Sergey Leonyuk (born 3 April 1960) is a former professional
tennis player from Belarus.
Biography
Leonyuk was born in Minsk, the capital of the
Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic
The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, or Byelorussian SSR; be, Беларуская Савецкая Сацыялістычная Рэспубліка, Bielaruskaja Savieckaja Sacyjalistyčnaja Respublika; russian: Белор ...
, modern day Belarus. He represented the Soviet Union and was a nine time Soviet champion.
In 1978 he played in a
Grand Prix
Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour
Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to:
Arts and entertainment ...
tournament in
Calcutta, India. He lost in the first round of the singles to
Ramesh Krishnan and also played in the doubles draw with Igor Tihonenko.
He won a bronze medal in singles and silver medal in doubles
at the Friendship Games, held in Poland in 1984, for nations that
boycotted the Summer Olympics.
A regular
Davis Cup
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...
representative for the
Soviet Union, he appeared in 13 ties in the 1980s, including stints in the World Group. In
1985
The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
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** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...
he and
Alexander Zverev
Alexander "Sascha" Zverev (; born 20 April 1997) is a German professional tennis player. He has been ranked by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) as high as world No. 2, and was continuously ranked in the top 10 from July 2017 to N ...
came from two sets down to win a doubles match over Czechoslovakia's
Tomáš Šmíd and
Libor Pimek in
Tbilisi.
He won one
Challenger
Challenger, Challengers, or The Challengers may refer to:
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Comics and manga
* Challenger (character), comic book character
* ''Challengers'' (manga), manga by Hinako Takanaga
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* ''The Challengers'' (TV series), a 1979 ...
title, the
Tampere Open
The Tampere Open is a professional tennis tournament played on clay court
A clay court is one of the types of tennis court on which the sport of tennis, originally known as "lawn tennis", is played. Clay courts are made of crushed stone, br ...
in 1986, which he and
Ģirts Dzelde won with a walkover in the final.
In the wake of the
Chernobyl disaster
The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the No. 4 reactor in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, near the city of Pripyat in the north of the Ukrainian SSR in the Soviet Union. It is one of only two nuc ...
, Leonyuk moved to
Brooklyn, New York to ensure his children's safety. He brought with him a promising 15-year old junior from Minsk,
Vladimir Voltchkov, who he housed and coached.
In the 1990s, Leonyuk was an assistant coach of the Russian Davis Cup team.
He has also served as the tournament director of the
Kremlin Cup.
Challenger titles
Doubles: (1)
See also
*
List of Soviet Davis Cup team representatives
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leonyuk, Sergey
1960 births
Living people
Soviet male tennis players
Belarusian male tennis players
Tennis players from Minsk
Belarusian expatriate sportspeople in the United States
Belarusian tennis coaches
Universiade medalists in tennis
Universiade gold medalists for the Soviet Union
Universiade silver medalists for the Soviet Union
Universiade bronze medalists for the Soviet Union
Medalists at the 1981 Summer Universiade
Competitors at the 1986 Goodwill Games
Goodwill Games medalists in tennis
Friendship Games medalists in tennis