By Cheryl Jones
Mikhail Youzhny is still in competition on the professional tour nearly 19 years after he joined the ranks of “for pay” athletes that have of late found grass court tournaments that should help make their game ready for competition at Wimbledon. That stateliest of Grand Slams begins on July third.
In the past, Youzhny has had good luck at the Gerry Weber Open – not every year, but in what some may call his salad days. (Salad days are a reference to youthful inexperience and fearlessness. Shakespeare had Cleopatra regretting her “affair” with Julius Caesar by saying, “My salad days, When I was green in judgment, cold in blood…” That was penned in 1606. A bit later it came to mean that youth could be raw and unbounded by experience.)
Youzhny who is Russian began playing with his brother, Andrei when he was just six years old. He said that they used to scrounge equipment to learn the game and soon it was apparent that he was good. There was a problem though. He was temperamental. His frustration was not just a pout and then sullen demeanor. He broke racquets and cried – a lot. His coach, Boris Sobkin noted that it was difficult finding anyone to deal with the headstrong lad, but he has been with Youzhny since 2000 and that may be nearing a record for coaching longevity, given the frequency of changes many other players make.
Presently, he is ranked 88 – still in the top 100, but definitely far from his top ranking of number 8 in the world in January of 2008 and October of 2010. Even though it may seem to some that those days are not long ago, it’s nearly seven years since his last career high ranking. Still, the best of the best have fluctuations in their game and standing. He will be thirty-five on Sunday, the 25th of June, (coincidentally the final day of the Gerry Weber Open), and he must be tired. Today, he lost to a very young Russian player who is 19 and a member of the Next Generation of ATP players to watch. The three set match that ended with a rather lopsided, 6-0, 3-6, 6-3 tally allowed fans to catch glimpses of the right-hander’s phenomenal backhand that can twist the ball exactly where he wants it to twist. But, it wasn’t enough to overcome the youth and fearlessness of his opponent who has been showing promise since he was named the number one junior player in the world in 2014.
But, tennis isn’t Youzhny’s only forte. He received a PhD in Philosophy in December of 2010. His thesis was titled, “Professional Tennis Players on the Court”, a subject he may not only have observed, but been a part of. He said, “You find out about other players and try to compare them with you. You look at what you have to do against them or what changes they may make before matches.” He went on to explain that it took time, which at that point in his life had meant spending over ten years being a part of a loosely directed caravan of migrant workers who play tennis for money. (Actually those workers are tennis professionals, but they do migrate to places where their kind of labor is highly valued and amply compensated.)
Youzhny is one of the eleven active players who have reached the quarterfinals of each of the grand slams. (FYI – The others are – Tomas Berdych, Juan Martin Del Potro, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, David Ferrer, Tommy Haas, Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal, JoWilfried Tsonga, and Stan Wawrinka.) After defeating World Number 2, Nadal in the quarterfinals, World Number 9, Andy Roddick took away his hopes of being a contender in the US Open final in 2006. But, now, it’s more than ten and a-half years later, and still he competes.
Today wasn’t his day. After nearly twenty years on the job, he may want to reflect on how to best use his time, energy and love of tennis. The Gerry Weber Open has been good to him over the years. In 2013, he reached the final, but was vanquished by Roger Federer 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 who is the all-time champ here in Halle.
Maybe he will spend a little time before Wimbledon evaluating his game. There isn’t a magic spell that can change the aging process, but a few have defied the inevitable and eked out a few more years. Actually Federer comes to mind, and today, he was on the court as the last match of the day. The Swiss Maestro will be thirty-seven this coming August, and on a very hot and humid evening in Halle, he faced Mischa Zverev, (brother of Alexander, who will face Roberto Bautista Agut in the quarterfinals, tomorrow). Federer was victorious in his good luck charm arena at Halle. He defeated Mischa Zverev 7-6, 6-4, to move into the quarterfinals where he will face last years champ, German Florian Mayer who defeated Lucas Pouille of France, 6-7, 6-4, 6-3 early this afternoon.
Will it be another notch on the oldster racquet handle when Sunday’s matches are complete? That conundrum will be solved in a matter of days. Maybe it is as some folks say though, “age is merely a state of mind”. And right now, Federer’s outlook is definitely not searching out retirement.
