Aleksandr Volkov

Aleksandr Volkov began to play tennis at the age of 10. He played professionally from the late 1980s through 1998, reaching a career high singles ranking of #14 in August 1993. Volkov won three professional tournaments on the ATP Tour, winning at Milano in 1991, Auckland in 1993, and Moskva in 1994. He also had seven runner-up finishes. His best performance at a Grand Slam event was in the 1993 US Open where he lost in the semi-finals to Pete Sampras. He also reached the fourth round four times at Wimbledon (1987, 1990-91, 1994) and once at the Australian Open in 1994.

Volkov played Davis Cup for Russia, helping them to the final round in 1994 and 1995, although they lost both finals to Sweden and the United States, respectively. After his playing career was over he coached the Russian national tennis team in the early 2000s, and was briefly the coach for Marat Safin, a former #1 ranked player. In his later years, Volkov developed problems with alcohol use, which led to his early death.