- Nikolai, you recently had a son. Now the worries have become twice as much?
- The son was born on May 9, early in the morning. Of course, for me it is a joy that he was born. But the fact that even on such a date is something special. We generally had a deadline of May 3-4. We thought it would be cool if the 5th. But when they waited until the 9th, it was a bit of a shock for us, but in good sense, certainly. A child was born, a boy, named Konstantin. Not that in honor of someone, they just thought, chose - Alexander or Konstantin. We decided this only when he was born. His wife looked at him and said: "Kostya!" ( laughs).

- The son already somehow shows his character?
- Oh sure. He is almost all in his mother. He even looks like her. For example, the older girl - she is all in me: emotions and everything, everything, everything. She has everything mine. And he is completely different - it’s easier with him, calmer, he doesn’t shout so much, he’s more patient. It's a little different. It's interesting when there are two children in a family and you can see how different they are. It's interesting to notice.

A child was born, a boy, named Konstantin. Not that in honor of someone, they just thought, chose - Alexander or Konstantin. We decided this only when he was born. His wife looked at him and said: "Kostya!"

- You have an older girl, Katya, very mobile. Do you plan to give it to the sport?
- Now she is 3.5 years old. I thought about it. Since I live in the Tagansky district, the nearest club for me is Kamelzon. I was there a couple of times, I asked him about the children - he said that they have a set of children from 5 years old. Well, well, from five so from five. I think I'll take her there. It's close by, five minutes away by car. Taking a child without traffic jams is very convenient, in summer time. And in the winter - I have not decided yet. I remember that the federation still has a club on Nizhegorodskaya Street, before reaching the Moscow Ring Road, there is a hall with 4, 5 or 6 courts. I was there with Igor Kunitsyn. Maybe there are small groups of children there too, and it will be possible to take her there. Yes, I would like tennis. Plus write it down English language. There are classes from 3-4 years old. But she has not yet learned to speak Russian normally in order to write it down somewhere. They enrolled her in dancing.

- Do you live in Moscow now?
- Almost all the time.

- Does your daughter have a problem with Russian speech, because they lived in Germany and confusion arose?
- Well no. It's just that she spoke very late, and there is still no clear spoken language to understand. If now we start to give it to some other direction, then it will get confused in Russian. Therefore, for the time being, we want to collect such a base, and then give it somewhere. But it will be in the preschool period. I think at 4-5 years old. A year or two before school is all possible to do.

Your daughter was a very memorable participant in your departure from tennis in October during the Bank of Moscow Kremlin Cup tournament. How do you remember this event now, after a while?
- When, I said then that I still dream of tennis. Now everything is over, all the stages have passed. For the last 3-4 months I have practically forgotten tennis. I was still getting used to January, and February-March I had almost forgotten. I don't feel like I'm on tour anymore, I don't feel like professional tennis player. It somehow came easily to me, but I repeat that it took some time - more than six months to come to terms with this psychologically.

- Once there was a suspension from tennis, how do you now look at it from the side?
- Now I pulled away from him so that I did not follow at all. Yes, sometimes I accidentally look, but what is there to see? Djokovic, Federer - nothing changes, everything is the same. Well, someone shows up, one or two people. Purely by chance I read it in the press. But in order to watch, follow the results, who won which tournament - I don’t know anything at all, I have no idea. It's like a different world for me now.

I don’t know what the Spaniards were given to eat in Vladivostok on the last day, that ours won, or what ours ate. In fact, according to the rating, according to the results after the first day - 0-2 - it was even impossible to think about it.

- But, nevertheless, you probably know about the success of the Russian team with the Spaniards in the Davis Cup.
- Yes, of course! Was reading. It's straight at all! I think if Kunitsyn is here today, I would like to talk to him. How?! I don't know what they gave the Spaniards in Vladivostok to eat on the last day that ours won. Or what ours ate ( smiling). In fact, according to the rating, according to the results after the first day - 0-2 - it was even impossible to think about it. Win 3-2 - even when I played it was almost impossible (laughs).

At that moment, Igor Kunitsyn approached, and the former teammates warmly greeted each other.

