‘This match describes my whole career’: Kukushkin extends his farewell in Almaty

Mikhail Kukushkin is playing the last tournament of his career, and he will play at least one more match. He beat Greek qualifier Stefanos Sakellaridis 7-6 (4), 7-6 (3) at the Almaty ATP 250 on Monday after missing several match points.

The 38-year-old Kazakh wildcard is ranked No. 389. He needed about two hours and 15 minutes to get past Sakellaridis, ranked No. 133, for his first ATP Tour win since he beat Luciano Darderi and Alexander Shevchenko on his way to the 2024 Hangzhou quarterfinals.

“It was incredible,” Kukushkin said. “To be honest, I didn’t believe that I would be able to win. I was not doing much for the last six months, since I decided to retire. Like, this is the kind of match that describes my whole career. Tough battle, very long match, very long two sets. A lot of nerves, a lot of breaks, and a lot of uncertainty. Big fight, and to win like this, it just reminds me of my whole career.”

Career-high No. 39 in 2019

Almaty is the 222nd ATP Tour or Grand Slam event of a career that began in 2006. It is also his record sixth appearance at this tournament. Kukushkin won his only ATP Tour title in St. Petersburg in 2010 and reached a career-high No. 39 in 2019.

On Sunday, he said his biggest memories were of playing for his country.

“When I play a Davis Cup match, I represent the country. There is a lot of responsibility. In those matches, it felt like I was playing better sometimes,” he said. “Of course, I do remember the match with Novak in 2016: 4 hours 57 minutes. I will remember this match for all my life. Even though I lost the match, it was incredible, playing against Novak, number one in the world in a year that was one of his best ones.”

Kukushkin will face the winner of the first-round match between seed No. 7 Stefanos Tsitsipas and Aleksandar Kovacevic.