Andrey Golubev

Infobox Tennis player
playername= Andrei Golubev


country=KAZ
residence=Bra, Italy
datebirth=birth date and age|1987|7|22
placebirth=Volzhskij, Russia
height=height|m=1.85
weight=convert|72|kg|lb st|abbr=on
turnedpro=2005
retired=
plays=Right-handed
careerprizemoney=$205,213
singlesrecord=3–5
singlestitles=0
highestsinglesranking=132 (February 11, 2008)
AustralianOpenresult=
FrenchOpenresult=
Wimbledonresult=
USOpenresult= 2nd (2008)
doublesrecord=1–1
doublestitles=0
highestdoublesranking=282 (July 7, 2008)
updated=October 3 2008

Andrei Golubev (born on birth date|1987|7|22 in Volzhskij, Russia) is a Kazakhstani tennis playerborn in Russia and living in Italy. Golubev is currently the 159th ranked men's singles player in the world, and the 375th ranked men's doubles player. While he has never played in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament, he has participated in qualifying for these events, as well in the main draw of ATP Masters Series and ATP International Series events.

Tennis career

Golubev has amassed a career record of 135-91 (59.7%) in the main draw of senior ITF and ATP events. He has made twelve finals in these events, winning five and losing seven. His strongest surface is carpet, where he is 8-2 (80%), along with hard courts, where he is 65-41 (61.3%)

Early career

Golubev's first senior ITF experience came primarily on the satellite tour in 2003. The first ranking point(s) earned by Golubev were from a four-week satellite tour in Serbia, and he gained another from a satellite event in Italy. In 2004, he turned his focus to attmepting to qualify for futures and challenger events. His first appearance in the main draw of one of these events was from a wild card in the Arpa Ceramic Cup in Reggio Emilia, Italy, where he lost to world #219 Salvador Navarro, but did manage to win a set [Citation
title = 2004 Reggio Emilia Challenger drawsheet
url = http://www.itftennis.com/mens/tournaments/drawsheetbyround.asp?tournament=1100010311&event=
accessdate = July 30, 2008] .

This performance earned him enough ranking points to qualify for a futures event in Helsingor, Denmark, where he had a strong run to the semifinals [Citation
title = 2004 Denmark F1 Futures drawsheet
url = http://www.itftennis.com/mens/tournaments/drawsheetbyround.asp?tournament=1100009588&event=
accessdate = July 30, 2008] . He would get to at least the quarterfinals of three other events, all in Italy, including making his first final in L'Aquila, losing to Mathieu Montcourt [Citation
title = 2004 Italy F20 Futures drawsheet
url = http://www.itftennis.com/mens/tournaments/drawsheetbyround.asp?tournament=1100010160&event=
accessdate = July 30, 2008] . By the end of 2004, he was ranked as the 561st player in the world, with 25 ATP Entry Ranking points [Citation
title = 2004 ATP Ranking History
url = http://www.atptennis.com/5/en/players/playerprofiles/rankhistory.asp?playernumber=G806&selyear=2004
accessdate = July 30, 2008] .

2005

Golubev continued to enter futures events in 2005, with his best performances a semifinal and a quarterfinal, until Mid-May, when he won events on back-to-back weeks, the first in Grottaglie, the other in Teramo. The Grottaglie event was the first time that Golubev had ever been seeded in the main draw of a futures event, and as the #7 seed he survived losing the first set in the semifinals before beating #1 seed Malek Jaziri of Tunisia in the finals [Citation
title = 2005 Italy F13 Futures drawsheet
url = http://www.itftennis.com/mens/tournaments/drawsheetbyround.asp?tournament=1100011437&event=
accessdate = July 30, 2008] . Because of this win, he earned a special exemption for the Teramo event, where he continued his good form by beating #5 seed Alessandro Accardo in the final, having already taken out the tournament's #1 seed in the semis [Citation
title = 2005 Italy F14 Futures drawsheet
url = http://www.itftennis.com/mens/tournaments/drawsheetbyround.asp?tournament=1100011441&event=
accessdate = July 30, 2008] .

The schedule of rankings changes meant that both these events were added to the points count on the week of June 6, 2005, lifting Golubev up into the top 500 for the first time in his careerCitation
title = 2005 ATP Ranking History
url = http://www.atptennis.com/5/en/players/playerprofiles/rankhistory.asp?playernumber=G806&selyear=2005
accessdate = July 30, 2008] .

In late July, Golubev earned his first direct acceptance into a challenger event, a clay court tournament in Valladolid, Spain. He was the lowest ranked player to receive direct acceptance, and managed to win his first match against a Spanish wildcard ranked outside the top 1000 in the world, before losing to an Australian qualifier [Citation
title = 2005 Valladolid Challenger drawsheet
url = http://www.itftennis.com/mens/tournaments/drawsheetbyround.asp?tournament=1100012259&event=
accessdate = July 30, 2008] .