- Do you perceive these young guys who are now playing in Vladivostok as your heirs?
- Of course, I'm very happy. And I was also glad that now there will be a game for the right to move to major league. I just didn't keep track of who we were going to play with.

- With Italy, at home. However, the venue is still unknown.
- Here's a chance! I think it's a good chance to get into the big leagues. If they come out, they will be generally well done. After such a failure, it will be just gorgeous.

Did you feel bad about that failure? When the national team fell out of the World Group and not only could not immediately return, but also defended the right to remain in Group I for two years.
- It's hard that such a big country as ours could sink into such a niche. It was a little incomprehensible: we kept among the leaders all the time - we were in the top five the strongest teams world, and then almost dropped into the third league - it was unpleasant. Now, of course, I am glad that the guys did well and were able to defeat the Spaniards.

Team captain Shamil Tarpishchev says that he consults with the players before choosing a surface. If you were asked now, what would you advise to put on for the match against the Italians?
- Fast coverage. Almost all Italians love soil. This is their cover, they started with it. None of them like the fastest coverage. The same Fognini. Maybe he can play hard, but it's still worse for him. We have such tennis players that I don’t even know what to choose for them - slow or fast. I have no idea. But against the Italians you need a quick one.

- And what about our RuKort, which hosts almost all tournaments in Russia? Can it be called fast enough?
- Not. He is slow. A lot also depends on the balls. They are different. Cover and ball are the most important elements. And there it is already selected which ball is better for which surface. And that's not for me to decide smiling).

Now the Moscow tournament has signed another agreement with the sponsor, and this year the tournament in St. Petersburg is being resumed...
- I am very glad that we will again have a tournament in St. Petersburg. They invited me there, and I told them that I would go there for the semi-finals and the final, on Saturday and Sunday. That is, if I am in Moscow at that time, then I will drive up, I would like that. I have not been to St. Petersburg for a long time, I have not played for a long time, I would like to visit it. It will be nice.

Nikolai Davydenko won 21 titles ATP tournaments, reached the semi-finals of the Grand Slam four times and helped win the Davis Cup for his team in 2006. The former third racket of the world, with his powerful serve, beat eminent athletes during his career, including Rafael Nadal and. When Nikolai retired from tennis in 2014, he said that the game had become a business and a show, and he was not a showman. The champion was involved in a match-fixing scandal, but his guilt has not been proven.

Difficulties of Russian tennis

Nikolai Davydenko was born in 1981 in Severodonetsk, Luhansk region. Compared to other tennis players, the boy began playing sports quite late, at the age of 7. However, this did not prevent him from catching up over the next three years. At 11 years old future star Russian tennis moved to Volgograd. At home, it was too difficult to develop in this direction. Nikolai's coach was the older brother Eduard, who later took the ward to Germany, where there were even more opportunities. There they tried to obtain citizenship, but to no avail. In 1999, Nikolai returned to Russia, received citizenship and became a professional. In an interview, Davydenko said that Yeltsin contributed to the popularization of tennis in Russia, but many leave for Europe and America.

In 2000, Nikolai made his debut at a tournament in Amsterdam and immediately reached the semi-finals. A year later, at the Australian Open, the tennis player marked his ascent to the top. Critics predicted great success for Davydenko, but he failed to beat Patrick Rafter.

The athlete's lightning-fast reaction and powerful feeds served him well. First landmark victory took place already in 2003, when the tennis player won the ATP title at a tournament in Adelaide. A couple of months later, at the Estoril Open, Nicolai took first place again.

Significant victories of Nikolai Davydenko

Breakthrough in the Grand Slam tournaments in 2005 changed the career of a tennis player. He reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, losing to Andy Roddick. In the same year, Nikolai reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros, losing to Mariano Puerta, who had banned substances in his blood after the match. He was disqualified, and Davydenko was ranked seventh in the world rankings.

The tennis player never managed to get to the Grand Slam finals, he was interfered with by eminent athletes like. Nikolai often performed poorly on grass courts, unlike clay ones.

“It’s not very pleasant when you are called the King of Clay and considered the master of only one coating. Although it really depends on luck. Once my hand trembled on the grass, I lost an important ball, and then there is uncertainty.”

