Andrei Eduardovich Chesnokov (; born 2 February 1966) is a former professional tennis player from Russia.
Career Chesnokov's highest singles ranking was World No. 9 in 1991. The biggest tournament victories of his career came at the Monte Carlo Open in 1990, and at the Canadian Open in 1991 (both Tennis Masters Series events).
Chesnokov's best performance at a Grand Slam event came at the French Open in 1989, where he reached the semi-finals by eliminating Pablo Arraya, Jonas Svensson, Carl-Uwe Steeb, Jim Courier and the defending champion Mats Wilander in straight sets in the quarterfinals. He was eliminated by the eventual champion Michael Chang in four sets.
The most famous match in Chesnokov's career took place on 24 September 1995 in the semi-final of the 1995 Davis Cup against Germany. In the fifth set of the final deciding match of the semi-final, playing against Michael Stich, Chesnokov saved nine match points before emerging the winner, the final score being: 6–4, 1–6, 1–6, 6–3, 14–12. The next day President of Russia Boris Yeltsin awarded Chesnokov with Order of Courage.
During his career, Chesnokov won seven top-level singles titles and earned prize-money totalling US$3,084,188. He retired from the professional tour in 1999, even if the last full year on tour was 1995 and from 1996 on he played only a few tournaments.
On 20 November 2005, during a visit to Dnipropetrovsk (Ukraine), he was shot twice with rubber bullets after a quarrel in a restaurant with two unidentified men.
As a sixteen-year-old Chesnokov was one of those present at the UEFA Cup match between FC Spartak Moscow and HFC Haarlem during which the Luzhniki disaster happened. He was an honorary member of the committee that organized a benefit match for the victims between Spartak Moscow and Haarlem, that took place on October 20, 2007.
In 2013, Chesnokov, whose mother was Jewish, who carried the last name Litvinova, celebrated his bar mitzvah in France.Next Week: Chof Beis Shevat Farbrengen
Chesnokov was coaching Elena Vesnina.
Legacy Chesnokov has always been outspoken about the Soviet system as a crucial reason for his less triumphant career. In February 2021, considering the fact of a higher level of availability of tennis to the general audience of citizens in the USSR, if compared to modern Russia, he stated: "Formally it was more available. But we had nothing. No balls, no racquets, no tennis shoes. You could count indoor courts on one hand. As a teenager, I could train on the court only 3 hours a week, and in winter I played mostly hockey. I think, if I was not born in the USSR I would have achieved more in tennis." In September 2021, he continued by declaring there was absolutely nothing good in the Soviet rule.
Career finals
Singles (7 titles, 8 runners-up) Legend Grand Slam (0-0) Tennis Masters Cup (0-0) ATP Masters Series (2-3) ATP Tour (5-7)
ResultW/L DateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScoreWin 1–0 May 1987 Florence, Italy Clay Alessandro de Minicis 6–1, 6–3Loss 1–1 Jan 1988 Wellington, New Zealand Hard Ramesh Krishnan 7–6(9–7), 0–6, 4–6, 3–6Loss 1–2 Jan 1988 Sydney, Australia Grass John Fitzgerald 3–6, 4–6Win 2–2 Mar 1988 Orlando, U.S. Hard Miloslav Mečíř 7–6(8–6), 6–1Loss 2–3 Oct 1988 Toulouse, France Hard (i) Jimmy Connors 2–6, 0–6Win 3–3 Apr 1989 Nice, France Clay Jérôme Potier 6–4, 6–4Win 4–3 May 1989 Munich, West Germany Clay Martin Střelba 5–7, 7–6(8–6), 6–2Loss 4–4 Jan 1990 Auckland, New Zealand Hard Scott Davis 6–4, 3–6, 3–6Win 5–4 Apr 1990 Monte Carlo, Monaco Clay Thomas Muster 7–5, 6–3, 6–3Loss 5–5 May 1990 Rome, Italy Clay Thomas Muster 1–6, 3–6, 1–6Win 6–5 Oct 1990 Tel Aviv, Israel Hard Amos Mansdorf 6–4, 6–3Win 7–5 Jul 1991 Montreal, Canada Hard Petr Korda 3–6, 6–4, 6–3Loss 7–6 Mar 1992 Indian Wells, U.S. Hard Michael Chang 3–6, 4–6, 5–7Loss 7–7 May 1993 Hamburg, Germany Clay Michael Stich 3–6, 7–6(7–1), 6–7(7–9), 4–6Loss 7–8 Aug 1993 Prague, Czech republic Clay Sergi Bruguera 5–7, 4–6
Performance timelines
Singles Tournament19841985198619871988198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000SRW–LGrand Slam tournamentsAustralian OpenA1RAAQFA2R1R4R2R1RA1R1RAAA0 / 99–9French OpenA3RQF3RQFSF4R3R1R2R1R4R1RA1RAA0 / 1326–13WimbledonAA1RA1R1RAA1R1RA1R1RAAAA0 / 70–7US OpenAA4R4RA4R3R2R2R1R2R2R1RAAAA0 / 1015–10Win–loss0–02–27–35–28–38–36–33–34–42–41–34–30–40–10–10–00–00 / 3950–39ATP Masters SeriesIndian WellsAAA1RA3R1RAF1R2R1RAAAAA0 / 78–7MiamiAAA2RQF2R2RA2R3R3RAAAAAA0 / 78–7Monte CarloAAAQF3R2RWQFQF2R2R1RAAAAA1 / 917–8RomeAA3R1RAAFAAQF3R2RAAAAA0 / 613–6HamburgAAA2RA1RA1RAF3R1RAAAAA0 / 68–6CanadaAAAAAAAWAAAAAAAAA1 / 16–0CincinnatiAAAA2R2R2R1RAAA1R1RAAAA0 / 63–6Stockholm/Essen/StuttgartAAAAAA3RA2R1R3RAAAAAA0 / 45–4ParisAAA1RQF1R2R1R2R2R1RAAAAAA0 / 84–8Win–loss0–00–02–15–68–44–613–68–410–512–78–71–50–10–00–00–00–02 / 5370–51Year-end ranking2891373652142212313027328985209494871715
1986 Goodwill Games singles matches RoundOpponentResultScoreBye—— Konstantinos GlavasWin6–0, 6–0 Bobby BlairWin6–4, 6–2 Sergey LeonyukWin6–1, 6–1 Brad PearceWin6–1, 7–5 Marián VajdaWin6–3, 6–2, 6–4
References
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