“I don’t think about defeats,” says Mikhail Youzhny, maybe tennis’s version of the eternal optimist. But at age 32, he’s a wiser man, the wear and tear of a taxing tennis career having taken its toll.
“This year has been the toughest,” he said of a poor run that found him floundering in the early stages of almost every event he entered. An elbow injury extended the pain to the wrist. “I now play in tournaments where I’m sure I can give 100 per cent,” said the Moscow native.
To play till the last point is his approach to the sport although he leaves it to his peers and close circle of friends to point out his strengths.
“I have a 0-15 record against Roger Federer,” he says of the toughest opponent he’s taken on across the net, “but that may not be just for me.”
What drew him to the Champions Tennis League? “I got the invitation in July. Anything new is interesting and I like the innovations,” said the ‘Colonel,’ nicknamed thus for holding his racquet over his head with his left hand and saluting his fans with the right.
“Tactics give me the key to defeat physically better players,” said the tenacious right-hander, “which I vary depending on the opponent.”
His mind games proved a clincher, when he came back to subdue Paul Henri Mathieu 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 in the final’s deciding rubber against France. It gave Russia its first ever Davis Cup title in 2002, the conquest carried out right in the heart of the French capital.
If that’s his most memorable moment in the sport, what would it be outside it? “The warmest memories are around the family and it’s tough to grade them,” he said.
Tennis brought him closer to his would-be wife Yulia at a Moscow club, where she’d train too. “Her biggest support lies in her understanding of what it takes to make a tennis career,” said Youzhny in gratitude.
“I hope Igor and Maxim take up tennis,” says Mischa, as he’s also known. “They are growing up. I wish they enjoy life but aim for achievements too,” says the anxious young father about the well-being of his sons.
“Of the sport in his homeland, he said, “Russia has a good programme for kids but most go abroad to train, for it’s cheaper there. With no sponsorship, funding is only by parents.” He’s optimist of a change for the better, when a proposed national tennis centre comes up some time.
