1997 HIGHLIGHTS
Prize money: $99,256
Matches won-lost: Tour: 5-11 (singles), 1-3 (doubles) Challenger: 18-17 (singles), 5-4 (doubles)
Singles Quarterfinalist: Adelaide.
1997 IN REVIEW
Began the year well, defeating Furlan and Rafter to reach lone ATP Tour QF in Adelaide (l. to Tillstrom)...Reached the 3rd RD in Tokyo (l. to Damm) in April...Had good all-court results in Challenger play, reaching the SFs in Azores (hard) and Mallorca (clay) and the QFs in Cherbourg (carpet) and Ulm (clay)...In doubles, teamed with Etlis to win the Azores Challenger title...Surpassed the $2 million mark in career earnings.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
1987 - Finished runner-up at Italian #4 Satellite (24 points)...1988 - Won German #2 Satellite (31 points) and broke into Top 200...Made Davis Cup debut and played in Olympic Games...1989 - Reached first Tour final in Sydney-outdoor (l. to Krickstein)...1990 - Won inaugural event in Moscow and first ATP Tour title in Moscow (d. Mayotte)...Reached QF or better nine times...1991 - Successfully defended Moscow title, saving two match points in final (d. Hlasek)...Finalist at Brussels (l. to Forget) and doubles finalist at Moscow (w/Volkov)...Reached career-high No. 13 in June...1992 - Reached SF at Milan, Bolzano, and Barcelona Olympics (bronze medalist) and surpassed $1 million in career earnings...1993 - Reached claycourt finals at Bologna (l. to Burillo) and Bucharest (l. to Ivanisevic), and saved three match points in 3-hour, 54-minute victory over Gaudenzi at Tel Aviv (longest best-of-three set match in Tour history)...1994 - Reached SF at Cologne Challenger and QF in Tel Aviv...1995 - Winner at Singapore Challenger...1996 - Qualified at Australian Open, Dubai (2nd RD) and Monte Carlo Mercedes Super 9 event...On Challenger level, reached SF in Indian Wells and Zagreb.
CAREER TITLES (2): 1990 - Moscow; 1991 - Moscow. FINALIST (4): 1989 - Sydney-outdoor; 1991- Brussels; 1993 - Bologna, Bucharest.
CAREER DOUBLES FINALIST (2).
GRAND SLAM RECORD
CAREER9796949392919089
AUS. OPEN 7-7 1ST1ST2ND1ST2ND2NDQF --
FRENCH OPEN 9-6 ---- 1ST1STQF 4TH2ND2ND
WIMBLEDON 0-6 ---- 1ST1ST1ST1ST1ST1ST
US OPEN 4-6 ---- 1ST1ST1ST1STQF 1ST
PERSONAL
Enjoyed an outstanding junior career, finishing No. 3 in the world in 1987...Reached U.S. Open Juniors final (l. to Wheaton) in 87 and Orange Bowl 16s final in 1986 and 18s final in 87 (l. to Courier both times)...Father, Gennadiy, is a lamp designer; mother, Alvina, and sister, Elana, are both engineers...Has a 16-12 career Davis Cup record in 12 ties (14-8 in singles)...Enjoys reading Egyptian and Greek history, in addition to fishing...Coached by Paul Feldmanis.
