page_title: Mikhail Youzhny
section_title: Playing style, equipment and team
hierarchical_section_title: Mikhail Youzhny / Playing style, equipment and team
caption_attribution_description: Youzhny MA14 (8)
context_page_description: Mikhail Mikhailovich Youzhny, nicknamed "Misha" and "Colonel" by his fans, is a Russian retired professional tennis player who was ranked inside the top 10 and was the Russian No. 1. He achieved a top-10 ranking by the Association of Tennis Professionals for the first time on 13 August 2007, and reached a career peak of World No. 8 in January 2008, and again in October 2010.
  Youzhny reached the quarterfinals of all grand slams; going beyond the quarterfinals at the US Open in 2006 and 2010. The closest he came to a grand slam final was at the 2006 US Open semifinals when he took the first set from World No. 9 Andy Roddick, after upsetting World No. 2 Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals. At the other semifinal he lost in straight sets to the eventual champion, Nadal. Youzhny reached the finals of twenty-one ATP tour-level titles, winning ten of them. His first title win came at the Mercedes Cup held in Stuttgart, Germany, when he defeated Guillermo Cañas from Argentina. Youzhny reached ATP finals on all surfaces, but never won a singles title on grass. In 2010—his best season—Youzhny reached five ATP finals, winning two and ending the year as a top-10 player.
context_section_description: Youzhny had powerful groundstrokes on both sides. Former professional tennis player and now coach Peter Lundgren stated that Youzhny's "backhand slice is one of the best in the world. His slice had a lot of variety and he can neutralise an opponent's offence quickly with it." However, while his backhand slice was a good defensive weapon, his main attacking weapon was his one-handed backhand hit with topspin. Youzhny used 
  a backhand grip around 3/4 of the way from Continental toward Modified Eastern. His grip is close enough to Modified Eastern to allow him to hit topspin with reasonable comfort, but most players would hit stronger topspin with a grip right on Modified Eastern or closer to Full Eastern. Youzhny's backhand grip would work well for slice, but he changes to an Eastern forehand grip for his slice.
  When asked at the 2014 Dubai Tennis Championships about Youzhny, Novak Djokovic, then world no. 2, replied; 
  Mikhail [...] has one of the nicest and most efficient one handed backhands on the tour. It seems a little bit unorthodox the way he holds his racquet, then [he] releases with two hands and in the end with one hand. But he's a very talented player.
  According to The New York Times columnist Christopher Clarley, Youzhny's one-handed backhand was one of the more unusual ones on tour, hit with a "free left arm accompanying his right arm as he swings through the ball." Veteran coach Sven Groeneveld jokingly said that Youzhny's should be called a "half one-hander". Youzhny hit the ball early on both sides, so as to "achieve a flatter flight trajectory and to get the ball to the opponent's side quicker." He was also noted for his good court sense and often used drop shots to mix up his game, and he was very talented at volleying.
  Youzhny was good on all surfaces, and was noted for his all-court game. Youzhny was noted for his ability to be able to change surfaces quickly without difficulty. However, his best surface is grass. He had 53 tour-level wins on grass. Kevin Mitchell from The Guardian referred to Youzhny as a grass-court specialist.
  Former Russian top-10 player Alex Metreveli referred to Youzhny as a "really a great fighter," he said, "I cannot even remember how many matches he has won in tough situations. Russian people respect Mischa because he is a man who works hard. And his fighting spirit is just incredible. What he did in Paris for Davis Cup is just one of many such examples." He had an ability to change rapidly to all conditions. However, a consistent weakness throughout his career was his serve. Robert Davis, an employee of the Association of Tennis Professionals, once wrote that "Youzhny serves up less aces than a poor luck poker player". Former top-10 British tennis player Tim Henman said that Youzhny had a solid serve, at least on grass.
  Youzhny was known on tour for his post-match military salute at the end of the match.  Honoring his late father, Youzhny placed his racquet on his head while saluting the crowd instead of the hat that Russian military protocol dictates.
  Boris Sobkin was Youzhny's coach since the age of 10 because of Youzhny's father's interference. His fitness trainer is Oleg Mosiakov. Youzhny wore adidas clothing and Barricade 7.0 shoes and used a Head Head Graphene XT Extreme Pro racquet.
caption: Youzhny hitting one of his one-handed backhands at the 2014 Mutua Madrid Open.
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