Evgeny Korolev

Titles Won: 

Evgeny Korolev is a professional tennis player from Russia. He was born and raised in Moscow and began playing tennis at the age of four with his father, Evgeny who still remains his coach today. While never playing on the junior circuit he played his first professional tournament in 2003 at a Futures event in Zell, Germany. In 2004, he reached his first career Futures final in September at Kepten in Germany (l. Chadai). One week later, he claimed his first Futures title at Freidberg (d. Zay) and finished the year by posting an 18-10 record in Futures and 1-3 in Challenger player. In 2005, he continued his progress by playing more Challenger events, finishing with a 15-8 record and winning his first Challenger title at Achen (d. Sluiter) in early November. He also reached the quarter final stages or better in the last five Challenger events of the seasons. During the season he also won three Futures titles and finished runner-up at another event, recording and impressive 31-11 record. In 2006, Korolev made his tennis breakthrough by finishing in the Top 100 for the first time. He made his ATP Debut in February on the hard courts of Marseille, defeating fellow countryman and world number six Nikolay Davydenko before losing to Sebastien Grosjean in straight sets. In April, Korolev, played his first Masters Series event at Monte Carlo, losing to Radek Stepanek in the first round. In his next event, the Russian reached the third round on the clay courts of Barcelona, defeating former world number one Carlos Moya in the first round before losing on a third-set tie-break to Ivo Karlovic. At Roland Garros he made his Grand Slam debut and defeated Italy's Andreas Sepi in the first round before losing to clay-court specialist Gaston Gaudio in five-sets. Korolev reached his second ATP quarter final of the season in July at Bastad in Sweden, losing to Tommy Robredo in three sets. In September, Korolev won his first event of the season at the Dusseldorf Challenger (d. Vinciquerra) and then going on to reach back-to-back quarter finals at Challengers in Grenoble (l. Llodra) and Mons (l. Tipsarevic). In October, Korolev reached his second Challenger final of the season at Aachen in Germany, losing to local favourite Ranier Schuettler in straight sets.

In 2007, the Russia won a career-high 20 ATP matches to finish in the Top 100 for a second consecutive season. He started the season by successfully qualifying for Sydney, going on to beat Robby Ginepri before losing to world number five James Blake in straight sets. On making his Australian Open debut, Korolev lost in the first round to Fernando Gonzalez in four sets. In February he reached his first ATP semi-final at Las Vegas, posting impressive wins over James Blake and rising star Juan Martin Del Potro, losing to Austria's Jurgen Melzer in three sets. One week later he played at the Masters Series event at Indian Wells, defeating Simon Gruel and Dmitry Tursunov before losing to Novak Djokovic. In April, Korolev reached his second ATP quarter final of the season at Valencia, losing to Spain's Ivan Navarro in straight sets. At Wimbledon, the Russian made his debut but lost in the first round to countryman and world number four Nikolay Davydenko. Korolev reached his third quarter final of the season on the clay courts of Amersfoort in the Netherlands, losing to compatriot Mikhail Youzhny 4-6, 3-6. At the US Open, the Russian made a first round exit against Stanislas Wawrinka after an epic five-set thriller. In the final events of the season, Korolev produced good form to reach a fourth ATP quarter final at Mez (l. Canas) and winning his only Challenger event of the season at Aachen (d. Beck). In 2008, Korolev started the season in fine form by reaching the quarter final at Adelaide, losing to France's Fabrice Santoro in straight sets. At the Australian Open he reached a career best second round after defeating Spain's Marcel Granollers. In his next tournament he reached the quarter final at Las Vegas, defeating Fernando Gonzalez but falling to South Africa's Kevin Anderson. In April, the Russian reached his first semi-final of the season on the clay courts of Valencia, losing to Nicolas Almagro. In Grand Slam play, he made early first round exits at Roland Garros (l. Santoro) and Wimbledon (l. Berdych). In October he won his third title at the Challenger event at Aachen, defeating Ruben Bemelmans of Belgium in the final 7-6(5), 7-6(3).