In 2007, after a scandal in Poland, when Davydenko, being the favorite, suddenly surrendered, allegedly due to an injury, the press started talking about a match-fixing. Prior to this, Nikolai was rarely mentioned in the media. But bad advertising is also advertising, although the tennis player himself has always said that he does not like the hype around his person.

Another positive success came in 2009, when the champion first made it to the third round at Wimbledon, and then defeated Rafael Nadal at the Masters in Shanghai. In the Final tournament, he again defeated, and then Federer, becoming the first Russian to win the World Tour final.

The following years brought Nikolai more than one victory and a successful three-year contract with the brand. In early 2010, Davydenko won the ATP tournament in Doha. This victory made him the second player in history to beat both Federer and Nadal in two tournaments in a row. However, subsequent seasons were less successful, Nikolai was pursued by injuries, and as a result, in 2014, he announced his retirement. According to official figures, Nikolai Davydenko earned about $16 million over the years, but he himself said that most of it went to taxes.

“From this amount, in addition to the Russian tax, the tax of the country where the tournament is held is also deducted. Let's say the States take 30-35 percent. So calculate how much, for example, Tiger Woods pays taxes on his millions. So the stories about Russian rich tennis players are a myth, by and large.

Personal life of Nikolai Davydenko

Nikolai has been married to Irina since 2006. They got married before the Davis Cup, where Russian team won. The couple has three children, the family lives in Moscow. Despite the fact that Nikolai gave interviews quite often, little is known about the details of his life. Davydenko won more than 480 matches, he was in the top ten for about 250 weeks and is a three-time winner of the Russian Cup tennis award in the Tennis Player of the Year nomination.

Now the champion has little interest in tennis, he spends his free time with his family and goes fishing. However, in the summer of 2018, a message appeared that Nikolai wanted to return:

“My second child has already grown up, so there is a lot of free time, I want to return to tennis. Maybe we will decide something with the federation, ”said the athlete in a recent interview.

31.05.2018

Davydenko Nikolay Vladimirovich

Honored Tennis Player

Master of Sport

Nikolai Davydenko was born on June 2, 1981 in the city of Severodonetsk, Ukraine. Grew up in the family of Vladimir and Tatyana Davydenko. He started playing tennis at the age of 7, together with his older brother Eduard. At the age of 11, he leaves his hometown for Russian city Volgograd. The initiator of the departure was his older brother, who at that time worked as a children's coach in Volgograd and motivated his brother's move by the fact that his brother's professional growth in his homeland was impossible. Four years later, the brothers decide to move to Germany in Salmtal.

The brothers lived in Germany for three years and applied for German citizenship, but the German Tennis Federation did not assist this application and as a result they returned to Russia. In 1999, at the age of 18, Mykola changed his Ukrainian citizenship to Russian. In 2007, Nikolai also applied for Austrian citizenship. Such frequent throwing from country to country was also reflected in the attitude of other Russian tennis players towards Nikolai - so in the fall of 2006, after losing in the Kremlin Cup final, another then strong Russian tennis player- Marat Safin - expressed dissatisfaction that a tennis player who does not fully consider Russia his home was supported in the stands more than for him.

Repeated winner of the national tennis award "Russian Cup" in the nomination "Tennis Player of the Year". Winner of the Davis Cup in the national team of Russia. 2009 World Tour Final Winner singles.

During his career, Davydenko won 21 ATP singles tournaments, including three Masters tournaments and the World Tour final. Won at least one tournament for 9 seasons in a row. In terms of the number of victories in ATP tournaments in singles among Russians, it is second only to Yevgeny Kafelnikov. He won more than 480 matches at ATP tournaments, second only to Kafelnikov among Russians in this indicator.

Earned more than $16 million in prize money over his career, according to this indicator he ranks 17th among male tennis players of all time and the best among those who have never played in the Grand Slam finals. He is one of the few tennis players who have a positive balance of personal meetings with Rafael Nadal. He has been in the top ten of the world ranking for more than 250 weeks in total for his career.

The victory of Nikolai Davydenko in the final of the World Tour 2009 was the first such achievement in the history of Soviet and Russian men's tennis.

