Kafelnikov Says Poised To Develop Tennis All Across Russia

Zeeshan Mehtab Published July 21, 2019 | 01:30 AM

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st July, 2019) The Russian tennis legend Yevgeny Kafelnikov told Sputnik on Saturday that he plans to play an active role in developing tennis all across Russia.

Kafelnikov, a two time Grand Slam singles champion and Olympic Gold medalist, is also the Vice President of Russia's Federation of Tennis.

"Popularization of tennis not only in big cities but in all regions is our major goal," Kafelnikov said.

He has added that Tennis Federation's President Shamil Tarpishchev has a lot of projects of tennis development in Russia.

"I want to help him reaching this very important goal," Kafelnikov said.

On Saturday, Kafelnikov is scheduled to be inducted into International Tennis Hall of Fame, an elite group of about 250 of the most honorable tennis players from around the world.

Yevgeny Kafelnikov, 45, won 26 singles and 27 doubles titles throughout career. In 1996 he became the first Russian who won one of the Grand Slam competition: he triumphed in French Open singles and got the title in the doubles with Czech's Daniel Vacek. He also was the singles champion at the 1999 Australian Open.

Kafelnikov won the Olympic Gold medal in Sydney in 2000, and was a member of Russia's national team clinched Davis Cup in 2002.