Alexander Vladimirovich Volkov ( ; 3 March 1967 – 19 October 2019) was a Russian professional tennis player.
Tennis career
Volkov finished runner-up in three tournaments over 1989 and 1990; in the latter year he defeated World No. 1 Stefan Edberg in straight sets in the first round of the US Open. Volkov won his first top-level professional singles title in 1991 at Milan. At Wimbledon that year, he lost a close match in the fourth round to the eventual tournament champion Michael Stich, 4–6, 6–3, 7–5, 1–6, 7–5 despite winning the same number of games as Stich overall in the match, which hinged on a lucky shot hit by the German when he was trailing 4–5 in the final set. With Volkov serving for the match, at 5-4 and 30–30, Stich hit a seemingly-wide shot that caught the net and, instead of going out, looped over Volkov's head and back into play for a winner. What could have been 40-30, and match-point for Volkov, instead became a vital break-point opportunity for Stich at 30-40, that he immediately converted. Stich subsequently won the next two games and the match.
Volkov was runner-up in three tournaments in 1992 and won his second title in 1993 in Auckland. Later in 1993, Volkov defeated Björn Borg in the first round of the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, in a match which proved to be the last of Borg's career. Volkov won the Kremlin Cup a year later in 1994 to claim his third (and final) career title. He reached one more final in 1997 in Shanghai.
His best Grand Slam singles performance was reaching the semifinals of the 1993 US Open, where he defeated Jonathan Stark, Kevin Ullyett, Amos Mansdorf, Chuck Adams and Thomas Muster before losing to Pete Sampras.
Volkov was part of the Russian team that reached the final of the Davis Cup in 1994. He won singles rubbers over Patrick Rafter of Australia in the first round and Michael Stich of Germany in the semifinals. However, he lost both his singles rubbers in the final as Russia was defeated by Sweden 4–1.
Volkov retired from the professional tour in 1998. His career-high singles ranking was world No. 14 in 1994. His career prize-money earnings totalled $3,362,786.
He was Marat Safin's coach before the duo split in July 2007.
ATP career finals
Singles: 11 (3 titles, 8 runner-ups)
{|
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{|class=wikitable style=font-size:97%
!Legend
|-style="background:#f3e6d7;"
|Grand Slam Tournaments (0–0)
|-style="background:#ffc;"
|ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
|-style="background:#e9e9e9;"
|ATP Masters Series (0–0)
|-style="background:#d4f1c5;"
|ATP Championship Series (0–0)
|-
|ATP World Series (3–8)
|}
|
{|class=wikitable style=font-size:97%
!Finals by surface
|-
|Hard (1–3)
|-
|Clay (0–0)
|-
|Grass (0–1)
|-
|Carpet (2–4)
|}
|
{|class=wikitable style=font-size:97%
!Finals by setting
|-
|Outdoors (1–4)
|-
|Indoors (2–4)
|}
|}
{|class="sortable wikitable"
!Result
!class="unsortable"|W–L
!Date
!Tournament
!Tier
!Surface
!Opponent
!class="unsortable"|Score
|-
|style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss
|<small>0–1</small>
|1989 Stella Artois Indoor – Singles|
|Milan, Italy
|Grand Prix
|Carpet
| Boris Becker
|1–6, 2–6
|-
|style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss
|<small>0–2</small>
|1990 Rosmalen Grass Court Championships|
|Rosmalen, Netherlands
|World Series
|Grass
| Amos Mansdorf
|3–6, 6–7
|-
|style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss
|<small>0–3</small>
|1990 European Indoor Championships – Singles|
|Berlin, Germany
|World Series
|Carpet
| Ronald Agénor
|6–4, 4–6, 6–7<sup>(8–10)</sup>
|-
|style="background:#98fb98;"|Win
|<small>1–3</small>
|1991 Muratti Time Indoor|
|Milan, Italy
|World Series
|Carpet
| Cristiano Caratti
|6–1, 7–5
|-
|style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss
|<small>1–4</small>
|1992 BP Nationals|
|Wellington, New Zealand
