Began playing at age five...Born in Orenburg, Russia and now resides in Tashkent, Uzbekistan...Nicknamed "Deni"...Father, Oleg, is a businessman; mother, Klaudiya Istomina, coaches her son...Has a younger brother, Anton...Speaks English and Russian...Suffered a leg injury in a car accident traveling to a Futures event in Tashkent in April 2001, underwent surgery which required as many as 80 stiches and spent three months in the hospital...Did not touch a racquet for two years, resuming training in April 2003...Likes soccer (supports Real Madrid) and playing pool...Graduated from University of Physical Culture & Sport in Uzbekistan with degree in physical culture in June 2011.
Istomin DEUCE Feature (Aug. 2009)
2012 -- The top player from Uzbekistan finished in Top 50 for 2nd time in 3 years, reaching his 2nd career ATP World Tour final in San Jose (l. to Raonic)...Also SF in Sydney (l. to Nieminen) and QF in Brisbane (l. to Tomic) and Eastbourne (l. to Harrison)...His best Grand Slam result was 4R at Wimbledon where he lost to Youzhny 7-5 in 5th set...Compiled records of 17-17 on hard, 8-5 on grass and 5-10 on clay. Went 1-5 vs. Top 10 opponents and posted his 1st win over No. 5 Ferrer in Indian Wells. Earned a career-high $660,205...
2011 -- The top player from Uzbekistan finished in Top 100 for 2nd straight year, highlighted by ATP World Tour QF in San Jose (l. to Verdasco) and 4 Challenger titles, in August and September…Compiled a 21-2 match record...His highest-ranked win came over No. 39 Kohlschreiber in 1R at Wimbledon...In August, won back-to-back titles on home soil in Samarkand (d. Jaziri) and Karashi (d. Kavcic)…Following month, captured consecutive titles in Istanbul (d. Kohlschreiber) and Tashkent (d. Zopp)...
2010 -- The top player from Uzbekistan and No. 2 Asian (behind No. 35 Lu) became first player from his country to finish in Top 50 by improving over 60 ranking spots…Won a personal-high 32 matches…Reached 3rd RD at Australian Open in January and following month advanced to SF in San Jose (l. to Verdasco)…On grass, reached 3rd RD at Queen’s (l. to Nadal), SF in Eastbourne (l. to Garcia-Lopez), and 3rd RD at Wimbledon (l. to Berdych)… During summer, reached QF on clay in Hamburg (l. to Golubev), first ATP final in New Haven (l. to Stakhovsky)… Advanced to SF in Moscow (l. to Baghdatis)…Reached three doubles SF, in San Jose (w/ Sela) as well as Båstad and Kuala Lampur (both w/ Golubev)…Compiled marks of 20-19 on hard, 7-3 on grass and 5-7 on clay…Earned a career-high $590,766.
2009 -- The Uzbekistan native finished a year-end best ranking, just outside the Top 100…Won a personal-best 16 matches on ATP World Tour, highlighted by QF results in Eastbourne (l. to eventual champ Tursunov) in June and St. Petersburg (l. to Safin) in October…Reached a career-high No. 57 on July 27 before slipping later in year…Became first Uzbekistan player to reach 3rd RD at a Grand Slam at US Open (d. Evans, N. Lapentti, l. to Cilic)…Also compiled a 14-11 record in Challengers with his best result a runner-up in his hometown in October (l. to Baghdatis)…Went 9-13 on hard, 4-2 on clay and 3-3 on grass…Earned a career-high $296,628...
2008 -- Went 2-2 in Challenger finals, winning back-to-back titles on home soil in Bukhara (d. Marchenko) and Karshi (d. Elgin) in August…Also runner-up in Saransk (l. to Elgin) and Cherkassy(l. to Patience)…Also reached two SFs and eight QFs…Went 4-0 in Davis Cup play…Won only tour-level matches at Australian Open and Moscow, falling in 2nd RD in both…
2007 -- Played mostly Challengers, posting an 18-13 match record and winning one Futures event in his native land and back-to-back Challenger titles in August in Bukhara (d. Weintraub) and Karshi (d. Ilhan)…
2006 -- Made his Grand Slam debut at Australian Open and lost to No. 1 Federer in straight sets…Compiled consistent Challenger results with SF at San Remo, Penza, St. Petersburg and Samarkand…Qualified for his first ATP tournament in Moscow and lost to Korolev in 1st RD…Won Futures title in his native country in April…
2005 -- Captured first Challenger title at Bukhara and advanced to SFs in Fergana, Saransk and Samarkand…Won three Futures events in his native Uzbekistan…Made his Davis Cup debut against Indonesia and won both of his matches.
2013
Advanced to his seventh ATP World Tour SF at Memphis (l. to Lopez in 3 sets)…