Denis Olegovich Istomin (born 7 September 1986) is an Uzbekistani professional tennis player. He has won two singles titles (at the 2015 Aegon Open Nottingham and 2017 Chengdu Open) and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 33 in August 2012. In January 2017, he defeated defending champion Novak Djokovic in the second round of the Australian Open.
Personal life
Denis Istomin was born in Orenburg to Russian parents Oleg and Klaudiya Istomin. His father moved the family to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, when Denis was 3 months old. Denis is coached by his mother, who introduced him to the sport at an early age. Injuries resulting from a car crash in 2001 en route to an event kept Istomin away from tennis for 2 years, with doctors initially stating that he would never hold a racquet again. Despite this, Istomin resumed training in April 2003.
He is good friends with Varvara Lepchenko, who previously played for Uzbekistan.
On court
Istomin is one of the few top ATP Professional players, along with Janko Tipsarević and Chung Hyeon, to wear glasses while playing (most players either have near perfect eyesight or wear contact lenses).
Career
2004–05: Turning Pro and breaking the top 200
Istomin broke into the top–200 late in 2005 and finished the year at No. 196. He won his first Challenger tournament in Bukhara.
2006
Istomin received the Asian wildcard into the 2006 Australian Open, where he played world No. 1 Roger Federer. Federer won in straight sets. He spent much of 2006 in the top 200, reaching a career-high of No. 186 on 1 May, and finished the year at No. 200 in singles.
2007
Istomin was slightly less successful in 2007, spending the entire year outside the top 200 in singles, but rallying towards the end of the year to finish at No. 230, again claiming the Asian Wild card for the 2008 Australian Open. In any case, he won two Challenger titles, Karshi and, for a second time, Bukhara. He reached his career-high of No. 157 on 18 June.
2008
Istomin entered the 2008 Australian Open as the Asian wild card. He lost in the second round to local favorite Lleyton Hewitt in four sets. Following successful results in a number of Challenger tournaments (including Karshi for the second time and Bukhara for the third time, he finished the season ranked No. 105.
2009: Breaking the top 100
Istomin again received the Asian wild card into the 2009 Australian Open. He played Vincent Spadea of the US in the first round and won in straight sets. He lost to Richard Gasquet in the second round. He had a more successful year, breaking into the top 100 for the first time and reaching world No. 56 in July. This ranking rise qualified him for main draw entry into the other Grand Slam tournaments. His best performance in the remaining Grand Slam events came at the 2009 US Open, where he reached the third round by defeating American wildcard Brendan Evans in straight sets, before earning a hard-fought win against Nicolás Lapentti in a fifth set tiebreak. He then lost against Marin Cilic in straight sets.
2010: First ATP final & breaking top 50
Istomin first competed in the 2010 Aircel Chennai Open, but was defeated in the first round by Dudi Sela. He then participated in the 2010 Australian Open. In the first round he routed No. 32 seed Jérémy Chardy and then defeated Michael Berrer in the second round. Istomin was defeated in the third round by No. 3 seed Novak Djokovic. He made his first semi-final at an ATP level tournament at the 2010 SAP Open, in San Jose. After beating Ryan Harrison in the opening round, he went on to beat fourth seed Tommy Haas and sixth seed Philipp Kohlschreiber en route to his first semis appearance. There, he lost to No. 2 seed Fernando Verdasco. At the 2010 Pilot Pen Tennis Istomin advanced to his first ATP Final, but was defeated by Sergiy Stakhovsky in three sets. This, along with third round appearances at Wimbledon and the French Open in 2010, sent him to his career high ranking of 39 on 30 August.
At the 2010 US Open Istomin defeated Máximo González in the first round. He was later defeated by No. 1 seed and eventual winner Rafael Nadal in the second round. Following this his ranking slipped down to No. 42. At the 2010 Asian Games tennis finals, Istomin lost to India's Somdev Devvarman in straight sets.
2011
Istomin started the year at number 40 in the ATP rankings, but had a poor run in the Australian swing, starting the year with a second round exit in Brisbane and then losing first round matches in the next two weeks in Sydney and then in the Australian Open.