The 21st century
Belarus · born Minsk, 1977 · Wimbledon mixed doubles champion 1998 with Serena Williams · Olympic mixed doubles champion on Wimbledon grass, 2012
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1998
Wimbledon mixed doubles title with Serena Williams, her first Grand Slam title
2012
Olympic mixed doubles gold with Victoria Azarenka, on the Wimbledon grass
10
Grand Slam titles in doubles and mixed doubles
119
Matches at Wimbledon, 1997 to 2018
5
Queen's Club doubles finals, ending with the 2012 title
Maksim Mirnyi was born in Minsk on 6 July 1977 and turned professional in 1996. In singles he reached No. 18 in 2003, won one ATP title, at Rotterdam in 2003, and reached the US Open quarter-finals in 2002 after beating Roger Federer. He played Davis Cup for Belarus from 1994.
His real game was doubles. He won his first Grand Slam titles in 1998 with Serena Williams, the Wimbledon and US Open mixed doubles, and went on to take ten in all: the US Open men's doubles in 2000 and 2002, the French Open four times between 2005 and 2012, and two more US Open mixed titles. He reached No. 1 in the doubles rankings in June 2003 and won 52 ATP doubles titles.
He played at five Olympic Games and carried the Belarus flag at the opening ceremony in London in 2012, where he won the mixed doubles gold with Victoria Azarenka on the Wimbledon courts. He stopped playing at the end of 2018, at 41, without a farewell tour.
| Wimbledon mixed 1998 | Unseeded with Serena Williams, beat the fifth seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Mirjana Lučić in the final 6-4, 6-4 on Centre Court in 75 minutes |
|---|---|
| Olympic Games 2012 | With Victoria Azarenka, won the mixed doubles gold medal match at Wimbledon against Andy Murray and Laura Robson 2-6, 6-3, 10-8 in the match tie-break |
| Queen's Club | Doubles finals in 2002 and 2003 with Mahesh Bhupathi and in 2005 and 2006 with Jonas Björkman, all lost; won in 2012 with Daniel Nestor, beating Bob and Mike Bryan 6-3, 6-4 |
| Wimbledon finals lost | 2003 men's doubles with Bhupathi, to Jonas Björkman and Todd Woodbridge 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3; 2014 mixed with Chan Hao-ching, to Nenad Zimonjić and Samantha Stosur 6-4, 6-2 |
| Rosmalen 2013 | With Horia Tecău, won the doubles at 's-Hertogenbosch, beating Andre Begemann and Martin Emmrich 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) |
| Wimbledon | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Mixed doubles | with Serena Williams |
| Olympic Games | ||
| 2012 | Mixed doubles | with Victoria Azarenka |
| Queen's Club | ||
| 2012 | Men's doubles | with Daniel Nestor |
| 's-Hertogenbosch (Rosmalen) | ||
| 2013 | Men's doubles Rosmalen Grass Court Championships | with Horia Tecău |
Leading grass titles only: the grass majors, tour-level grass events since 1968 and the leading grass championships before 1968. † single source; ‡ sources disagree. Roll of champions
"I felt like something was cooking up, but I had no idea Serena would go on to be this successful."
The person behind the player.
Wimbledon 1998
Serena Williams had planned to play the mixed with Luis Lobo of Argentina. When Lobo was not available, Mirnyi approached her. Looking back 25 years later, she said: "I just remember he came to me," adding that he was "the only option available" and "a good choice".
Source: Tennis.com, 5 July 2023Summer 1998
Mirnyi remembered his partner's hairstyle: "she had very loud beads that made a noise with every step." Asked that summer what the pair had in common, Serena answered: "We both like reggae."
Source: WTA, "Twenty years on", 2018London 2012
Mirnyi carried the flag of Belarus at the opening ceremony in London, then won the mixed doubles at Wimbledon with Victoria Azarenka, beating the home pair Andy Murray and Laura Robson in the gold medal match.
Source: OlympediaNickname
At 1.96 metres he was known on tour as "The Beast". When he stopped in 2018, the coach Sven Groeneveld said no other player had shown "more dedication and professionalism than the Beast!"
Source: Olympedia; 10sballs.com, 6 December 2018December 2018
There was no farewell tour and no wildcards: the 41-year-old simply did not start training that December. He had played with more than 100 partners in his career.
Source: 10sballs.com, 6 December 2018Free membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
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