Tennis
The leg broke like a match. A monstrous injury killed the career of a Russian tennis player
Andrey Chesnokov / Photo: © Bob Martin / Staff / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru
The opponent almost lost consciousness at the sight of this fracture.
In the mid-90s, Andrei Chesnokov was still in good shape. Behind one of the best tennis players in the country already had the Roland Garros semi-final, the Davis Cup final and two Masters won. It was already more difficult for an athlete to fight for titles, but he was still highly ranked in the rankings.
Everything changed the fatal tournament in Philadelphia. A monstrous injury received by the Russian in the fight for the ball divided his career into “before” and “after”.
Chesnokov was no longer destined to return to the previous level.
Fateful duel
In February 1997, Chesnokov flew to Philadelphia to compete in the Advanta Championships. That season, the US Championship just got a new name and began to be played on hard for the first time, but in this form it did not last long. The draw, which became fateful for the Russian athlete, was the penultimate one in the history of the tournament.
Many star tennis players came to Pennsylvania to fight for more than half a million dollars in prize money: the American championship was then still part of the ATP tour, so it was relatively popular. Among others, the tournament featured its reigning champion and former world No. 1, Jim Courier, as well as the great Pete Sampras.
The tournament was especially popular, not counting the hosts of the court, among the Australians. In 1997, six athletes from Australia tried to compete for the Advant title, including Todd Woodbridge: that season was the best in his singles career. But Russia, and the whole of Eastern Europe in Philadelphia, was represented only by Andrey Chesnokov.
The Russian and the Australian clashed already in the first round. At that time, Woodbridge was considered the favorite of the match, and the first set was held in accordance with the expectations of the bookmakers (6:3). Todd also started the next game confidently: he took the first game, and then had to win the second. The scoreboard read 40:15 in favor of the player from Australia, who at that moment sent the ball into the left corner of the court with a powerful blow. Andrey made a desperate leap… And in a moment the game had to be interrupted.
“Heartbreaking Scream”
When Chesnokov tried to reach the ball, Woodbridge heard a “terrible crunch” and then a “heart-rending scream” from his opponent. The Russian unsuccessfully transferred the weight of the body and received a severe injury – a fracture of the fibula and tibia, plus a dislocation of the ankle. At the sight of this damage, the Australian, by his own admission, almost lost consciousness: he had not seen anything like this in many years of performances.
People get similar injuries as a result of terrible accidents, but not in the course of matches – Andrey’s diagnosis was a shock even for doctors from the University of Pennsylvania Hospital. It was immediately clear that the Russian would have to forget about sports for at least six months, after which he would have a long recovery.
Chesnokov himself later said that in the first seconds he did not feel anything – terrible pain came later. Andrei thought not about whether he could return to tennis, but was afraid to remain disabled for life. The leg, he said, looked like a broken match. In this state, the athlete had to lie on the court for almost ten minutes, waiting for the doctor to connect: it’s hard to imagine what kind of torment the Russian suffered at that time.
Return to tennis
Fortunately, Chesnokov managed to avoid serious health consequences, but in any case, the surgeons had to fasten the crushed bones with special pins. The doctors promised the Russian a quick return to the court, but he himself was in a real depression, realizing that he would not return to his former level.
Andrei returned to tennis a year later, but he could no longer compete with the best. Of course, the age of the tennis player also affected, but it was impossible to explain the gap in the quality of his performances at 31 and 32 by aging alone. After a terrible injury, Chesnokov never reached the finals of the Masters, not to mention the highest stages of the Grand Slam tournaments.
Two years later, Andrei had to end his career. However, for 15 years on the court, Chesnokov, in any case, was able to forever write his name in history, becoming a pioneer in Russian tennis. The athlete began his path to the elite back in the days of perestroika, clearing the path for the next generation of stars: Safin, Kafelnikov and many others.
Source: Sportbox
I am a sports journalist who has written for a number of Sportish. I have a background in journalism and have been writing since I was young. My main focus is sports news, but I also write about general news. I am currently working as an author at Sportish.
Tennis
Elina Svitolina – Linda Klimovichova. Prediction and announcement for the Australian Open match
They will face each other in the second round of the Australian Open on January 21 Elina Svitolina (WTA 12) and Linda Klimovichova (WTA 134).
The match will start at 02.00 Kyiv time.
Sport.ua together with a betting partner bet announcing the upcoming fight!
Elina Svitolina
Ukraine had as many as six representatives in the Australian Open main draw, but only Svitolina managed to get past the first round. The tennis player started here with a 6:4, 6:1 victory against Spaniard Buksha. There were difficulties in the first match when we had to come back from 1:3.
So far Elina’s season is going well, she took the cup in Auckland, her winning streak has already reached six matches. In the first match of the tournament, the Ukrainian player had only 49% of the first serve and made half as many errors as his opponent.
