Denis Istomin

Denis Olegovich Istomin (born 7 September 1986) is an Uzbek professional tennis player. He reached a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 33, achieved on 13 August 2012 and a best doubles ranking of No. 59, reached on 8 October 2012. His most notable result is defeating second seed and defending champion Novak Djokovic at the 2017 Australian Open.

Istomin won two ATP Tour singles titles, at the 2015 Nottingham Open and 2017 Chengdu Open.

Personal life Denis Istomin was born in Orenburg to Russian parents Oleg Istomin and Klaudiya Istomina. His father moved the family to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, when Denis was 3 months old. Denis is coached by his mother, who introduced him to the sport at an early age. Injuries resulting from a car crash in 2001 en route to an event kept Istomin away from tennis for 2 years, with doctors initially stating that he would never hold a racquet again. Despite this, Istomin resumed training in April 2003.

He is good friend with Varvara Lepchenko, who previously played for Uzbekistan.

On court Istomin is one of the few top ATP Professional players, along with Janko Tipsarević and Chung Hyeon, to wear glasses while playing (most players either have near perfect eyesight or wear contact lenses).

Career

2004–05: Turning Pro, Top 200 debut Istomin broke into the top–200 late in 2005 and finished the year at No. 196. He won his first Challenger tournament in Bukhara.

2006 Istomin received the Asian wildcard into the 2006 Australian Open, where he played world No. 1 Roger Federer. Federer won in straight sets. He spent much of 2006 in the top 200, reaching a career-high of No. 186 on 1 May, and finished the year at No. 200 in singles.

2011 Istomin started the year at number 40 in the ATP rankings,

Following a second round loss at London/Queen's Club and a quarterfinal at Eastbourne, Istomin reached the fourth round of Wimbledon, becoming the first tennis player from Uzbekistan, man or woman, to make the fourth round of a Grand Slam. He lost in five sets to Mikhail Youzhny to end his bid for a quarterfinal appearance. At the Olympics, representing Uzbekistan, Istomin made the round of 16, losing to eventual silver medalist Roger Federer. During the USA hard court swing, Istomin made the second round of the Cincinnati Masters. At the US Open, he lost in the first round to Jürgen Zopp. He finished the year poorly, losing in all remaining tournaments in either the first or second round. During the Davis Cup that year, Istomin nearly led Uzbekistan to a World Group spot; Uzbekistan defeated New Zealand and India, but lost to Kazakhstan in the final playoff round.

2013: First doubles title In January, Istomin advanced to the quarter-finals of the Brisbane International with wins over Martin Kližan and Lleyton Hewitt but was defeated by eventual champion Andy Murray. He then went on to enter the Apia International in Sydney, winning his first round and second round matches against James Duckworth and Fernando Verdasco to advance to the quarter-finals. He then lost to South African Kevin Anderson. Istomin reached the semi-finals of the U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships where he beat John Isner, Lleyton Hewitt and Michael Russell before losing to eventual champion Feliciano López. At the Rogers Cup third round, he challenged No. 1 Novak Djokovic, winning the first set before losing in a close third set.

2014 Istomin would start the new year in the 2014 Apia International Sydney Tournament. He beat his first round opponent Pablo Andújar and then pulled off a huge upset to down 7th seed Croatian player Marin Čilić in straight sets. He played Novak Djokovic in the third round of the 2014 Australian Open. Despite being two sets down and possibly facing a break, he played what was considered by some to be the "Perfect Game". He won all four points in the game consecutively with an ace down the middle, a running cross-court forehand passing shot, a backhand cross-court that was placed exactly on the line and an around-the-net backhand from behind the baseline, all of which were considered extremely risky shots. However he went on to lose in straight sets.

2015: First ATP singles title Istomin won his first ATP world tour title at the Nottingham Open, where he defeated Sam Querrey in the final. Istomin also won a doubles title with Aliaksandr Bury later that year.

2016 Istomin lost in the first round in Australian Open. He earned first tour-level win of 2016 against Borna Ćorić at the Miami Open. In March in the 2016 Irving Challenger he beat John-Patrick Smith of Australia. Istomin reached third round in Wimbledon where he lost to David Goffin in four sets.

2017: 200th and world No. 2 wins, Second title Istomin, then ranked NO. 117 in the world, earned a wildcard to the 2017 Australian Open and upset defending champion and world No. 2 Novak Djokovic in the second round, coming back from 2 sets to 1 down to win in five sets. Istomin then went on to defeat Pablo Carreño Busta in the third round, advancing to the fourth round where he lost to Grigor Dimitrov.

Istomin would later win the 2017 Chengdu Open, overcoming Marcos Baghdatis in the final to win the second ATP title of his career.

2018: Fifth ATP final, Gold medal at the Asian games Istomin's form would slowly start to slip throughout 2018 as he lost in the first round of three for the four grand slams. His only slam win of the year coming at the Australian Open against Pierre-Hugues Herbert which remains his last slam win to date.

At the 2018 Austrian Open Kitzbühel, Istomin made his 5th ATP final and his last to date. He lost to Martin Kližan in straight sets.

At the 2018 Asian Games, Istomin won the gold medal in the men's singles which would earn him a spot at the 2020 Summer Olympics.

2019–2020 Istomin showed very poor form throughout 2019 and 2020. He posted a 4–15 win–loss record and his ranking dipped down to 177 by the end of 2019 and 184 by the end of 2020.

2021: Third Olympics participation At the 2021 French Open, Istomin made a surprise run through qualifying and qualified for the main draw. He lost to 8th seed Roger Federer in straight sets.

At the 2020 Olympics, Istomin faced Sumit Nagal in the first round where he lost in three sets.

2024–: Singles retirement and doubles activity In February 2024, Istomin announced his retirement following Uzbekistan's 2024 Davis Cup match against Poland. However, he continued to play doubles during the season with Russian player Evgeny Karlovskiy.

In 2025, Istomin came back for one singles Challenger match and played on the doubles circuit until May. In February 2026 he played one Davis Cup doubles match and then came back in May winning an ITF doubles event in Kutaisi (Georgia) with compatriot Maxim Shin.

ATP Tour finals

Singles: 5 (2 titles, 3 runner-ups) LegendGrand Slam (–)ATP 1000 (–)ATP 500 (–)ATP 250 (2–3)Finals by surfaceHard (1–2)Clay (0–1)Grass (1–0)Finals by settingOutdoor (2–2)Indoor (0–1)

Doubles: 5 (3 titles, 2 runner-ups) LegendGrand Slam (–)ATP 1000 (–)ATP 500 (0–1)ATP 250 (3–1)Finals by surfaceHard (2–2)Clay (1–0)Grass (–)Finals by settingOutdoor (1–1)Indoor (2–1)

ATP Challenger and ITF Tour finals

Singles: 25 (17 titles, 8 runner-ups) LegendATP Challenger Tour (12–8)ITF Futures (5–0)Finals by surfaceHard (16–6)Clay (1–2)

Performance timelines

Singles Current through the 2022 Delray Beach Open.

Doubles

Wins over top 10 players Istomin has a record against players who were ranked in the top 10 at the time the match was played.