In 2005, Russian tennis star Andrei Chesnokov was shot twice with rubber bullets while leaving a restaurant. The 39-year-old Chesnokov was shot during an argument with his companion and two unidentified men. The player was in Dnipropetrovsk, where he was taking part in a tennis tournament. Chesnokov won seven ATP singles titles and last played on the tour in 1999. He reached the French Open semifinals in 1989 and was ranked as high as No. 9 in 1991. Chesnokov's best performance at a Grand Slam event came at the French Open in 1989, where he reached the semi-finals by eliminating Pablo Arraya, Jonas Svensson, Carl-Uwe Steeb, Jim Courier and the defending champion Mats Wilander in straight sets in the quarterfinals. He was eliminated by the eventual champion Michael Chang in four sets.
The most famous match in Chesnokov's career took place on 24 September 1995 in the semi-final of the 1995 Davis Cup against Germany. In the fifth set of the final deciding match of the semi-final, playing against Michael Stich, Chesnokov saved nine match points before emerging the winner, the final score being: 6–4, 1–6, 1–6, 6–3, 14–12. The next day President of Russia Boris Yeltsin awarded Chesnokov with Order of Courage.
Born in Moscow, Russia 1966 Chesnokov turned pro in 1985. He played the sport for 14 years until 1999. During his career, Chesnokov won seven top-level singles titles and earned prize-money totalling US Dollars 3,084,188.
However, at Grand Slams, the Russian doesn’t have any accolades to his name. His best finish was at the French open in 1989, where he reached the semi-final.
Chesnokov is currently coaching Elena Vesnina. She is a Ukrainian-born Russian professional tennis player. She is a four-time Grand Slam champion in doubles competition, having won the 2013 French Open, 2014 US Open, and 2017 Wimbledon tournaments with Ekaterina Makarova, and the 2016 Australian Open mixed-doubles title with Bruno Soares. In June 2018, Vesnina was number one in women's doubles.
Australian Open: QF (1988)
French Open: SF (1989)
Wimbledon: 1R (1986, 1988, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1993, 1995, 1996)
US Open: 4R (1986, 1987, 1989)