Ukraine’s first racquet is currently in good shape but has yet to face top opponents this year. If she is successful in the next match, Elina will face the winner of Tallia Gibson – Diana Schneider.
Linda Klimovichova
The Polish tennis player has been actively playing on the tour since 2022, but only now has he managed to get into the main draw of a major tournament for the first time. Here Klimovichova started with the qualifiers, where she did not lose a single match; The Australians passed in the order of Webb Sem – 6:2, 6:1 and Carbera – 6:4, 7:5. In the qualifying final, a 6:4 and 6:4 victory was achieved against Belgian Minnen.
Already in the main round the Polish woman defeated the British Francesca Jones, her opponent withdrew, losing 2:6, 2:3. Klimovichova was remembered for her active play in her last match, which was not completed, she achieved 24 wins, 8 against her opponent. Psychologically, this will not be difficult for a Polish woman; They don’t expect much from him.
To guess
The athletes had never met each other before, which is not surprising, since Polish women play very little in top-level tournaments. Svitolina is the favorite of these two, but Klimovichova can perform well in tennis.
Although the Polish athlete is 10 years younger, Elina should have no problems with endurance. Although the bookmakers are confident in the success of the Ukrainian athlete, I would take a total bet of more than 18.5 matches for 1.71.
Elina Svitolina01/21/2026 –
02:00
Linda Klimovichova 1.71 place a bet KRAIL License No. 559 dated 12/05/2024 Source: Sport UA
I am a sports journalist who has worked in print and online. I have authored articles for a sports website and have covered sports news for over 6 years.
All first round matches ended on January 20 Australian Open 2026. According to the results of the matches, they could not advance to the second round. 15 seeded players.
On the third day, two seeded tennis players and three seeded tennis players left the major. Tallon Grikspor completed the men’s competition [23] and João Fonseca [28]and for women: Maya Joynt [30]Leila Fernandez [22] and Lyudmila Samsonova [18].
The seeded tennis players who left the Australian Open 2026 on January 20:
- R1: Tallon Grixpor [23] – Ethan Quinn – 2:6, 3:6, 2:6
- R1: João Fonseca [28] – Eliot Spizziri – 4:6, 6:2, 1:6, 2:6
The seeded tennis players who left the Australian Open 2026 on January 20:
- R1: Maya Joynt [30] – Teresa Valentova – 4:6, 4:6
- R1: Leila Fernandez [22] – Janice Tjen – 2:6, 6:7 (1:7)
- R1: Lyudmila Samsonova [18] – Laura Siegemund – 6:0, 5:7, 4:6
Top seeded tennis players who left the Australian Open after the first round:
- Felix Auger-Aliassime [7]
- Jiri Legechka [17]
- Flavio Cobolli [20]
- Tallon Grixpor [23]
- Arthur Rinderknesh [24]
- Brandon Nakashima [27]
- João Fonseca [28]
Top seeded tennis players who left the Australian Open after the first round:
- 🏳️ Ekaterina Aleksandrova [11]
- Emma Navarro [15]
- Lyudmila Samsonova [18]
- Marta Kostyuk [20]
- Leila Fernandez [22]
- Dayana Yastremskaya [26]
- Sofia Kenin [27]
- Maya Joynt [30]
Source: Sport UA
I am a sports journalist who has worked in print and online. I have authored articles for a sports website and have covered sports news for over 6 years.
39-year-old French tennis player and husband of Elina Svitolina Gael Monfils (ATP 110) Withdrew from the 2026 Australian Open.
The Frenchman lost to the Australian in four sets in the first round of the major tournament in Melbourne Dane Sweeney (ATP 182) in 3 hours 54 minutes.
Australian Open 2026. 1/64 finals
Dane Sweeney (Australia) [Q] – Gael Monfils (France) – 6:7 (3:7), 7:5, 6:4, 7:5
Monfils played on the Australian Open courts for the 20th time. For Gael, this was his last match at the Australian slam; He will retire in 2026.
Gael’s best results at the Aus Open are quarter-finals in 2016 and 2022. Sweeney will face eighth seed Ben Shelton in the second round.
“First of all, thank you very much. My journey started with you in 2005 – that’s when I first came here. Now the year is 2026 and somehow this is already the finish line. Thank you very much for this amazing journey. You were incredible. Thank you very much. I have very good memories here… Great battles. I am lucky to have played here for many years.”
Source: Sport UA
I am a sports journalist who has worked in print and online. I have authored articles for a sports website and have covered sports news for over 6 years.
Kazakhstan’s Kairat lost their chance to qualify for the Champions League playoffs
Elina Svitolina – Linda Klimovichova. Prediction and announcement for the Australian Open match
15 seeded players were eliminated at the end of the first round at the Australian Open
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