Dimitri Nikolaevich
Poliakov
Male
Ukraine
1968-01-19
Kiew, USSR
His career began at the age of 8. His father dragged Dimitri to a tennis court in Kiev, where he was born. For the old man was clear: "If you do something, you have to do it properly." And so there was no turning back for little Dimitri written in his native Dmitri. He had to play, practice, fight and look ahead.
At age 20, his professional career began. At first, the right-hander played for the USSR. Dimitri Poliakov to be the last national champion of the Soviet Union. Before the USSR with 290 million inhabitants broke up in 1991, the young tennis star won the title. Of that, he says, he had already dreamed as a little boy.
The professional career also led the backhand perfectionists to the big squares of the world. Dimitri Poliakov took part in all Grand Slam tournaments, was Davis Cup player and team captain. The highest ranking on the world rankings reached rank 93 on June 10, 1991. During the 19-year professional season, he received just under $ 440,000 in prize money, won nine tournaments on the Challenger Tour and on the ATP tour won the former doubles partner of Andriy Medvedev in the Davis Cup a tournament in Croatia.
Poliakov, a clay court specialist and the Soviet singles champion in 1990, had his breakthrough year in 1991, when he won the Yugoslavia Open, an ATP Tour event. This saw him break into the top 100 for the first time. He was also runner-up in the Austrian Open, with partner Pablo Arraya. These would be the only two ATP Tour finals that he reached during his career.
In 1993 he made it into the semi finals of the Kremlin Cup, as qualifier. He defeated number three seed Amos Mansdorf in the opening round and then best Zimbabwean Byron Black 6–0, 6–3 and Martin Damm of the Czech Republic. His tournament ended when he was defeated by Marc Rosset in three sets.
He had one of the best wins of his career in 1992 when he defeated world number 12 Carlos Costa in Vienna in straight sets.
From 1993 to 1998, Poliakov was a regular fixture in the Ukraine Davis Cup team. He had a 10–2 record in singles. His doubles record was 9–5 and seven of those wins came with Andrei Medvedev, which is a national record. He had also played in two Davis Cup campaigns for the Soviet Union team in 1990 and 1991.
He reached the second round of a Grand Slam singles draw on three occasions, twice as a qualifier. In the men's doubles he appeared in three Grand Slam tournaments but never progressed part the first round.
1990 - 1993
1
8
3
1990 - USSR Nationals (Amateur)
Round 1
Dimitri Nikolaevich Poliakov 1 *
Bret Garnett
6-3
6-2
6-2
Round 2
Brad Gilbert 1 *
Dimitri Nikolaevich Poliakov
6-3
2-6
6-2
6-4
Round 1
Dimitri Nikolaevich Poliakov 1 *
Claudio Pistolesi
6-3
3-6
4-6
6-3
6-3
Round 2
Richard Arlen (Richey) Reneberg 1 *
Dimitri Nikolaevich Poliakov
6-3
3-6
6-7(2)
6-4
10-8
Round 1
Stefan Edberg 1 *
Dimitri Nikolaevich Poliakov
6-1
7-6(6)
6-2
Round 1
Johannes Martinus (Jan) Siemerink 1 *
Dimitri Nikolaevich Poliakov
5-7
7-5
3-6
6-4
6-4
Round 1
Pat Cash 1 *
Dimitri Nikolaevich Poliakov
4-6
7-6
5-7
6-4
Final
Dimitri Nikolaevich Poliakov 1 *
Andrei Stanislavovny Olhovsky
6-4
4-6
7-5
7-5