Wife - Irina Davydenko. Before marriage, she tried herself in the profession of a fashion model. The wedding was played on November 25, 2006 in Moscow. FROM future wife Davydenko met in 2003 in the Czech Republic during Davis Cup matches. Irina arrived there with a group of fans and lived in the same hotel with Nikolai. On April 17, 2012, their daughter Ekaterina was born.

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Russian tennis player Nikolai Davydenko was born in 1981 in the Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk, Luhansk region. He has an older brother named Eduard, with whom Nikolai began to go to court at the age of seven. When the boy was eleven, at the insistence of Edward, he moved to Russia to play tennis more seriously. His training in this country was led by his older brother. Four years later, the Davydenko brothers went to Germany, but after being denied citizenship, they again moved to Russia.

In 2000, Nikolai Davydenko made his debut in professional competitions. At the first ATP tournament, he became a semi-finalist.

A year later, Nikolai Davydenko performed at the Grand Slam tournament, which was held in Australia. There he managed to reach the second round, as a result of which they started talking about him as a talented tennis player.

In 2003, Nikolai Davydenko became the winner of the ATP tournament for the first time, and very soon he won the second title. In total, the Russian tennis player has twenty-two victories in association competitions, and only one of them comes in doubles matches.

In 2006, Nikolai Davydenko, as part of the national team, won the Davis Cup.

Honored Master of Sports of Russia in tennis, winner of the ATP tour in 2009

Honored Master of Sports of Russia in tennis. In 2009, he was the first Russian to win the final ATP tournament, and in 2006 he won the Davis Cup as part of the national team. In 2007, he was accused of participating in fixed matches, but the Association of Professional Tennis Players could not prove this.

Nikolai Vladimirovich Davydenko was born on June 2, 1981 in the city of Severodonetsk, Lugansk region, Ukrainian SSR, in the family of Tatiana and Vladimir Davydenko. He started playing tennis at the age of seven with his older brother Edward. At the age of 11, Nikolai Davydenko left Ukraine and moved to permanent residence in Russia. Eduard Davydenko, who was the initiator of the move, motivated his decision by the fact that the professional growth of his brother in his homeland is impossible,.

In Russia, the Davydenko brothers trained for four years, and then left for Germany. "I lived in Russia for four years, constantly trained under the guidance of Eduard, who did not give me any respite. Then we left for Germany. Our old friend, who lived there, convinced his brother that it would be better for me. In Europe, I could play more tournaments and earn more money than in Russia," Davydenko later said,.

Eduard and Nikolai Davydenko lived in Germany for three years, applied for German citizenship, but their attempt ended in failure. As a result, the brothers returned to Russia. In 1999, Nikolai Davydenko received a Russian passport, and in 2000 he made his debut on professional level under the flag of Russia. In his first ATP tournament (Association of Tennis Professionals) in Amsterdam, he reached the semi-finals,,.

Davydenko's ascent in the tennis rankings began in 2001, when he played at the Grand Slam tournament for the first time in his career - open championship Australia. After winning the first round match, he lost to the legendary Australian Patrick Rafter in four sets in the second round. After this match, experts said that Davydenko could become one of the strongest tennis players in the world,.

Then the game style began to be developed Russian athlete. The press noted Davydenko's "trump cards" - a very fast move around the court, a confident game on the back line, a backhand, which is considered one of the most accurate among all active tennis players. It was also written about the shortcomings of his game - the lack of faith in his own strength in matches with tennis players who are higher in the ranking,,.

Nikolai Davydenko won his first ATP tournament at the beginning of 2003, beating the Belgian Kristof Vliegen in the decisive match in Adelaide. A few months later, he won a second title, beating Argentine Agustin Calleri in the final of the tournament in Estoril. During his career, Davydenko won the Kremlin Cup three times - for the first time in 2004, then in 2006 and 2007,,,.

in number the best tennis players he entered the world in 2005, when for the first time in his career he managed to reach the quarterfinals of the Grand Slam tournament first ( Australian Open), and then to the semi-finals ("Roland Garros"). After the Paris tournament, he entered the top ten strongest tennis players in the world, entrenched in it, and at the end of the season won the right to participate in the final ATP tournament in Shanghai. At these competitions, he made it to the semi-finals, losing at this stage to the future winner, Argentine David Nalbandian (David Nalbandian),.

