R 1R A A A A A 0 / 6 8–6
Canada A A A A A A A W A A A A A A A A A 1 / 1 6–0
Cincinnati A A A A 2R 2R 2R 1R A A A 1R 1R A A A A 0 / 6 3–6
Stockholm/Essen/Stuttgart A A A A A A 3R A 2R 1R 3R A A A A A A 0 / 4 5–4
Paris A A A 1R QF 1R 2R 1R 2R 2R 1R A A A A A A 0 / 8 4–8
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 2–1 5–6 8–4 4–6 13–6 8–4 10–5 12–7 8–7 1–5 0–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 2 / 53 70–51
Year-end ranking 289 137 36 52 14 22 12 31 30 27 32 89 85 209 494 871 715

1986 Goodwill Games singles matches

1986 Goodwill Games
Round Opponent Result Score
1R
 Bye — —
2R
 Greece Konstantinos Glavas Win 6–0, 6–0
3R
 United States Bobby Blair Win 6–4, 6–2
QF
 Soviet Union Sergey Leonyuk Win 6–1, 6–1
SF
 United States Brad Pearce Win 6–1, 7–5
Soviet Union Alexander Zverev Sr. Win 4–6, 7–5, 6–2

References

  1. ^ Next Week: Chof Beis Shevat Farbrengen
  2. ^ Raush, Vladimir (23 September 2005). "Теннисист Андрей Чесноков: "Я слишком непокладистый для тренера"" [Tennis player Andrei Chesnokov: "I'm too uneasy for a coaching career"]. iz.ru (in Russian). Izvestia. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  3. ^ Panferov, Dmitry (17 November 2019). "«Чиновники жировали на наши деньги». Советский теннисист сражался против смерти и тоталитаризма" ["The officials were fattening on our money." Soviet tennis player was fighting against death and totalitarianism]. eurosport.ru (in Russian). Eurosport. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  4. ^ Grintsev, Dmitry (4 February 2021). "Андрей Чесноков: «Мне 1 млн долларов давали за то, что провезу кило урана»" [Andrei Chesnokov: "I was offered 1 million dollars for carrying a kilo of uranium"]. aif.ru (in Russian). Argumenty i Fakty. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  5. ^ "Бывший теннисист Андрей Чесноков: "Я против советского строя. Он мне отвратителен"" [Former tennis player Andrei Chesnokov: "I'm against the Soviet system. For me, it is disgusting."]. eurosport.ru (in Russian). Eurosport. 16 September 2021. Retrieved 4 January 2022.

External links

ATP Masters 1000 singles champions
Russian Cup — Tennis Triumph of the Year
Authority control databases
Categories