|World Series
|Hard
| Jeff Tarango
|1–6, 0–6, 3–6
|-
|style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss
|<small>1–5</small>
|1992 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament – Singles|
|Rotterdam, Netherlands
|World Series
|Carpet
| Boris Becker
|6–7<sup>(9–11)</sup>, 6–4, 2–6
|-
|style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss
|<small>1–6</small>
|1992 South African Open (tennis)|
|Johannesburg, South Africa
|World Series
|Hard
| Aaron Krickstein
|4–6, 4–6
|-
|style="background:#98fb98;"|Win
|<small>2–6</small>
|1993 Benson and Hedges Open – Singles|
|Auckland, New Zealand
|World Series
|Hard
| MaliVai Washington
|7–6<sup>(7–2)</sup>, 6–4
|-
|style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss
|<small>2–7</small>
|1994 Australian Men's Hardcourt Championships – Singles|
|Adelaide, Australia
|World Series
|Hard
| Yevgeny Kafelnikov
|4–6, 3–6
|-
|style="background:#98fb98;"|Win
|<small>3–7</small>
|1994 Kremlin Cup – Singles|
|Moscow, Russia
|World Series
|Carpet
| Chuck Adams
|6–2, 6–4
|-
|style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss
|<small>3–8</small>
|1997 Shanghai Open – Singles|
|Shanghai, China
|World Series
|Carpet
| Ján Krošlák
|2–6, 6–7<sup>(2–7)</sup>
|}
Doubles: 3 (3 runner-ups)
{|
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{|class=wikitable style=font-size:97%
!Legend
|-style="background:#f3e6d7;"
|Grand Slam Tournaments (0–0)
|-style="background:#ffc;"
|ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
|-style="background:#e9e9e9;"
|ATP Masters Series (0–0)
|-style="background:#d4f1c5;"
|ATP Championship Series (0–0)
|-
|ATP World Series (0–3)
|}
|
{|class=wikitable style=font-size:97%
!Finals by surface
|-
|Hard (0–2)
|-
|Clay (0–0)
|-
|Grass (0–0)
|-
|Carpet (0–1)
|}
|
{|class=wikitable style=font-size:97%
!Finals by setting
|-
|Outdoors (0–2)
|-
|Indoors (0–1)
|}
|}
{|class="sortable wikitable"
!Result
!class="unsortable"|W–L
!Date
!Tournament
!Tier
!Surface
!Partnet
!Opponents
!class="unsortable"|Score
|-
|style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss
|<small>0–1</small>
|1991 Kremlin Cup – Doubles|
|Moscow, Russia
|World Series
|Carpet
| Andrey Cherkasov
| Eric Jelen <br> Carl-Uwe Steeb
|4–6, 6–7
|-
|style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss
|<small>0–2</small>
|1993 Benson and Hedges Open – Doubles|
|Auckland, New Zealand
|World Series
|Hard
| Alex Antonitsch
| Grant Connell <br> Patrick Galbraith
|3–6, 6–7
|-
|style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss
|<small>0–3</small>
|1996 Genovese Hamlet Cup – Doubles|
|Long Island, United States
|World Series
|Hard
| Hendrik Dreekmann
| Luke Jensen <br> Murphy Jensen
|3–6, 6–7
|}
ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals
Singles: 1 (1–0)
{|
|-valign=top
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{|class=wikitable style=font-size:97%
!Legend
|-bgcolor=moccasin
|ATP Challenger (1–0)
|-bgcolor=cffcff
|ITF Futures (0–0)
|}
|
{|class=wikitable style=font-size:97%
!Finals by surface
|-
|Hard (1–0)
|-
|Clay (0–0)
|-
|Grass (0–0)
|-
|Carpet (0–0)
|}
|}
{|class="sortable wikitable"
!Result
!class="unsortable"|W–L
!Date
!Tournament
!Tier
!Surface
!Opponent
!class="unsortable"|Score
|-
|style="background:#98fb98;"|Win
|<small>1–0</small>
|
|style="background:moccasin;"|Aachen, Germany
|style="background:moccasin;"|Challenger
|Hard
| David Prinosil
|6–3, 7–6
|}
Performance timeline
Singles
{|class=wikitable style=text-align:center;font-size:97%
!Tournament!!1986!!1987!!1988!!1989!!1990!!1991!!1992!!1993!!1994!!1995!!1996!!1997!!SR!!W–L!!Win %
|-
|colspan=23 align=left|Grand Slam tournaments
|-
|align=left|Australian Open
|colspan=1 style=color:#cccccc|NH
|A
|bgcolor=afeeee|1R
|A
|bgcolor=afeeee|2R
|bgcolor=afeeee|1R
|bgcolor=afeeee|3R
|bgcolor=afeeee|3R
|bgcolor=afeeee|4R
|bgcolor=afeeee|1R
|bgcolor=afeeee|1R
|A
!0 / 8
!8–8
!
