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Yevgeny Aleksandrovich Kafelnikov (Russian: Евгений Александрович Кафельников, IPA: [jɪvˈɡʲenʲɪj ˈkafʲɪlʲnʲɪkəf] ⓘ; born 18 February 1974) is a Russian former world No. 1 tennis player.
Strong and tall with a powerful and reliable baseline game, Yevgeny Kafelnikov was a handful for all those who had to face him across the net. The poker-faced Russian was also adept at volleying when he chose to be and that made him a difficult player to outmanoeuvre.
Official tennis player profile of Yevgeny Kafelnikov on the ATP Tour. Featuring news, bio, rankings, playing activity, coach, stats, win-loss, points breakdown, videos, and more.
Learn about the career and achievements of Yevgeny Kafelnikov, a Russian tennis legend who won two Grand Slams, reached number one, and played for his country. See his biography, highlights, video gallery, and induction speech.
- What Happened Exactly on That Day?
- The Place: on The Road
- The Facts: Kafelnikov Becomes No 1 in Peculiar Circumstances
- What Next: An Olympic Gold For The Russian
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On May 3, 1999, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, aged 25, became the first Russian to become world No 1 in tennis history, supplanting American Pete Sampras. It was a big surprise for the general public, who did not necessarily understand how the ATP ranking system worked, as “Kalashnikov” was going through one of the lowest moments of his career after losing s...
On that day, Yevgeny Kafelnikov was in between two tournaments: he had just lost in Prague, and was expected to play in Romethe following week.
Kafelnikov had started 1999 ranked only No 11 in the world, and it was not expected that just several weeks later, he would contend for the No 1 ranking. The circumstances were peculiar indeed: the Russian triumphed at the Australian Open, winning his second – and last major title – in the absence of No 1 Pete Sampras and No 2 Marcelo Rios. Sampras...
Although his losing streak would end in his following tournament in Rome, Kafelnikov did not perform very well during the six weeks in which he was ranked No 1. He lost in the second round at Roland-Garros against Dominik Hrbaty (6-4, 6-1, 6-4), in his only Grand Slam appearance as the top seed. Ironically enough, he would start performing better d...
On May 3, 1999, the Russian tennis player became the first Russian to top the ATP rankings, despite losing seven matches in a row. Learn how he achieved this feat and what happened next in his career.
May 3, 1999 · A smooth, confident right-hander (two-handed backhand), Yevgeny Alexandrevic Kafelnikov of Sochi, was the first Russian to win a major singles title: the French Open in 1996, defeating Michael Stich, 7-6 (7-4), 7-5, 7-6 (7-4).
Made it to the finals of the Marseille Open before falling to Thomas Enqvist, 6-4, 6-1; the President's Cup, losing to Tim Henman 7-5, 6-4; and the Eurocard Open losing to Richard Krajicek 6-4, 6...
