Kazakhstan's historic tennis year: Rybakina's Slam, Bublik's first title, a stellar ATP 500 in Astana and the success of the junior national team
In 2022 the Tennis Federation of Kazakhstan celebrated its 30th anniversary and the passing year was probably the most successful in the history of the Kazakhstan tennis.
Phenomenal results
WOMEN:
Kazakhstan's victorious path in the outgoing year was paved by Anna Danilina, who became a doubles finalist at the Australian Open. During the year Anna won a total of seven tournaments (including WTA 500 and WTA 250), which allowed her and her team mate to break through to the WTA Grand Final Championships and take the 11th place in the world doubles ranking as of the end of the year.
Elena Rybakina made world tennis history by winning Wimbledon and becoming the first Kazakh player to win a Grand Slam singles title.
18-year-old Aruzhan Sagandykova earned her first adult tennis trophy, when she won the ITF W15 tournament in doubles.
In April, for the first time Kazakhstan women's team reached the final round of the Billie Jean King Cup, the World Tennis Team Championships among women, having defeated the German team led by the World's former No. 1 Angelique Kerber, at home in the qualification stage. In the BJKC Final our girls showed a good level, defeating the UK team and losing to Spain, which allowed the team of Kazakhstan to get into the TOP 10 women's teams in the world tennis team ranking.
MEN:
The remarkable achievement was the victory of Alexander Bublik at the tournament in Montpellier. Kazakhstan's No.1 won his first ATP-250 tournament, defeating Tokyo Olympic champion Alexander Zverev (World No. 3 at the time) in the Final. Also in 2022, Bublik became the finalist in two more ATP 250 events, in Newport and Metz.
In March, the men's team reached its third Davis Cup (World Tennis Team Championships among men) final, defeating a strong team of Norway, led by the current world No. 3, Kasper Ruud, in the away tie. Our group-stage contenders in Glasgow were very strong teams from Great Britain, the USA and the Netherlands, where we had quite good chances but lost in a tough struggle. In early February 2023 Kazakhstan men's squad will play away qualifying matches against the team of Chile for another chance to qualify for the Davis Cup finals.
Timofey Skatov won his first Challenger in singles, improving his world ranking and finishing the year No. 142. Beibit Zhukayev made good progress both in game and ranking, starting the year in TOP-700 and finishing in TOP-300. The first trophy in the adult tour was earned by 17-year-old Aruzhan Sagandykova, who won the ITF W15 in doubles.
JUNIORS:
Team Kazakhstan 14&U reached the semifinals (ultimately fourth place) of the World Team Junior Championship, beating the current world champions Italians and former world champion Argentines. This is a proof of the correctness of the ongoing work performed by the Kazakhstan Tennis Federation to prepare new generations of players. This year Kazakh juniors achieved phenomenal results: Zangar Nurlanuly had been leading the Tennis Europe 14&U Champion Race for quite a long time; three Kazakh players finished the year 2022 at the top in the Asian ranking: Albina Kakenova (Astana), Safina Safiulina (Almaty) and Temirlan Karim (Astana). Our tennis players - Aruzhan Sagandykova, Sandugash Kenzhibayeva, Zhanel Rustemova and Maxim Batyutenko played all four junior Grand Slams. Of particular note are the successes of Assylzhan Arystanbekova, Aiya Nupbai, Vitaliy Zatsepin, Yerasyl Erdilda, Damir Zhalgasbay, Daniel Tazabekov, Robert Kaminsky, Eva Korysheva, Ariana Gogulina, Satima Toregen, Yaroslav Pshenichny, Linara Bulesheva, Amina Nurmakhan and many others. For the fifth time Kazakhstan's capital hosted the Final of the Asian Team Championship 12&U. The Kazakh boys team won gold, and the girls won silver.