In August, he won three straight qualifying matches to make the field for a challenger in Pamplona, where he would again make the second round [Citation
title = 2005 Pamplona Challenger drawsheet
url = http://www.itftennis.com/mens/tournaments/drawsheetbyround.asp?tournament=1100012265&event=
accessdate = July 30, 2008] . However, unable to consistently achieve strong results in the challengers, Golubev resumed playing futures events in September, making the finals in a November event in Rhode-St-Genèse, Belgium [Citation
title = 2005 Belgium F2 Futures drawsheet
url = http://www.itftennis.com/mens/tournaments/drawsheetbyround.asp?tournament=1100012344&event=
accessdate = July 30, 2008] . The ranking points from this event would be enough to move Golubev into the top 400 for the first time on November 21, 2005, and he finished the year ranked 393rd. Later in June, he earned a second wild card in Reggio Emilia, but lost his first round match [Citation
title = 2005 Reggio Emilia Challenger drawsheet
url = http://www.itftennis.com/mens/tournaments/drawsheetbyround.asp?tournament=1100012184&event=
accessdate = July 30, 2008] .

Golubev also moved into the top 1000 in doubles in 2005, after making the semifinals of a futures event with Marco Gualdi. He would also move up by making the quarterfinals at three straight challengers, with three different partners. In September, at a futures event in Porto Torres, Italy, he teamed with Adriano Biasella and won the tournament, losing only a single set. He finished the year ranked #552 in doubles [Citation
title = 2005 Italy F30 Futures drawsheet
url = http://www.itftennis.com/mens/tournaments/drawsheetbyRound.asp?event=1100070467&tournament=1100012163
accessdate = July 30, 2008] .

2006

Despite finishing the 2005 season with a career-high ranking, Golubev struggled to start the 2006 season, not making it beyond the quarterfinals of a futures event until mid-May and dropping back below the 400th ranking place in mid-March. He returned to the top 400 after making the finals in Vicenza, rising to a new career-high ranking, but in this tournament he benefited from drawing a wild card in his first match, and getting both a withdrawal and a retirement from other opponents [Citation
title = 2006 Italy F13 Futures drawsheet
url = http://www.itftennis.com/mens/tournaments/drawsheetbyround.asp?tournament=1100013494&event=
accessdate = July 30, 2008] Citation
title = 2006 ATP Ranking History
url = http://www.atptennis.com/5/en/players/playerprofiles/rankhistory.asp?playernumber=G806&selyear=2006
accessdate = July 30, 2008] .

He returned to the challenger circuit for the start of June, qualifying for an event in Turin, where he lost in the first round, but his ranking suffered a major blow when his two wins from the previous season dropped off, sending him down to #448 [Citation
title = 2006 Turin Challenger drawsheet
url = http://www.itftennis.com/mens/tournaments/drawsheetbyround.asp?tournament=1100013879&event=
accessdate = July 30, 2008] . Despite this setback, Golubev had a major breakthrough in Milan, where as a wild card he won back-to-back challenger matches for the first time, progressing to the quarterfinals before losing to Sydney Olympic bronze medalist Arnaud Di Pasquale [Citation
title = 2006 Milan Challenger drawsheet
url = http://www.itftennis.com/mens/tournaments/drawsheetbyround.asp?tournament=1100014208&event=
accessdate = July 30, 2008] .

His next three attempts at qualifying for challengers, though, all failed, so he again returned to the futures circuit, but with more success than his early season appearances, making finals at both Modena and Piombino, and returning him to the top 400. He briefly dropped back below this line, but came back up after a good challenger performance in Grenoble, where he won five straight matches, four in three sets, to qualify and make the quarterfinals [Citation
title = 2006 Grenoble Challenger drawsheet
url = http://www.itftennis.com/mens/tournaments/drawsheetbyround.asp?tournament=1100014525&event=
accessdate = July 30, 2008] .

Golubev again focused on futures play to end the season, and had some significant success. He defeated Adrian Mannarino in the final of an event in Rodez to set a new career-high ranking of #336, then made back to back finals in November, losing in Redbridge, England, and winning over Jeroen Masson in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, further boosting his ranking to #303, and ending the year ranked #305 in the world [Citation
title = 2006 France F19 Futures drawsheet
url = http://www.itftennis.com/mens/tournaments/drawsheetbyround.asp?tournament=1100014409&event=
accessdate = July 30, 2008] [Citation
title = 2006 Great Britain F17 Futures drawsheet
url = http://www.itftennis.com/mens/tournaments/drawsheetbyround.asp?tournament=1100014412&event=
accessdate = July 30, 2008] [Citation
title = 2006 Spain F37 Futures drawsheet
url = http://www.itftennis.com/mens/tournaments/tournamentoverview.asp?tournament=1100014414
accessdate = July 30, 2008] .

