More from “The Tennis Space” series (excerpted):
No 9: Anastasia Ulikhina (Mikhail Kukushkin).
If Denis Istomin thinks he has a tough balancing act to cope with, spare a thought for Mikhail Kukushkin, a Kazakhstan player who four years ago had the nous, some would say bravery, to hire his girlfriend as his coach. Since they began working together, Anastasia Ulikhina has become Kukushin’s wife and her quiet influence has had a positive effect.
“It’s helped me to improve my game – I improved by 100 spots in the rankings,” Kukushkin said last year. “We have a good relationship and we try to really separate the relationship on the court and outside of the court. The point is to help me to improve my game.
Read more – HERE
from Mikhail Kukushkin’s ATP page (CLICK HERE) :
Began playing tennis at age six with father Alexander who coached him until age 17…Mother, Tatiana…Has one older sister, Ekaterina…Likes to play on hard courts, best shots are ground strokes…Moved to Kazakhstan in 2008…Has no specific goals in terms of rankings or results but just wants to give his best on the court…Likes movies and reading Russian books…Best friends on the tour are Andrey Golubev and Yuri Schukin…Married to coach Anastasiia Kukushkina (November 19, 2011) who he’s worked with since May 2009.
More about Kukushkin and more pictures at “All About Sports Players” Blog (CLICK HERE):
Adirondack Tennis 