Vladimir Nikolayevich Voltchkov ( be, Уладзімір Мікалаевіч Валчкоў, ''Uładzimir Mikałajevič Vałčkoŭ''; russian: Владимир Николаевич Волчков; born April 7, 1978) is a

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

ian former professional

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player. Voltchkov reached the semifinals at the

2000 Wimbledon Championships The 2000 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 114th edition of the Wimbledon Championships and was held from ...

, where, as a qualifier, he lost to Pete Sampras in straight sets. He represented Belarus in both the Davis Cup and the Olympic Games in 2000, also won the Wimbledon juniors competition in 1996. His career-high singles ranking is world No. 25.

Tennis career

Juniors

Voltchkov had excellent results as a junior capturing the Wimbledon juniors title defeating

Ivan Ljubičić Ivan Ljubičić (; born 19 March 1979) is a Croatian former professional tennis player. He reached a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) world No. 3 singles ranking on 1 May 2006. His career highlights include reaching a Grand S ...

in 1996. He compiled a singles win–loss record of 69–34, reaching as high as No. 7 in the world in 1996. Junior Grand Slam results: Australian Open: –
French Open: 3R ( 1996)
Wimbledon: W ( 1996)
US Open: 3R (

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

, 1996)

Pro tour

His highest achievement came in 2000, inspired by the film Gladiator. After watching the movie four times, he went on to reach the semifinals of the

Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London, since 1877 and is pla ...

as a qualifier, causing the British press to dub him "The Vladiator". En route to the semifinals he beat

Juan Ignacio Chela Juan Ignacio Chela (; born 30 August 1979), nicknamed as “El Flaco” or “Liliano,” is a former professional tennis player from Argentina. Chela was given a three-month ban from the professional tour in 2001 for failing a drugs test. Post-d ...

, Cédric Pioline,

Younes El Aynaoui Younes El Aynaoui ( ar, يونس العيناوي) (born 12 September 1971) is a former professional tennis player from Morocco. He is a five-time singles winner on the ATP Tour and reached his career-high singles ranking of world No. 14 in Mar ...

Wayne Ferreira Wayne Richard Ferreira (born 15 September 1971) is a South African former professional tennis player and current tennis coach. Career As a junior player, Ferreira was ranked world no. 1 junior doubles player and no. 6 junior singles player. He ...

and Byron Black before losing to eventual champion Pete Sampras. Voltchkov has a 30–16 career Davis Cup record (17–11 in singles).Davis Cup – Players
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Junior Grand Slam finals

Singles: 1 (1 title)

ATP career finals

Singles: 1 (1 runner-up)

Doubles: 1 (1 title)

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals

Singles: 15 (13–2)

Doubles: 12 (11–1)

Performance Timeline

Singles

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Voltchkov, Vladimir 1978 births Living people Belarusian male tennis players Olympic tennis players of Belarus Tennis players from Minsk Tennis players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Wimbledon junior champions Grand Slam (tennis) champions in boys' singles