Mikhail Youzhny

Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny began 2010 slowly but gradually picked up steam and kept it in gear until he had completed his finest year on tour.  At 28 years of age, the lanky right-hander won his sixth (Kuala Lampur) and seventh (Munich) ATP championships and finished runner-up in three others (St. Petersburg, Dubai, Rotterdam).  His strong showing left many players wondering where all that game came from after a mediocre 11 years on tour.

What Youzhny found was his serve.  Finding more velocity than previously and improving his location enabled the Russian to surprise many players who had success with him in the past.

Mikhail Youzhny with his wife Yulia

Mikhail began his tennis career at the ripe age of six.  He learned to play Tennis with his older brother, Andrei, a pro futures player in 1998-2000.  Youzhny has always tried to emulate Stefan Edberg, whose mental toughness he admired.  At age thirteen, he was a ballboy for the Russia – U.S. Davis Cup matches.  His wife, Yulia, gave birth to their son, Maxim, in December 2009.

During 2010, Youzhny jumped 10 spots in the ranking from number 20 to number ten at year’s end.  Knocked off 3^rd ranked Djokovic in Rotterdam and served notice to the tour that this was going to be a good year.  A month later lost to Novak Djokovic in final at Dubai.

He went on to win the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 in Miami defeating a motivated Mardy Fish.  Mikhail had difficulty on the grass and did not return to form until his triumph at Kuala Lampur.  He rose to number 8 in rankings but finished poorly to drop back to tenth place.

His career won-lost record stands at a respectable 339-244.  Youzhny is balanced player with a balanced disposition.  He will be hard pressed to hold his ranking unless he gets off the blocks quickly in 2011.

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