Max Mirnyi

Full name is Maxim Nilolaevich Mirnyi...Nicknamed "The Beast" by former ATP pro Alex Reichel for his size and fearless play...Began playing tennis at age six with his father, Nikolai, who sent his son from Belarus to Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1991 before moving to Bradenton, Fla. in March 1992 to train at IMG-Bollettieri Tennis Academy...Also spends part of year in his native Minsk...Speaks two languages (Russian, English) and is trying to speak French and Spanish whenever possible...Plays guitar and likes to listen to national Russian music...In 2004, recorded four songs...Considers aggression as best part of his game...Brother, Peter (born Aug. 1, 1985), who enjoys basketball, is 6'7" and has a size 15 shoe, biggest in family...Step-brother, Timothy (born Sept. 28, 2000)...Coached by father, Nikolai, who was on the Russian national junior volleyball team in mid-1960s... Mother, Tatiana, was a competitive swimmer...A member of Belarus Davis Cup team since 1994 and has a 47-27 career record (24-18 in singles) in 35 ties since 1994...Has most match wins overall and most ties played in country's Davis Cup history...In November 2001, received highest State Honorary Title for his achievements in sports by Belarus president A. Lukashenko...In November 2002, named UN AIDS Ambassador for Belarus...In September 2003, his father released a book entitled, 'Mirnyi Tennis,' which means "Peaceful Tennis" in Russian, detailing Max's life and tennis stories throughout his career...In May 2004, was voted to a four-year term as vice-president of Belarus Tennis Federation...In February 2004, after an epic Davis Cup win over Russia, Belarus president awarded him with highest government title "Orden Otechestva"...Wife, Xenia (nicknamed Ksusha) and married July 10, 2004 in Minsk; daughters, Melashka "Melanie" (born Dec. 16, 2004) and Petra (born Mar. 15, 2007).

1996 -- Qualified in ATP stops in Rosmalen and Long Island...

1997 -- Won first career ATP doubles title in Shanghai (w/Ullyett) and finalist in Toulouse (w/Fleurian)...On Challenger level, won Cherbourg (w/Ullyett) and reached two finals...

1998 -- Won three consecutive Futures titles...In doubles, reached ATP final in Chennai...On Challenger level, won Bristol (w/Voltchkov)...

1999 -- Reached his first ATP singles SF in Orlando, defeating Courier en route (l. to M. Norman)...In doubles, won four titles with three different partners...

2000 -- First Belarusian to finish in Top 50 singles advanced to SF in Munich (on clay) and Toulouse (indoor)...In US Open 3rd RD, fell to Norman in an epic fifth-set tie-break in 4 hours, 6 minutes (and held 4 M.P.)...Captured his first Grand Slam men’s doubles title at US Open (w/Hewitt), defeating E. Ferreira-Leach in final...At his first Olympics in Sydney, defeated doubles partner Hewitt in 1st RD and lost to silver medalist Haas in QF...In doubles, finished at No. 9 and also won titles in Doha (w/Knowles), AMS Paris (w/Kulti) and reached finals in Munich (w/Zimonjic) and Indianapolis (w/Bjorkman)...

2001 -- Played in 116 total matches, third-most on tour...Qualified at AMS Stuttgart and beat four former Grand Slam champions en route to his first career ATP final...Run also included saving six match points in three different matches, including two match points saved in 1st RD of qualifying (vs. Jan Vacek)...In main draw, defeated O. Rochus, No. 1 Kuerten (saved 2 M.P.), Ivanisevic (saved 2 M.P.), Sampras and Kafelnikov before losing to local favorite Haas in straight sets...Won eight tie-breaks in a row during his three week stretch...In doubles, compiled 38-20 record and won titles in Moscow and AMS Stuttgart (w/Stolle) and also reached final in Halle (w/Rafter)...

2002 -- Played in second-most matches (127) during year, only trailing Novak (134)...Reached singles SF in Sydney, AMS Hamburg and Los Angeles...At US Open, reached his first Grand Slam QF (l. to Agassi)...Won three doubles titles in 10 finals, highlighted by his second US Open crown (w/Bhupathi)...Also won titles in Rotterdam and Moscow (w/Federer)...Finished No. 5 in ATP Doubles Race (w/Bhupathi)...