|-
|align=left|French Open
|A
|A
|bgcolor=afeeee|1R
|A
|bgcolor=afeeee|3R
|bgcolor=afeeee|1R
|bgcolor=afeeee|3R
|bgcolor=afeeee|1R
|bgcolor=afeeee|2R
|bgcolor=afeeee|1R
|bgcolor=afeeee|1R
|bgcolor=afeeee|2R
!0 / 9
!6–9
!
|-
|align=left|Wimbledon
|bgcolor=ecf2ff|Q1
|bgcolor=afeeee|4R
|bgcolor=afeeee|2R
|bgcolor=afeeee|1R
|bgcolor=afeeee|4R
|bgcolor=afeeee|4R
|bgcolor=afeeee|3R
|bgcolor=afeeee|2R
|bgcolor=afeeee|4R
|bgcolor=afeeee|3R
|bgcolor=afeeee|3R
|bgcolor=afeeee|1R
!0 / 11
!20–11
!
|-
|align=left|US Open
|A
|bgcolor=afeeee|1R
|A
|bgcolor=afeeee|3R
|bgcolor=afeeee|2R
|bgcolor=afeeee|2R
|bgcolor=ffebcd|QF
|bgcolor=yellow|SF
|bgcolor=afeeee|1R
|bgcolor=afeeee|3R
|bgcolor=afeeee|3R
|bgcolor=afeeee|1R
!0 / 10
!17–10
!
|-
!style=text-align:left|Win–loss
!0–0
!3–2
!1–3
!2–2
!7–4
!4–4
!10–4
!8–4
!7–4
!4–4
!4–4
!1–3
!0 / 38
!51–38
!
|-
|colspan=22 align=left|National Representation
|-
|align=left|Summer Olympics
|colspan=2 style=color:#cccccc|NH
|style=background:#afeeee|1R
|colspan=3 style=color:#cccccc|Not Held
|A
|colspan=3 style=color:#cccccc|Not Held
|A
|colspan=1 style=color:#cccccc|NH
!0 / 1
!0–1
!
|-
|colspan=22 align=left|Year-end Championships
|-
|align=left|Grand Slam Cup
|colspan=6 style=color:#cccccc|Did not qualify
|style=background:#afeeee|1R
|style=background:#afeeee|1R
|colspan=4 style=color:#cccccc|Did not qualify
!0 / 2
!0–2
!
|-
|colspan=23 align=left|ATP Masters Series
|-
|align=left|Indian Wells
|A
|A
|A
|bgcolor=afeeee|1R
|bgcolor=afeeee|1R
|bgcolor=afeeee|2R
|A
|bgcolor=yellow|SF
|bgcolor=ffebcd|QF
|A
|A
|A
!0 / 5
!8–5
!