First ATP 500 in Kazakhstan
The first ATP 500 tournament in Kazakhstan was a great success with six players from the world's TOP 10 having played in it. More than 7 million people from 170 countries watched the Astana Open. The event was highly appreciated by the players and ATP representatives. In the fall of 2023 the next ATP 250 tournament will be held in Astana.
Coach Education and Officiating
One of the KTF's priorities is the development of Kazakhstani coaches and their training to meet the critical need for personnel in all regions of the country. The ITF Play Tennis Courses and the ITF Level 1 coaching course were held. National Coaches Conference was held with the participation of more than 145 coaches from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. The Kazakhstan Tennis Tour pays special attention to the development of officiating. In 2022 Kazakh officials have successfully worked at three Grand Slams (Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon) as well as ATP and WTA series tournaments. Yuliya Ignatchenko became the first Kazakh to receive the silver badge as a chair umpire. Officials with the silver badge can officiate at any Grand Slam series tournaments and major competitions under the aegis of ITF, ATP, WTA, including the finals.
Development of children's tennis
Baby Tennis and Tennis 10&U are important and high priority tasks for the KTF. Baby Tennis coordinators have been appointed in all major cities, which organize tennis festivals and events in tennis facilities across the country. In total, more than 5,700 children in Kazakhstan are participating in these programs.
Wheelchair tennis
Since 2022 the Kazakhstan Tennis Federation has been aiming to promote and develop wheelchair and adaptive tennis in Kazakhstan. The first national wheelchair tennis championship was held. In 2023 we are going to improve the physical facilities for adaptive tennis and high performance tennis, including for the training of Kazakh national wheelchair tennis team; train and retrain coaches, promoters and other professionals in the field of adaptive and wheelchair tennis; promote and develop tennis for people with disabilities.
Tennis Infrastructure
A new tennis center with 4 indoor and 6 outdoor courts was opened in Turkestan in June of the passing year. Next year the construction of a tennis center in Almaty will be completed and the construction of a new center in Shymkent will begin.
42 ATP, ITF and ATF international events and 48 national events were held. For the second year in a row the live scoring and live broadcasting of all matches in Kazakhstan has been running on the KTF's YouTube channel.
Partner of the Kazakhstan Tennis Federation - Freedom Broker
Phenomenal results
WOMEN:
Kazakhstan's victorious path in the outgoing year was paved by Anna Danilina, who became a doubles finalist at the Australian Open. During the year Anna won a total of seven tournaments (including WTA 500 and WTA 250), which allowed her and her team mate to break through to the WTA Grand Final Championships and take the 11th place in the world doubles ranking as of the end of the year.
Elena Rybakina made world tennis history by winning Wimbledon and becoming the first Kazakh player to win a Grand Slam singles title.
18-year-old Aruzhan Sagandykova earned her first adult tennis trophy, when she won the ITF W15 tournament in doubles.
In April, for the first time Kazakhstan women's team reached the final round of the Billie Jean King Cup, the World Tennis Team Championships among women, having defeated the German team led by the World's former No. 1 Angelique Kerber, at home in the qualification stage. In the BJKC Final our girls showed a good level, defeating the UK team and losing to Spain, which allowed the team of Kazakhstan to get into the TOP 10 women's teams in the world tennis team ranking.
MEN:
The remarkable achievement was the victory of Alexander Bublik at the tournament in Montpellier. Kazakhstan's No.1 won his first ATP-250 tournament, defeating Tokyo Olympic champion Alexander Zverev (World No. 3 at the time) in the Final. Also in 2022, Bublik became the finalist in two more ATP 250 events, in Newport and Metz.
In March, the men's team reached its third Davis Cup (World Tennis Team Championships among men) final, defeating a strong team of Norway, led by the current world No. 3, Kasper Ruud, in the away tie. Our group-stage contenders in Glasgow were very strong teams from Great Britain, the USA and the Netherlands, where we had quite good chances but lost in a tough struggle. In early February 2023 Kazakhstan men's squad will play away qualifying matches against the team of Chile for another chance to qualify for the Davis Cup finals.
