Denis Istomin is an Uzbek professional tennis player, born in Russia. He has won two singles titles (at the 2015 Aegon Open Nottingham and 2017 Chengdu Open) and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 33 in 2012. In January 2017, he defeated defending champion Novak Djokovic in the second round of the Australian Open. This interview was an exclusive for Tennis Acumen, held in November 2019 at the Columbus, Ohio Challenger.
Tennis Acumen: Thanks for sitting down with us, Denis. First off, how did you get started in tennis? Most guys start at a very young age. How about you?
Denis Istomin: Me, I also started very young. I was four years old, maybe younger. My mother is a coach and she was working in a club in Uzbekistan. I was with her on the court all the time, so I just did what you might expect: I started to play.
Tennis Acumen: When did you discover that you loved tennis?
Denis Istomin: Probably around seven years old. I do love to play tennis and I just love to compete, actually. I cannot say exactly what age it was, but ever since I started to play tournaments, say around 7, I realize that I like to play and I like to compete.
Tennis Acumen: So, some guys Denis, they love to win. That's really important. Some guys hate to lose. And that's very important. Where are you on that spectrum, loving to win more or hating to lose?
Denis Istomin: Actually it's on both sides. I mean you go on court and you want to win. And of course, you don't like to lose, but, if you lose you just realize that you are not good enough on that day. So, you just need to work harder than before and to win as much as you can. So, I love to win and I hate to lose.
Comments