|-
|align=left|Miami
|A
|bgcolor=afeeee|1R
|bgcolor=afeeee|3R
|bgcolor=afeeee|3R
|bgcolor=afeeee|4R
|bgcolor=afeeee|2R
|A
|bgcolor=afeeee|2R
|bgcolor=afeeee|2R
|A
|A
|A
!0 / 7
!7–7
!
|-
|align=left|Monte Carlo
|A
|A
|A
|A
|A
|bgcolor=afeeee|3R
|bgcolor=afeeee|2R
|A
|A
|A
|A
|A
!0 / 2
!3–2
!
|-
|align=left|Hamburg
|A
|A
|A
|bgcolor=afeeee|1R
|bgcolor=afeeee|1R
|bgcolor=afeeee|3R
|bgcolor=afeeee|1R
|A
|bgcolor=afeeee|1R
|bgcolor=afeeee|1R
|bgcolor=afeeee|1R
|bgcolor=ecf2ff|Q1
!0 / 7
!2–7
!
|-
|align=left|Rome
|A
|A
|A
|A
|bgcolor=afeeee|2R
|bgcolor=afeeee|2R
|bgcolor=afeeee|1R
|A
|bgcolor=afeeee|2R
|bgcolor=afeeee|1R
|A
|A
!0 / 5
!3–5
!
|-
|align=left|Canada
|A
|A
|A
|A
|bgcolor=afeeee|1R
|A
|A
|bgcolor=ffebcd|QF
|bgcolor=afeeee|1R
|bgcolor=afeeee|1R
|A
|A
!0 / 4
!2–4
!
|-
|align=left|Cincinnati
|A
|A
|bgcolor=afeeee|1R
|bgcolor=afeeee|1R
|A
|A
|bgcolor=afeeee|2R
|bgcolor=afeeee|3R
|bgcolor=afeeee|1R
|A
|A
|A
!0 / 5
!3–5
!
|-
|align=left|Paris
|A
|bgcolor=afeeee|2R
|A
|A
|bgcolor=afeeee|1R
|bgcolor=ffebcd|QF
|bgcolor=afeeee|3R
|bgcolor=afeeee|2R
|bgcolor=afeeee|1R
|bgcolor=afeeee|2R
|A
|A
!0 / 7
!6–7
!
|-
!style=text-align:left|Win–loss
!0–0
!1–2
!2–2
!2–4
!6–6
!8–6
!2–5
!8–5
!4–7
!1–4
!0–1
!0–0
!0 / 42
!34–42
!
|}
Junior Grand Slam finals
Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)
{|class="sortable wikitable"
!Result
!style="width:30px;"|Year
!style="width:120px;"|Championship
!style="width:50px;"|Surface
!style="width:150px;"|Partner
!style="width:130px;"|Opponents
!style="width:100px;" class="unsortable"|Score
|-
|style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss||1985||style="background:#ebc2af;"|French Open||Clay|| Vladimer Gabrichidze|| Petr Korda <br> Cyril Suk||6–4, 0–6, 5–7
|}
Top 10 wins
{|class="wikitable sortable"
|-
|Season||1987||1988||1989||1990||1991||1992||1993||1994||1995||1996||1997||Total
|-align=center
|Wins||0||0||2||3||1||5||1||4||1||0||0||17
|}
{|class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!#
!width=200|Player
!Rank
!width=250|Event
!Surface
!Rd
!width=200|Score
!
|-
! colspan=8|1989
|-
|1.
| Miloslav Mečíř
|bgcolor=EEE8AA|8
|bgcolor=ECF2FF|Davis Cup, Prague, Czechoslovakia
|bgcolor=thistle|Carpet (i)
|bgcolor=afeeee|RR
|6–2, 6–7, 6–0
|64
|-
|2.
| Jakob Hlasek
|bgcolor=EEE8AA|8
|Milan, Italy
|bgcolor=thistle|Carpet (i)
|bgcolor=afeeee|2R
|7–6, 7–5
|61
|-
! colspan=8|1990
|-
|3.
