Early life Andrey Kuznestov started playing tennis at age six, coached by his father Alexander. In 2001, his family moved to
Balashikha, attending the sports club there. His father resumed coaching Andrey and his elder brother Alexey. According to some
mass media reports, Andrey allegedly had problems with his back since his childhood, so he attended
manual therapies. But Andrey's coach and father declined it, stating he had problems with his
hip and the therapy could be described as tough fitness.
2006–09: Grand Slam Junior title Kuznetsov played his first
ITF junior tournament at the 2006 Black Gold of
Udmurtia, but received a walkover in the qualifying round. His first notable achievement was at the Governor Cup in
St. Petersburg, reaching the semi-finals there. He reached his first final at the NBU Cup in
Uzbekistan. Most of the tournaments were on a clay court, but in 2007 he played on carpet and hard. In this season he reached three finals in singles, winning once, and three doubles finals in doubles, winning twice. His best season was in 2008, when he won three singles titles and played well in doubles. Andrey's last junior tournament became the
2009 Wimbledon, winning his first Grand Slam title. For the first time in 43 years a Russian won the Wimbledon since Soviet
Vladimir Korotkov achieved that feat in 1965 and 1966. As a junior Kuznetsov posted an 80–24 win–loss record in singles, reaching a combined ranking of No. 3 in the world in July 2009.
2010–15: Grand Slam debut, Top 100, first Grand Slam and first top-10 win He made his first main draw Grand Slam appearance at the
2010 Wimbledon Championships where he lost in five sets to the 31st seed Romanian
Victor Hănescu. He defeated the 11th seed of the
2013 Australian Open,
Juan Mónaco in straight sets in the first round to reach the second round of a Grand Slam for the first time. At
Wimbledon in 2014, Kuznetsov recorded his first win over a player ranked inside the world's top-10 by defeating seventh seed
David Ferrer in five sets. The win also took Kuznetsov to the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time. At the
2014 US Open, he defeated
Fernando Verdasco in the second round, but lost to
Andy Murray in the third round. At the
2015 Australian Open, he got into the second round, but lost to the top seed
Novak Djokovic.
2016: Russian No. 1, second top-10 win Andrey debuted in
2016 at the
Qatar Open, losing in the quarterfinals to
Rafael Nadal in three tight sets. At the
2016 Australian Open, he got his best ever result in a grand slam, beating
Dudi Sela to make it to the fourth round. In the following tournaments he got beyond the first rounds. Reaching the second round of the
Miami Open, Kuznetsov became Russia's new number one male tennis player, replacing
Teymuraz Gabashvili, who lost in Miami in the first round. Kuznetsov in the second round defeated 4th-seeded
Stan Wawrinka, the second time he won against a top-10 player. He then beat
Adrian Mannarino in the third round 2–6, 7–5, 6–0. In the fourth round he lost to
Nick Kyrgios 6–7, 3–6. Kuznetsov debuted at the
Olympic Games. In
the first round he retired before the start of the third set of the match against
Roberto Bautista Agut because of injury.
2017: First 3 ATP singles semifinals and first doubles final After a first round loss to fifth seed
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in
Doha, Kuznetsov made his maiden
ATP semifinal appearance in
Sydney where he fell to fellow first time semifinalist
Dan Evans in another three setter. In the first round of the
Australian Open, he pushed fifth seed
Kei Nishikori to five sets. In the first round of the
Davis Cup World Group, he teamed up with
Konstantin Kravchuk in
Russia's doubles rubber against
Serbia but they lost in four sets to
Viktor Troicki and
Nenad Zimonjić. A week later, he lost to Troicki and Zimonjić again, this time in the doubles final of the
Garanti Koza Sofia Open. He ended a three match losing streak at the
Miami Open where he reached the second round. Kuznetsov began his clay season in
Monte Carlo where he qualified for the main draw following wins over established players
Julien Benneteau and
Mikhail Youzhny. He then lost to the ninth seed
Tomas Berdych after taking the first set. He reached his second quarterfinal of the year at the inaugural
Hungarian Open where he upset the third seed
Fabio Fognini en route. After a three set first round loss to Tsonga at the
Mutua Madrid Open, Kuznetsov advanced to his second ATP semifinal in singles at the
Geneva Open where he fell to world No. 3 and defending champion
Stan Wawrinka in straight sets. At the
French Open, he took a set off
world No. 1 Andy Murray in the first round. In the
SkiStar Swedish Open he made it to his third career semifinal, also his third semifinal this year. He first beat German tennis player
Jan-Lennard Struff in only 2 sets. He then defeated no.1 seed,
Pablo Carreño Busta, after Carreño Busta retired in the third set. He then beat 7th seed
Diego Schwartzman in the quarterfinals in straight sets to eventually lose to
Alexandr Dolgopolov in the semifinals.
2018–2019: Hiatus and coaching career Kuznetsov's only tournament of 2018 was when he participated in the
Koblenz Challenger, taking place in January and lost his first round match against alternate player
Ilya Ivashka. In 2019, he was announced as the coach of Russian tennis player
Evgeny Donskoy.
2020-2022: Comeback, Challenger title and French Open qualification Kuznetsov returned on court at the
2020 US Open after nearly three years absence. He received a protected ranking and won his first round match against
Sam Querrey in straight sets but lost in the next round to 11th seed
Karen Khachanov in straight sets. Kuznetsov won his first challenger title in close to six years at the
2021 President's Cup II defeating
Jason Kubler in the final. He qualified for the
2022 French Open for his Grand Slam main draw participation in two years and in five years at this Major.
2023-2024: Back to coaching At the
2023 Winston-Salem Open he entered the singles main draw as a lucky loser directly into the second round after the withdrawal of 16th
Emil Ruusuvuori. He was coaching compatriot
Roman Safiullin in 2023 and 2024. ==Playing style==