Andrei Gennadievich Cherkasov (
Russian: ; born 4 July 1970,
Ufa) is a former professional
tennis
Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
player from Russia.
Career
Born in Ufa, 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. During his tennis career, he dated tennis star Mary Joe Fern ...
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 an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 7 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Mayotte won twelve singles titles during his career.
...
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.
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 (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...
in Barcelona, notably rallying from 2 sets down to beat
Pete Sampras
Pete Sampras (born August 12, 1971) is an American former professional tennis player. One of the most successful tennis players of all time, he was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the A ...
in the third round.
In 1993 Cherkasov saved three match points in 3-hour, 54-minute quarter-final victory over Italy's
Andrea Gaudenzi at
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...
, 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
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Cherkasov, Andrei
1970 births
Hopman Cup competitors
Living people
Olympic bronze medalists for the Unified Team
Olympic medalists in tennis
Olympic tennis players for the Soviet Union
Olympic tennis players for the Unified Team
Sportspeople from Ufa
Russian expatriate sportspeople 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
20th-century Russian sportsmen