Golubev's ranking also improved in doubles, though not by as wide a margin. After making two tournament finals in June, he moved into the top 500, and nearly ended up in the top 400 before inactivity at the end of the season cost him points and dorpped him back below #500. He finished the year ranked 510th in doubles.

2007

Golubev's first tournament of 2007 was a first for him, as he attempted to qualify for his first ATP International Series event, the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha. He lost his first match in straight sets, but continued his attempts to qualify for large events when he entered qualifying for the Australian Open [Citation
title = 2007 Qatar ExxonMobil Open qualifying drawsheet
url = http://www.atptennis.com/posting/2007/451/QS.pdf
accessdate = July 30, 2008] . In Melbourne, he won his first qualifying match against Ernests Gulbis, but lost the second and failed to advance [Citation
title = 2007 Australian Open qualifying drawsheet
url = http://www.itftennis.com/mens/tournaments/drawsheetbyRound.asp?event=1100086159&tournament=1100015066
accessdate = July 30, 2008] . Still, the ranking points that this attempt garnered moved Golubev into the top 300 for the first time in his careerCitation
title = 2007 ATP Ranking History
url = http://www.atptennis.com/5/en/players/playerprofiles/rankhistory.asp?playernumber=G806&selyear=2007
accessdate = July 30, 2008] .

Through the early months of the year, Golubev continued to attempt to qualify for both ATP and challenger events, with no success. He made the final round of qualifying on several occasions, including losing to Radek Stepanek at the Open 13 in Marseille [Citation
title = 2007 Open 13 qualifying drawsheet
url = http://www.itftennis.com/mens/tournaments/drawsheetbyRound.asp?event=1100087455&tournament=1100015205
accessdate = July 30, 2008] .

He was able to gain direct acceptance to a challenger event in Rome in May, his first appearance in a main draw since September 2006, making the quarterfinals. His first challenger semifinal appearance came in Sassuolo a month later, as he won six straight matches to move into the top 250 for the first time [Citation
title = 2007 Sassuolo Challenger drawsheet
url = http://www.itftennis.com/mens/tournaments/drawsheetbyround.asp?tournament=1100016136&event=
accessdate = July 30, 2008] . This made it easier to earn direct acceptance to challengers, and also helped him enter Wimbledon qualifying. In his first major event on grass, Golubev defeated #1 seed Olivier Patience, but fell short in the final round, losing his first five-set match to Wang Yeu-Tzuoo, and failing to qualify [Citation
title = 2007 Wimbledon qualifier drawsheet
url = http://www.itftennis.com/mens/tournaments/drawsheetbyRound.asp?event=1100091558&tournament=1100016129
accessdate = July 30, 2008] .

Wang would serve as Golubev's nemesis again, later in July at Recanati, where Golubev beat Rainer Schuettler and Gilles Muller to make his first challenger-level final, where he again lost to Wang, this time managing to take a set from him. This performance lifted him into the top 200 for the first time in his career [Citation
title = 2007 Rencanati Challenger drawsheet
url = http://www.itftennis.com/mens/tournaments/drawsheetbyround.asp?tournament=1100016261&event=
accessdate = July 30, 2008] .

He would continue to play challengers for the remainder of the season, with his best result coming in Grenoble, where he made the semifinals [Citation
title = Grenoble Challenger 2007 drawsheet
url = http://www.itftennis.com/mens/tournaments/drawsheetbyround.asp?tournament=1100016549&event=
accessdate = July 30, 2008] . In late October, Golubev again attempted to qualify for an ATP tour event, this time the Davidoff Swiss Indoors in Basel. This time, he was successful, not dropping a set in qualifying, and so made his first career ATP International Series main draw. He would actually improve on this, winning his first ATP match over American Amer Delic, and winning a set from #8 seed Paul-Henri Mathieu before losing the next two to go out [Citation
title = Davidoff Swiss Indoors 2007 drawsheet
url = http://www.atptennis.com/posting/2007/328/mds.pdf
accessdate = July 30, 2008] . He would finish his season ranked #177.

Golubev played fairly few doubles matches in 2007, but did record his first career challenger victory at Mantova with Francesco Piccari, and again team with Piccari to make the semis in Cordenons [Citation
title = Mantova Challenger 2007 drawsheet
url = http://www.itftennis.com/mens/tournaments/drawsheetbyRound.asp?event=1100092025&tournament=1100016255
accessdate = July 30, 2008] . He reached a new career high doubles ranking of #350 after these results, and finished the year at #389.

