bricker Archives - Page 5 of 5 - World Tennis Magazine

By Charles Bricker

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — That was an amusing nervous laugh from Evgeny Korolev when I asked him how much the Kazakhstanis were paying him to play rent-a-Russian on the ATP tour.

He wasn’t angry about the question. In fact, he’s more than happy to talk about it and rip into the Russian Tennis Federation in the bargain. He’s just not revealing how much money he’s being paid to wave the Kazakhstani — not the Russian — flag.

“I’m sorry, but I’m not talking about this,” he said cordially when asked if his fee was, oh say, $1 million a year. I can’t tell you about it.” There’s no problem talking about why he and several other players, both men and women and primarily but not exclusively Russian, now have the initials KAZ after their names on tournament draw sheets. But don’t ask about the dough.

“I got invited (by the Kazakhstan Tennis Federation). They give me a good deal in the way of everything and I’m very happy to represent the country. They want to be in the World Group in Davis Cup. They are building new cities, investing lots of money, but most of all taking care of the players. They call you, make sure everything is OK. They give you everything — everything that Russia doesn’t want to do anymore.”

There are now six primary players being paid by Kazakhstan to change their tennis nationalities, and I can’t find one that has any familial connection, however remote, to the former Soviet Union state.

Here’s the list of mercendaries:

* Korolev: Born in Moscow, 22 years old. Homes in Moscow, Germany and Miami. ATP rank is No. 46.

* Andrey Golubev: Born in Volzhski, Russia, 22 years old. Lives in Bra, Italy. ATP rank is No. 95.

* Mikhail Kukushkin: Born in Volgograd, Russia, 22 years old. Lives in Astana, Kazakhstan. ATP rank is No. 120. Well, there’s one who at least pretends to be Kazakhstani.

* Yaroslava Shvedova: Born in Moscow, 22 years old. Lives in Moscow. WTA rank is No. 43.

* Golina Voskoboeva: Born in Moscow, 25 years old. Lives in Moscow. WTA rank is No. 134.

* Sesil Karatancheva: Born in Sofia, Bulgaria, 20 years old. Lives in Sofia, WTA rank is No. 139.

Is it too crazy to think that the Kazakhstanis are paying these people up to $1 million annually? Who can say. Obviously, the higher your rank or the more potential you exhibit, the more money you’re going to get. And it’s reasonable to assume that, given the scorn these players might be receiving from some tour colleagues, you wouldn’t think they were going to turn their backs on Russia for a few bucks.

But if Korolev is angry with Russian tennis officials, he has no quarrel with his spiritual roots. “I’m Russian. I will always be Russian,” he said absolute insistence. “But this is business.”

This is business? So that’s the price of national pride? I remember how indignant Andy Roddick became a few years ago during a Davis Cup tie between the U.S. and Sweden when he caught the USTA president wearing a Swedish baseball cap, apparently the result of some bet he had with the head of the Swedish federation. The idea of an American suddenly becoming a Kazakhstani tennis player is just unthinkable.

Korolev not only cannot play for the Russian Davis Cup team, one gets the distinct impression that he wouldn’t, if asked. “I’m now with the guys who take care of you,” he said. “They have respect for me.”

Not long ago, before he took the money, Korolev was “Baby Marat,” because his musuclar build and strong, aggressive game resembled a smaller edition of Russian star Marat Safin. “I hated that name,” he said. “Now,” he added with amusing pride, “they call me the Prince of Kazakhstan.”

The Prince! Whoa! That $1 million a year figure danced again in my head. Princes don’t come cheap, you know.

And who’s to say there isn’t even more money coming his way. He’s off to a great start this year with a career-best ranking. Since he was a teenager, his modus operandi on court is hit the hell out of everything, and in a first-round win here over old pro Nico Lapentti, he twice in the first set tried to mash a couple of impossible running forehands.

“If I miss, that’s OK. Seriously, I’m trying to be more selective. But I’m still a risky player,” Korolev said.

You missed both those forehands, I pointed out. “Did I win the match?” he countered. I nodded. Point taken. I’m sure his fellow Kazakhstanis would agree.

Charles Bricker can be reached at nflwriterr@aol.com

By Charles Bricker

Now that I’ve given you Elena Dementieva as the finest woman player never to win a Grand Slam singles title, it’s only right that we place a similar dubious distinction on the best man never to win a major.

Only this isn’t going to be as easy. It’s a difficult call.

Nikolay Davydenko is going to be an obvious choice of many because (a) as an active player he’s on your mind and (b) he’s been so consistently good over the last three years. It also hasn’t hurt his chances for this “honor” that he’s beaten Roger Federer twice in the last several months.

But is he really a better tennis player than Brian Gottfried or Jose-Luis Clerc, a couple of names out of the earlier days of the Open Era?

Certainly someone is going to mention Andy Murray, but I don’t want to consider him here because the whole idea behind this analysis is to find a player who has had a long and successful career — EXCEPT that he didn’t win a Slam. Murray is just 22 years old and, while he has hoisted the runner-up trophy twice (2008 U.S. Open, 2010 Australian), he’s only played 13 majors. Let’s let him simmer a few more years.

I’m going to throw my top five out there, in order, and if you don’t see Miloslav Mecir, Kevin Curren or Aaron Krickstein, it’s not because I didn’t give them consideration.

1. Brian Gottfried: 677-321 (68%) overall W-L record, 25-26 in finals, 0-1 in Grand Slam finals (1977 French Open) and a high rank of No. 3 in 1977. Great player. Great guy. Great post-career teacher of the game. And he’s barely out of the all-time top-10 for most career wins.

2. Nikolay Davydenko: 387-232 (63%) career, 12-2 this season, 20-5 in finals, never played a major final and a high rank of No. 3 in 2006. The Stroke Machine who, as you may have noted, plays his best tennis when he reaches championship matches. But he’s never been past the semis of a major with a 0-4 mark when he hits the final four.

3. Jose-Luis Clerc: 375-148 (72%) overall with a 26-10 record in finals, never reached a Slam final and a high rank of No. 4 (1981). Stylish and great on clay, twice reaching the semis of the French (1981-82). Won more titles than anyone on this list.

4. Harold Solomon: 567-321 (64%) overall and a 22-16 record in finals, 0-1 in Slam finals and a high rank of No. 5 in 1980. Had a long career and, at 5-foot-8, his chief weapons were his legs and his brain. Lost to Adriana Panatta in the 1976 French final.

5. Marcelo Rios: 391-192 (67%) overall and 18-13 in finals, 0-1 in Slam finals and a high rank of No. 1 in 1998. Lost the 1998 Aussie Open final to Petr Korda. Why don’t I have him higher, since he reached No. 1 (for four weeks)? Here was a phenomenal talent who retired or gave walkovers, by my count, in 22 matches, and no one who came to know Rios believes he was injured in many of those tank jobs. What a waste.

As with the women, there are men who won a single Slam but who, on balance, couldn’t match the overall talent of the players mentioned in this piece — Korda, Al Costa and Jan Kodes, to name three.

As always, if you disagree, email your own greatest player never to win a major.

Charles Bricker is a guest columnist for WorldTennisMagazine.com. He can be reached at nflwriterr@aol.com