Andrei Gennadievich Cherkasov (; born 4 July 1970) is a former professional

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player from Russia.

Career

Born in

Ufa Ufa ( ba, Өфө , Öfö; russian: Уфа́, r=Ufá, p=ʊˈfa) is the largest city and capital city, capital of Bashkortostan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Belaya River (Kama), Belaya and Ufa River, Ufa rivers, in the centre-n ...

, Soviet Union, Cherkasov first came to the tennis world's attention as an outstanding junior player. In 1987, he was ranked the World No. 3 junior player and finished runner-up in the boys' singles at the US Open (lost to

David Wheaton David Wheaton (born June 2, 1969) is an American author, radio host, columnist, and former professional tennis player. Personal Born in Minneapolis as the youngest of four children. In his tennis carrier, he dated tennis star Mary Joe Fernández ...

in the final). Cherkasov turned professional in 1988. In 1990, Cherkasov claimed his first top-level singles titles when he won the inaugural Kremlin Cup in Moscow, defeating

Tim Mayotte Timothy Mayotte (born August 3, 1960) is a former professional tennis player from the United States. Professional career A tall serve-and-volleyer, Mayotte learned to play the game on the public courts of Forest Park in his hometown of Springfi ...

in the final 6–2, 6–1. He also reached the quarter-finals of the 1990 Australian Open and US Open. In June 1991 Cherkasov reached his career-high singles ranking of World No. 13. In November he successfully defended his Kremlin Cup title, saving two match points in a 7–6, 3–6, 7–6 win in the final against

Jakob Hlasek Jakob Hlasek ( cz, Jakub Hlásek; born 12 November 1964) is a Swiss former professional tennis player of Czech origin. He won a major doubles title at the 1992 French Open, partnering Marc Rosset. Career The major highlights of Hlasek's career ...

. In 1992, Cherkasov was a quarter-finalist at the French Open and won a men's singles bronze medal at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

in Barcelona, notably rallying from 2 sets down to beat

Pete Sampras Petros "Pete" Sampras ( el, Πέτρος Σάμπρας; born August 12, 1971) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. His professional career began in 1988 and ended at the 2002 US Open, which he won, defeating longtime rival Andre ...

in the third round. In 1993, Cherkasov saved three match points in 3-hour, 54-minute quarter-final victory over Italy's

Andrea Gaudenzi Andrea Gaudenzi (; born 30 July 1973) is an Italian former tennis player and the current chairman of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) since January 2020. Gaudenzi was born in Faenza, Italy, in the province of Ravenna, and turned p ...

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

, to win 6–7, 7–6, 7–5 in what was the longest best-of-three set match in tour history. In the end, his two victories at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow proved to be the only top-level titles of Cherkasov's career. He retired from the professional tour in 2000, having earned prize-money totalling $2,259,875.

ATP career finals

Singles: 6 (2 titles, 4 runner-ups)

Doubles: 2 (2 runners-up)

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals

Singles: 9 (5–4)

Doubles: 7 (3–4)

Junior Grand Slam finals

Singles: 1 (1 runner-up)

Performance timeline

Singles

Notes

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cherkasov, Andrei 1970 births Hopman Cup competitors Living people Olympic bronze medalists for the Unified Team Olympic medalists in tennis Olympic tennis players of the Soviet Union Olympic tennis players of the Unified Team Sportspeople from Ufa Russian expatriates in Monaco Russian male tennis players Soviet male tennis players Tennis players at the 1988 Summer Olympics Tennis players at the 1992 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics