Source : Eurospork Uk
He was entertaining, surprising, unpredictable, charming.
Introducing or trying to explain what kind of personality Dolgopolov was to someone who had never seen him practice his art is a very difficult task, so distinct was he from the rest of the circuit.
Of all the adjectives that can be used to describe the former world No. 13, unique is perhaps the one that fits him best.
In an era marked by the ultra-dominance of 3 monsters who could sometimes make tennis so predictable, Dolgopolov was one of the rare tornadoes of the ATP circuit, capable of turning things upside down when his talent shined brightest.
Flashback on the career path of a player who, despite major health problems, chose to forge his own destiny to become one of the most captivating players on the tennis planet.
Source : TennisTV
Once upon a time in Ukraine, Alexandr Dolgopolov, son of a tennis player and Olympic medal-winning gymnast,who was destined to become a top sportsman.
If the beginning of the story sounds like a fairy tale, the first twist seems more like a tragedy.
At just 12 years of age, Dolgopolov is strongly advised by his doctors to withdraw from sport as he suffers from Gibert's syndrome, a disease that occasionally causes phases of intense fatigue and abdominal pain.
However, the young man later nicknamed "The Dog" didn't see it that way, and decided to rewrite the scenario in his own way.
His health problems preventing him from playing a physically demanding, defensive style of tennis, the Ukrainian therefore opted for a completely different strategy : playing an aggressive, unpredictable, high-risk style of tennis, without any plan "B".
"If Alex tried to play a regular solid game of just rallying and wearing someone down, he wouldn’t get too far. But in a silly kind of way, it almost helped his tennis career because he played freely, which is how he should be playing."
Dolgopolov winning his first ATP title at Umag in 2011, Source : RTBF
Australia 2011, the young Ukrainian may be familiar to the other players on the tour, but remains nevertheless an enigma to the spectators primarily interested in the rivalries between Federer, Djokovic, Nadal and Andy Murray.
Two weeks later and Melbourne had fallen under his spell.
Quarter-finalist at the Australian Open and, above all, victorious over Tsonga and Soderling, "The Dog" has become one of the main attractions of the early season.
"When players are young they have fun but they tend to forget this feeling, I think Alexandr hasn’t forgot it."
The recipe is perfect, combining well-touched drop shots, supersonic backhands and an explosive serve approaching 200 Km/h, the Kiev native seems to be breaking all the codes of a tennis game that is becoming increasingly formatted.
Dolgpolov is not a serious non-smiling athlete, but rather a child who takes pleasure in practicing his art in front of a delighted audience.
Dolgopolov Upsetting Soderling at the Australian Open, Source : RTE
The fable may be beautiful, the world of tennis is rather cruel and many are the unconventional players to have sparkled at a major event before disappearing from the scene.
The young Ukrainian's high-risk style of play and health problems logically raise doubts about his ability to perform week after week at the highest level.
Alexandr, however, is not a spark but a firework. In a highly successful 2012 season, Dologopolv continued to surprise everyone, reaching a career-best 13th place in the world rankings.
As the seasons pass, the Ukrainian evolves into one of the biggest threats on the ATP circuit, capable of producing improbable shots and rallying the crowd to his cause.
"He's fun right up until the moment you come up against him” Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Tsonga.
His training sessions are filmed, his game decrypted, and yet "the dog" remains unreadable and surely one of the greatest head-scratchers of his opponents, trying to work out a strategy to counter an opponent who defies all logic.
In May 2021, the story comes to an end as one of the most appreciated players of the tour chooses to end his career following physical problems preventing him from playing in the best possible conditions.
Indeed, The Dog has reached two Master 1000 finals, beaten Nadal and pushed Djokovic to the limit, but those are just numbers and statistics.
What we'll remember instead is that a child who was only 12 years old decided, against all odds, to defy his doctors in order to become one of the greatest artists tennis has ever known.
Dolgopolov was freedom, creativity and, above all, a big, charming smile.
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