| Tim Mayotte
|bgcolor=EEE8AA|10
|bgcolor=e9e9e9|Miami, USA
|bgcolor=CCCCFF|Hard
|bgcolor=afeeee|2R
|6–1, 6–4
|100
|-
|4.
| Stefan Edberg
|bgcolor=lime|1
|bgcolor=f3e6d7|US Open, New York, USA
|bgcolor=CCCCFF|Hard
|bgcolor=afeeee|1R
|6–3, 7–6, 6–2
|52
|-
|5.
| Emilio Sánchez
|bgcolor=EEE8AA|8
|bgcolor=e9e9e9|Stockholm, Sweden
|bgcolor=thistle|Carpet (i)
|bgcolor=afeeee|2R
|7–5, 6–3
|34
|-
! colspan=8|1991
|-
|6.
| Karel Nováček
|bgcolor=EEE8AA|9
|Basel, Switzerland
|bgcolor=CCCCFF|Hard (i)
|bgcolor=ffebcd|QF
|6–1, 6–7, 6–3
|24
|-
! colspan=8|1992
|-
|7.
| Karel Nováček
|bgcolor=EEE8AA|10
|Milan, Italy
|bgcolor=thistle|Carpet (i)
|bgcolor=afeeee|1R
|7–6, 7–6
|25
|-
|8.
| Ivan Lendl
|bgcolor=EEE8AA|7
|bgcolor=d4f1c5|Stuttgart, Germany
|bgcolor=thistle|Carpet (i)
|bgcolor=afeeee|2R
|7–6, 5–7, 6–1
|28
|-
|9.
| Guy Forget
|bgcolor=EEE8AA|6
|bgcolor=d4f1c5|Stuttgart, Germany
|bgcolor=thistle|Carpet (i)
|bgcolor=ffebcd|QF
|6–4, 6–4
|28
|-
|10.
| Goran Ivanišević
|bgcolor=EEE8AA|5
|bgcolor=f3e6d7|US Open, New York, USA
|bgcolor=CCCCFF|Hard
|bgcolor=afeeee|3R
|6–4, 6–0, 6–3
|20
|-
|11.
| Stefan Edberg
|bgcolor=99ccff|3
|bgcolor=d4f1c5|Tokyo, Japan
|bgcolor=thistle|Carpet (i)
|bgcolor=ffebcd|QF
|6–3, 3–6, 7–5
|17
|-
! colspan=8|1993
|-
|12.
| Pete Sampras
|bgcolor=thistle|2
|bgcolor=e9e9e9|Indian Wells, United States
|bgcolor=CCCCFF|Hard
|bgcolor=afeeee|3R
|7–5, 6–4
|22
|-
! colspan=8|1994
|-
|13.
| Michael Chang
|bgcolor=EEE8AA|8
|bgcolor=e9e9e9|Indian Wells, United States
|bgcolor=CCCCFF|Hard
|bgcolor=afeeee|3R
|6–4, 1–6, 6–3
|18
|-
|14.
| Michael Stich
|bgcolor=thistle|2
|bgcolor=ECF2FF|World Team Cup, Düsseldorf, Germany
|bgcolor=#ebc2af|Clay
|bgcolor=afeeee|RR
|6–4, 7–6
|22
|-
|15.
| Michael Stich
|bgcolor=thistle|2
|bgcolor=ECF2FF|Davis Cup, Hamburg, Germany
|bgcolor=CCCCFF|Hard
|bgcolor=afeeee|RR
|7–5, 1–6, 7–6, 6–4
|42
|-
|16.
| Alberto Berasategui
|bgcolor=EEE8AA|8
|Ostrava, Czech Republic
|bgcolor=thistle|Carpet (i)
|bgcolor=afeeee|1R
|7–6, 6–4
|44
|-
! colspan=8|1995
|-
|17.
| Sergi Bruguera
|bgcolor=EEE8AA|4
|bgcolor=d4f1c5|Stuttgart, Germany
|bgcolor=thistle|Carpet (i)
|bgcolor=afeeee|1R
|6–4, 2–3 ret.
|40
|}