Mikhail Youzhny (born June 25, 1982 in Moscow, USSR (now Russia) is a professional tennis player from Russia, noted for his consistency and all-court play style. The highest world ranking of his career was number eight, achieved on January 28, 2008. Playing style Youzhny plays with a single-handed backhand, considered to be his best shot. From both sides, Youzhny hits the ball on the rise, achieving a flatter trajectory. His serve, judged to be lacking power or consistency, is arguably the weakest component of his game, though improvement here has been perceived. He has a good court sense and often makes use of dropshots. Youzhny has a reputation for engaging the crowd, subsequently taking inspiration from it to attempt high-risk winners, especially when facing matchpoints. In an interview at the Australian Open 2008, he named Stefan Edberg as the player he admired most. After each victory Mikhail Youzhny gives a military style salute to the spectators. He does it by holding the tennis racquet above his head with his left hand and saluting with his right hand. The racquet imitates a hat, since according to Russian military tradition one must wear a hat to give proper salute. Career In 1999, the year in which he turned professional, Youzhny captured four titles on the Futures tour.
In 2000, Mikhail Youzhny reached his first ATP tour quarterfinal in Moscow. In 2001, he reached the third round of the Australian Open, made his first ATP tour semifinal at Copenhagen, and reached the fourth round of Wimbledon, losing to eventual finalist Patrick Rafter. Youzhny also reached the third round at the US Open, losing to eventual finalist Pete Sampras. The following year in 2002, Mikhail Youzhny captured in Stuttgart his first ATP title, and led Russia to its first Davis Cup title, but he did not play for six weeks due to a back injury. By winning this match, Youzhny became the first ever player to recover successfully from a two sets to love deficit in the live fifth rubber of a Davis Cup Final. During 2004 he won a career-high 42 matches, finishing the year in the top 20. One of his best tournaments was the 2006 U.S. Open. Having beaten Tommy Robredo 62, 60, 61 he defeated World No. 2 Rafael Nadal 63, 57, 76, 61 in the quarterfinal. He lost in the semifinals to Andy Roddick 67 60 76 63. In the men's doubles, Youzhny partnered Leos Friedl; together they defeated the world's number one pairing, Bob and Mike Bryan in the round of 16, before losing to Martin Damm and Leander Paes in the quarterfinals.
At the start of the year Mikhail Youzhny reached the 3rd round of the Australian Open, losing to eventual champion Roger Federer. He then reached the semifinals of Zagreb and won his third career ATP title in Rotterdam. Later in March he reached the final in Dubai, having defeated the second-seed Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals. He lost 64, 63 to the world number one Roger Federer. His good form continued a few weeks later at Munich, where he reached the final, losing to first-time finalist Philipp Kohlschreiber 26 63 6-4. Youhzny, in the 2007 French Open Fourth Round, once again faced Federer, this time succumbing 76, 64, 64. This run pushed him to a career high of number 14 in the world. Immediately before Wimbledon he benefited from Richard Gasquet's poor title defence at Nottingham, and rose to world number 13, despite not playing himself that week. Later in the year he reached the 3rd round of the Canadian Masters, losing to Nikolay Davydenkothis took him into the world top ten. 2008 Youzhny's first tournament of 2008 was Chennai in India. Mikhail Youzhny reached the final, where he demolished World No. 2 Rafael Nadal, the top seed, 60, 61 in under an hour. In the Australian Open Youzhny, for the first time in his career, beat Nikolay Davydenko. He fell in the quarterfinals to eventual finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. On April 1st, during a tiebreak with Nicolas Almagro, Mikhail Youzhny hit a relatively easy return into the net. He gestured angrily towards his own temple, and then hit his head strongly with the frame of his tennis racket 3 times, drawing blood. Despite thisand after receiving medical attentionhe won the next seven points, taking the tiebreaker and also the match.
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