Vladimir Korotkov (tennis)

Vladimir Viktorovich Korotkov (born 23 April 1948) is a retired Soviet tennis player who won three Junior Grand Slam tournaments, Wimbledon Juniors in 1964, 1965 and French Juniors in 1965. He also won (with Zaiga Jansone) the mixed doubles at the 1968 Summer Olympics where tennis was a "demonstration sport". He won the men's doubles event at the 1973 Summer Universiade and the 1977 USSR singles championship. Since 1981 and till his retirement in 1996 Korotkov was coaching at several sports clubs.

For other people with the same name, see Vladimir Korotkov.

Vladimir Korotkov
Full nameVladimir Viktorovich Korotkov
Country (sports) Soviet Union
Born (1948-04-23) 23 April 1948
Moscow, USSR
PlaysRight-handed
Singles
Grand Slam Singles results
French Open2R (1972)
Wimbledon3R (1968)
US Open2R (1970)
French Open JuniorW (1966)
Wimbledon JuniorW (1965, 1966)
Olympic GamesSF (1968[1])
Doubles
Grand Slam Doubles results
French Open3R (1971)
Wimbledon2R (1970)
US Open1R
Other doubles tournaments
Olympic GamesSF (1968[1])
Mixed doubles
Olympic GamesW (1968[2])

Playing career

Vladimir Korotkov started playing tennis at the age of five. His first coach was Tamara Dubrovina at the sports club CSKA Moscow. Later Korotkov graduated from the Central State Institute for Physical Culture.

In 1963 Korotkov won the Soviet youth championships in mixed doubles with Marina Chuvyrina, and the next year he won the senior Soviet championships in men's doubles with Vyacheslav Egorov. The same year he reached the finals of Wimbledon Championships but lost there to Ismail El Shafei. In 1965, though, he returned to the Wimbledon finals and this time won. In 1966 he became two-times Wimbledon youth champion[3] and added to it the title of French youth champion.[4] In 1966 he also won his second Soviet championships in men's doubles (once again with Egorov).

In 1968 Korotkov was included in the Soviet team at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico. There were only demonstration and exhibition tennis events played at the Olympics, so Korotkov who won a gold at the mixed doubles exhibition event and two bronze medals at men's singles and doubles[5] is not considered an Olympic champion.

During the rest of his playing career Korotkov repeatedly reached the finals of the Soviet championships in men's doubles (last time in 1979) and in mixed doubles (1970). His highest achievement at this level was winning the 1977 Soviet championships in singles where he defeated Vadim Borisov in the final game. He also won several All-Union tennis tournaments of lesser rank. In 1966–1977 he continuously was a part of the Soviet Top 10 list of players, reaching 3rd position in 1973.

Korotkov successfully played in international amateur tournaments, winning a number of international tournaments played in the Soviet Union, including doubles event at the 1973 Summer Universiade. He was a part of the Soviet Union Davis Cup team between 1969 and 1974, winning 10 out of 21 rubbers. In 1974 he won the European Zone with the Soviet team but lost afterwards to the India Davis Cup team in the inter-zonal semifinal. After the start of the Open Era Korotkov played in some open tournaments with limited success; his best results were 4th round of the Italian Open in 1969 (defeating Charlie Pasarell and Owen Davidson on his way) and in 1973 (defeating Cliff Richey).[6] He also reached 3rd round at the first Open Wimbledon Championships in 1968.

Korotkov's playing style was characterized by consistent return and masterful unpredictable volleying which made him a valuable partner in doubles games. He was a resilient player who could keep high levels of activity throughout whole games.

Coaching career

After finishing active playing career Vladimir Korotkov became a coach. He worked at several sports clubs between 1981 and 1996, including Moscow Tennis Academy in 1993–1994.

Korotkov was nominated repeatedly for the spot at the Russian Tennis Hall of Fame but every time lost, first to Sergei Likhachev, then to Teimuraz Kakulia and finally to Andrej Potanin.

References
  1. Bronze medalist of the exhibition tennis event at the Mexico Olympics
  2. Winner of the mixed exhibition event at the Mexico Olympics
  3. Wimbledon – Boys' Singles Champions at the ITF website
  4. Roland Garros – Boys' Singles Champions at the ITF website
  5. The Official Report of the Organizing Committee of the Games of the XIX Olympiad, Mexico 1968 (PDF). 3: The Games. Mexico: Organizing Committee of the Games of the XIX Olympiad. 1969. pp. 856–865.
  6. Vladimir Korotkov's singles results in Open tennis tournaments at the АТР website

External sources
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.