Timofey Skatov won his first Challenger in singles, improving his world ranking and finishing the year No. 142. Beibit Zhukayev made good progress both in game and ranking, starting the year in TOP-700 and finishing in TOP-300. The first trophy in the adult tour was earned by 17-year-old Aruzhan Sagandykova, who won the ITF W15 in doubles.
JUNIORS:
Team Kazakhstan 14&U reached the semifinals (ultimately fourth place) of the World Team Junior Championship, beating the current world champions Italians and former world champion Argentines. This is a proof of the correctness of the ongoing work performed by the Kazakhstan Tennis Federation to prepare new generations of players. This year Kazakh juniors achieved phenomenal results: Zangar Nurlanuly had been leading the Tennis Europe 14&U Champion Race for quite a long time; three Kazakh players finished the year 2022 at the top in the Asian ranking: Albina Kakenova (Astana), Safina Safiulina (Almaty) and Temirlan Karim (Astana). Our tennis players - Aruzhan Sagandykova, Sandugash Kenzhibayeva, Zhanel Rustemova and Maxim Batyutenko played all four junior Grand Slams. Of particular note are the successes of Assylzhan Arystanbekova, Aiya Nupbai, Vitaliy Zatsepin, Yerasyl Erdilda, Damir Zhalgasbay, Daniel Tazabekov, Robert Kaminsky, Eva Korysheva, Ariana Gogulina, Satima Toregen, Yaroslav Pshenichny, Linara Bulesheva, Amina Nurmakhan and many others. For the fifth time Kazakhstan's capital hosted the Final of the Asian Team Championship 12&U. The Kazakh boys team won gold, and the girls won silver.
First ATP 500 in Kazakhstan
The first ATP 500 tournament in Kazakhstan was a great success with six players from the world's TOP 10 having played in it. More than 7 million people from 170 countries watched the Astana Open. The event was highly appreciated by the players and ATP representatives. In the fall of 2023 the next ATP 250 tournament will be held in Astana.
Coach Education and Officiating
One of the KTF's priorities is the development of Kazakhstani coaches and their training to meet the critical need for personnel in all regions of the country. The ITF Play Tennis Courses and the ITF Level 1 coaching course were held. National Coaches Conference was held with the participation of more than 145 coaches from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. The Kazakhstan Tennis Tour pays special attention to the development of officiating. In 2022 Kazakh officials have successfully worked at three Grand Slams (Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon) as well as ATP and WTA series tournaments. Yuliya Ignatchenko became the first Kazakh to receive the silver badge as a chair umpire. Officials with the silver badge can officiate at any Grand Slam series tournaments and major competitions under the aegis of ITF, ATP, WTA, including the finals.
Development of children's tennis
Baby Tennis and Tennis 10&U are important and high priority tasks for the KTF. Baby Tennis coordinators have been appointed in all major cities, which organize tennis festivals and events in tennis facilities across the country. In total, more than 5,700 children in Kazakhstan are participating in these programs.
Wheelchair tennis
Since 2022 the Kazakhstan Tennis Federation has been aiming to promote and develop wheelchair and adaptive tennis in Kazakhstan. The first national wheelchair tennis championship was held. In 2023 we are going to improve the physical facilities for adaptive tennis and high performance tennis, including for the training of Kazakh national wheelchair tennis team; train and retrain coaches, promoters and other professionals in the field of adaptive and wheelchair tennis; promote and develop tennis for people with disabilities.
Tennis Infrastructure
A new tennis center with 4 indoor and 6 outdoor courts was opened in Turkestan in June of the passing year. Next year the construction of a tennis center in Almaty will be completed and the construction of a new center in Shymkent will begin.
42 ATP, ITF and ATF international events and 48 national events were held. For the second year in a row the live scoring and live broadcasting of all matches in Kazakhstan has been running on the KTF's YouTube channel.
Partner of the Kazakhstan Tennis Federation - Freedom Broker
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