Davydenko finished 2005 in fifth place in the ranking, and in the next two seasons he retained his place in the top five. He regularly reached the quarterfinals and semifinals of the Grand Slam tournaments, but he never managed to get into the finals, regularly losing to the strongest tennis player on the planet, Swiss Roger Federer,,. In 2006, Davydenko won the final of the Masters tournament, held in Paris,,,.

After the tournament in Poland's Sopot in August 2007, media attention to the Russian tennis player increased sharply, as he was accused of "surrendering" the match to the Argentinean Martin Vassallo Arguello, who occupied a place at the end of the top hundred of the world rankings. Davydenko confidently won the first set, then lost the second, and in the third installment he refused to continue the fight, explaining his decision with an injury,.

However, the British bookmaker Betfair initiated an investigation into the circumstances of Davydenko's defeat, since unusually high stakes for such games were made on this match - a total of about seven million dollars, and mostly bet against the Russian. The ATP supported the initiative of the bookmakers and launched an investigation, the result of which should be either Davydenko's accusation of a deliberate defeat, or his full acquittal. The head of the Asia-Pacific region, Etienne de Villiers, stressed that the investigation will take a long time until it brings certain results,.

In connection with the suspicions of the British bookmakers, the judges began to follow Davydenko more closely. In particular, at a tournament in St. Petersburg, the referee accused the Russian tennis player of intentionally defeating Croatian Marin Cilic, who at that time was not in the top 100. the strongest players peace. Davydenko was fined $2,000 for "unwillingness to fight." A little later, Davydenko filed a protest against his punishment and achieved its cancellation,,.

Since 2003, Davydenko has regularly played for the Russian national team in the Davis Cup. In 2006, as part of national team he won the Silver Salad Bowl. At the same time, Davydenko has repeatedly emphasized that playing for the national team is always difficult to combine with his tournament schedule, and Russian journalists do not objectively evaluate his contribution to the team's success. At the same time, in decisive matches, when the further fate of the team depended on the result of the game, he won only two victories - in 2003 in a match with the Czech Republic and in 2005 in a match with France,.

In mid-2007, Davydenko announced his intention to take Austrian citizenship, refusing to answer the question of whether he would continue to play in the Russian national team. However, there was no refusal to play for the Russian national team, and Davydenko played the semifinal match with the German national team as part of the team, appearing on the court in the game against Philipp Kohlschreiber and losing this meeting in five sets,.

In November 2009, Davydenko became the first Russian to win the final tournament of the year on the ATP Tour. In the final battle, he defeated the Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro (Juan Martin Del Potro), and before that he defeated the Swiss Roger Federer and the current world number one Rafael Nadal ( Rafael Nadal) , , . As a result, he climbed to sixth position in ATP ranking.

In 2010, Davydenko reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, but lost to Roger Federer. The Swiss beat Davydenko for the 13th time, while the Russian had only 2 wins over him,,.

In September 2011, Davydenko lost to Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic in the third round of the US Open tournament, and a month later reached the semi-finals of the Kremlin Cup, but failed to beat Serb Janko Tipsarevic.

In January 2012, in the first round match of the Australian Open, Davydenko lost to the Italian Flavio Cipolla (Flavio Cipolla). In May 2012, Davydenko left the Rolland Garros tournament, also losing in the first round to Italian Andreas Seppi.

In the summer of 2012, Davydenko joined the Russian tennis team at Olympic Games in London, but was eliminated in the second round tennis tournament , .

In 2007, Davydenko was awarded the title of "Honored Master of Sports of Russia".

Davydenko is married. He met his wife Irina in 2003 at one of the Czech tournaments, and played a wedding before the 2006 Davis Cup final, in which Russia beat Argentina 3:2. Davydenko prefers to spend his free time fishing, enjoys watching football and hockey games, fluent in English and German , , , .

Used materials

Davydenko: "I could not stand my own pace." - Eurosport, 31.07.2012

The composition of the Russian Olympic tennis team has become known. - RBC Sport, 22.06.2012

Nikolai Davydenko said that his participation in the Olympic Games in London depends on how he performs at Wimbledon. - Eurosport, 28.05.2012

Rustam Sharafutdinov. Habitual departure Davydenko. - Gazeta.Ru, 16.01.2012