2003 -- The No. 1 player from Belarus captured his first career ATP singles title, won a personal best 40 matches and finished in Top 25...In addition, won six doubles titles in 12 finals and finished as No. 1 doubles player in the world...Led ATP circuit with 152 matches played and led his country into 2004 Davis Cup World Group for first time by posting a 4-0 singles mark...Broke through to win his first ATP singles title in Rotterdam...Finished No. 3 in service games won (87 percent), No. 4 in break points saved (67 percent) and No. 8 in aces (575)...Compiled records of 23-14 on hard, 8-8 on clay, 5-3 on grass and 4-3 on carpet...In doubles, qualified for Tennis Masters Cup in Houston (w/Bhupathi) and went 1-2 in round robin play...Finished No. 2 in ATP Doubles Race, winning five of nine finals together...Captured three AMS titles (Monte Carlo, Montreal, Madrid) and reached final at Wimbledon...Earned a career-high $1,238,847...

2004 -- Reached SF in Rotterdam and at ATP Masters Series Paris...At AMS Rome, captured lone doubles title of season (w/Bhupathi)...Led Belarus to SF in Davis Cup World Group for first time...Claimed 11-9 fifth set win over Safin in Davis Cup World Group 1st RD..At Athens Olympics, where he reached 3rd RD (l. to silver medalist Fish)...In doubles, won title at AMS Rome (w/Bhupathi) and reached final at AMS Toronto (w/Bjorkman)... Also reached SF at seven other tournaments, including Roland Garros and qualified for Tennis Masters Cup in Houston (w/Bhupathi)...Went 1-2 in round robin play and compiled a 38-22 record during season... Finished No. 10 in doubles and No. 5 in ATP Doubles Race...

2005 -- In singles, reached two finals, two SF and three QF while winning 35 matches (second-most in a year)...Reached SF in Sydney (l. to Hewitt) and Milan (l. to Soderling), as well as final in Memphis (l. to Carlsen)...Reached first grass final in Nottingham (l. to Gasquet)...In doubles, won five of eight finals, capturing Roland Garros and AMS Miami, Hamburg, Cincinnati (w/Bjorkman)...Went 4-3 in finals with his Swedish partner and they qualified for Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai...Finished No. 2 in ATP Doubles Race and No. 4 individually...Qualified for Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai and went 0-3 in round robin play...

2006 -- Finished in Top 75 in singles for eighth consecutive year and continued success in doubles with his No. 3 year-end ranking...Partnered with Bjorkman for second straight season and compiled a 53-11 record together, winning six titles in eight finals...Defended titles at AMS Miami, Roland Garros and AMS Cincinnati while earning titles in Doha, AMS Monte Carlo and Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai...Also reached finals at Queen’s and US Open...They qualified for Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai and went undefeated on the way to title (d. Knowles-Nestor) to finish No. 2 in Stanford ATP Doubles Race...Also won in Stuttgart (w/Gaudio)...After a 4-9 start in singles in first four months, advanced to QF at AMS Hamburg in May...On grass, reached 3rd RD at Queen's (l. to Hewitt) and 4th RD at Wimbledon for second straight year (d. No. 7 Blake, l. to Bjorkman in five sets)...Did not win back-to-back matches again until October when he advanced to back-to-back QF in Moscow (l. to Davydenko) and St. Petersburg (l. to Ancic)...

2007 -- Finished out of Top 100 in singles for first time since 1998 but continued to succeed in doubles with partner Jonas Bjorkman...Best singles results were QF in Doha and 3rd RD at AMS Monte Carlo and Queen's...In doubles, qualified for Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai (w/Bjorkman) and went 1-2 in round robin action...Captured lone title in Stockholm and runner-up at Australian Open (l. to Bryans)...Also SF at AMS Indian Wells, Queen's and AMS Madrid along with QF at Roland Garros...Finished No. 7 in ATP Doubles Race and No. 16 individually...At US Open, captured third career mixed doubles Grand Slam crown (w/Azarenka).

2007

The Belarus native captured two ATP doubles titles in three finals while reaching two other SF...In February, captured title in Delray Beach (w/J. Murray) with win over Bryan brothers...One month later, reached SF at AMS Indian Wells...Split with Murray after US Open and went 8-3 in final month...Won title in Vienna (w/Ram) and reached final in St. Petersburg (w/Bopanna)...During summer, did not play for six weeks in order to complete his degree from Belarus State University, majoring in International Law...Worked on degree for past five years.