2008

Golubev began the season by qualifying for his second ATP event, the Next Generation Adelaide International, but lost to a man he had beaten in Australia the year before, Ernests Gulbis, in the first round [Citation
title = Next Generation Adelaide 2008 drawsheet
url = http://www.atptennis.com/posting/2008/339/mds.pdf
accessdate = July 30, 2008] . In Australian Open qualifying, Golubev again fell short at the second round, but this time he quickly moved on to a challenger event in Heilbronn, Germany, where he reeled off eight straight wins, including beating #1 seed Florian Mayer and Philipp Petzschner in the final, winning his first career challenger event, and putting him to a new career-high ranking of 135 [Citation
title = Australian Open qualifying 2008 drawsheet
url = http://www.itftennis.com/mens/tournaments/drawsheetbyRound.asp?event=1100098313&tournament=1100017238
accessdate = July 30, 2008] [Citation
title = Heilbronn 2008 drawsheet
url = http://www.itftennis.com/mens/tournaments/drawsheetbyround.asp?tournament=1100017294&event=
accessdate = July 30, 2008] . Despite being inactive, shifts from other players moved Golubev to his current career-high of #132 on February 11Citation
title = 2008 ATP Ranking History
url = http://www.atptennis.com/5/en/players/playerprofiles/rankhistory.asp?playernumber=G806&selyear=2008
accessdate = July 30, 2008] .

Golubev again attempted to qualify for the Open 13 in Marseille, but fell just one set short, losing to Ivan Dodig, but then went on a long losing streak, failing to win a singles match between mid-February and mid-April [Citation
title = Open 13 qualifying 2008 drawsheet
url = http://www.itftennis.com/mens/tournaments/drawsheetbyRound.asp?event=1100098833&tournament=1100017304
accessdate = July 30, 2008] . This included a failure in his first attempt to qualify for a ATP Masters Series event, losing in the first qualifying round at Monte Carlo [Citation
title = Monte Carlo Masters qualifying 2008 drawsheet
url = http://www.atptennis.com/posting/2008/410/QS.pdf
accessdate = July 30, 2008] .

He would win a match in qualifying for the Open Sabadell Atlántico in Barcelona to end a seven-game losing streak, but would not win consecutive matches until a quarterfinal in a challenger in Sanremo. He attmpted to qualfiy for both Wimbledon, and, for the first time, the French Open, but failed in both attempts, losing in the second round of Wimbledon qualifying.

Golubev reached another new milestone at the Canada Masters in Toronto, beating Phillip King and Rohan Bopanna to qualify for his first career ATP Masters series event main draw [Citation
title = Canada Masters qualifying 2008 drawsheet
url = http://www.atptennis.com/1/posting/2008/421/QS.pdf
accessdate = July 30, 2008] . He lost his first round match, though, to veteran Thomas Johansson of Sweden.

Golubev continued his attempts to qualify for ATP level events, succeeding at the Countrywide Classic in Los Angeles, but losing in the first round to Florent Serra [Citation
title = Countrywide Classic 2008 drawsheet
url = http://www.atptennis.com/posting/2008/423/mds.pdf
accessdate = September 5, 2008] , and falling one match short in Washington D.C., at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic [Citation
title = Legg Mason Tennis Classic qualifying 2008 drawsheet
url = http://www.atptennis.com/posting/2008/418/qs.pdf
accessdate = September 5, 2008] .

Golubev entered qualifying for the US Open for the first time in 2008, losing in the final round to Switzerland's Stephane Bohli. However, when Juan Carlos Ferrero pulled out of the tournament, Golubev was chosen as the lucky loser to replace him, and made his Grand Slam debut against an American wildcard, Brendan Evans. Golubev defeated Evans in three sets, but then lost to #7 seed David Nalbandian in the second round [Citation
title = U.S. Open 2008 drawsheet
url = http://www.itftennis.com/mens/tournaments/drawsheetbyround.asp?tournament=1100018556&event=
accessdate = September 5, 2008] .

Golubev has had another year of only light doubles play, with his best result a semifinal with Francesco Piccari in Cordoba.

Change in nationality

For the first years of his career, up to and including 2008 Wimbledon, Goloubev competed as an athlete from Russia [Citation
title = 2008 Wimbledon profile
url = http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/bios/overview/atpg806.html
accessdate = July 30, 2008] . However, before the 2008 Canada Masters, he changed his affiliation, apperaing on the draw as an athlete from Kazakhstan, and his ATP profile now reflects this [Citation
title = 2008 Rogers Cup draw
url = http://www.atptennis.com/posting/2008/421/mds.pdf
accessdate = July 30, 2008] .

Titles (2)

Singles (1)

External links

* [http://www.atptennis.com/3/en/players/playerprofiles/?playernumber=G806 ATP Tour Player Profile]
* [http://www.itftennis.com/mens/players/player.asp?player=100025300 ITF Player Profile]

Notes