Sochi, 1980s
One against one
He chose tennis over his parents' team sports because he wanted to decide the outcome himself. "But in tennis, you're the one against your opponent," he said.
Source: International Tennis Hall of FameThe Open Era
Yevgeny Kafelnikov
Russia · born Sochi, 1974 · right-handed · three times Halle champion and world No. 1 in 1999
Hall of Fame 2019
All playersBack to the rankings
3
Halle singles titles, 1997, 1998 and 2002
4
Halle singles finals in seven years, 1996 to 2002
1995
Wimbledon quarter-final, his best result there
1
World ranking in May 1999
53
Career titles: 26 in singles and 27 in doubles
Playing career
Yevgeny Kafelnikov was born in Sochi in 1974; his father coached volleyball and his mother played basketball. In 1991 he trained at the Bollettieri academy in Florida, where he practised with Pete Sampras, and he turned professional at 18. In 1994 he rose from No. 104 to No. 11.
At the 1996 French Open he won the singles and the doubles, the first Russian man to win a major singles title. He added the 1999 Australian Open, became world No. 1 in May 1999, won Olympic gold in Sydney in 2000 by beating Tommy Haas in five sets, and helped Russia win the Davis Cup in 2002. He won 26 singles and 27 doubles titles, among them four major doubles titles, and played his last match in St Petersburg in 2003. He entered the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2019.
On grass
| Halle finals | 1996: lost to Nicklas Kulti 6-7, 6-3, 6-4. 1997: beat Petr Korda 7-6, 6-7, 7-6. 1998: beat Magnus Larsson 6-4, 6-4, after letting three match points go. 2002: beat Nicolas Kiefer 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 |
|---|---|
| Wimbledon 1995 | Sixth seed; reached the quarter-finals and lost to Goran Ivanišević 7-5, 7-6, 6-3 |
| Wimbledon 1995 doubles | With Marc-Kevin Goellner, lost the semi-final to Rick Leach and Scott Melville 3-6, 7-6, 6-7, 7-6, 6-3. The second-set tiebreak, 14-12, shares the Wimbledon record for points in a semi-final tiebreak |
| Wimbledon 1998 | Seventh seed; lost in the first round to Mark Philippoussis 6-7, 7-6, 6-4, 6-2 |
| Wimbledon invitation doubles | Runner-up in 2010 with Wayne Ferreira |
Every grass title: 3
Show every title, tournament by tournament
| Halle | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Men's singles | |
| 1998 | Men's singles | |
| 2002 | Men's singles | |
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
"But winning was the best preparation for Wimbledon."
Anecdotes
The person behind the player.
Halle, June 1998
Blaming the jet
Leading 6-4, 5-1 in the final against Magnus Larsson, he double-faulted and let three match points go. After missing one with a long forehand he shook his fists at the sky and blamed the noise of a jet overhead. "The whole situation was ticklish," he said.
Source: Deseret News (AP)Wimbledon, June 1998
The mouse
Waiting to receive serve from Mark Philippoussis, he spotted a field mouse in the corner of the court, walked over and shooed it away with his racket. The interruption is recorded among Wimbledon's animal incidents. He lost in four sets.
Source: SalonSydney, 2000
Every match the last
He reached the Olympic final without dropping a set and beat Haas 6-3 in the fifth. "From the third round on, I played every match like it was the last match of my career," he said.
Source: International Tennis Hall of FameMoscow, 2001
The winner's cheque
After winning the Kremlin Cup for a fifth straight year he gave the whole winner's cheque, about $137,000, to the victims of a plane crash near Sochi that had killed 78 people. "It cannot compensate for the lives of those who died," he said.
Source: International Tennis Hall of FameAfter tennis
Cards and clubs
He cashed three times at the 2005 World Series of Poker, played several European Tour golf events without making a cut and won the Russian Amateur Open golf championship in 2011.
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Where they won on grass
- Gerry Weber Stadion, Halle
- Find a grass court near you
Rivals and partners
On Grass Tennis Club
Elsewhere online
Sources
- Yevgeny Kafelnikov, ATP Tour player data
- Yevgeny Kafelnikov, International Tennis Hall of Fame
- Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Olympedia
- "Kafelnikov gets some confidence", Deseret News (AP), 15 June 1998
- Chris Bowers, "Kafelnikov looks to Wimbledon", The Irish Times, 15 June 1998
- "Letter from Wimbledon", Salon, 8 July 1998
- Wimbledon 1995 gentlemen's singles draw, AELTC
- Wimbledon 1998 gentlemen's singles draw, AELTC
- Wimbledon Compendium 2025, AELTC
- Halle Open, Wikipedia
- Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Wikipedia
- GTC roll of grass champions, checked against a second source where one exists
Page updated 4 November 2026. Spotted an error? Send a correction.
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