Max Mirnyi celebrates 40th anniversary

9 июля 2017

By Anna Eismont: A trainee of legendary coach Arkady Eidelman, Max Mirnyi achieved his first successes at the age of 12, being the best in his age group in the Soviet Union.

Paired with 16-year-old Serena Williams, the Belarusian won two Grand Slam tournaments — Wimbledon and the US Open — in 1998. In 2007, at the age of 30, Mirnyi, paired with Victoria Azarenka, won the US Open. The pair won gold at the 2012 London Olympics.

He played mixed matches with such tennis players as Martina Navratilova and Anna Kournikova, winning the Grand Slam with Andrea Hlavackova in 2013.

With more than 20 years of career under his belt, Mirnyi has been recognized as one of the best doubles players of all time.

With 49 ATP tournament wins, 10 Grand Slam victories and 2 ATP final victories, Mirnyi held the title of the world’s number 1 the men's doubles for 57 weeks. The Belarusian player defeated such tennis stars as Pete Sampras, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Marat Safin, Lleyton Hewitt, Roger Federer, including on his way to his only singles champion title.

The history of the Belarusian national team in the Davis Cup is also inconceivable without Max Mirnyi since 1994, when the team was in the Europe/Africa Zone Group III. By 2003, Mirnyi together with Vladimir Volchkov and the team reached the Davis Cup World Group.

This was later followed by a legendary match against Russia and the Order of the Fatherland III degree, as well as a victorious match against Argentina for entering the Davis Cup semifinals. The tennis player held 54 matches as part of the team in April this year and is preparing to compete against Switzerland in September for advancing to the World Group.

Maxim and his wife Ksenia have four children — two girls Melania and Petra and two boys Demid and Trofim. Yet, tennis still occupies a significant place in his life — the athlete celebrated his 40th birthday at the 21st Wimbledon tournament in his career.