Vasko Mladenov

Bulgarian tennis player

Vasko Mladenov
Country (sports) Bulgaria
ResidenceSofia, Bulgaria
Born (1989-07-30) 30 July 1989 (age 34)
Sofia, Bulgaria
Height1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Turned pro2005
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize moneyUS$47,373
Singles
Career record1–0 (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles0
0 Challengers, 0 Futures
Highest rankingNo. 637 (20 June 2016)
Doubles
Career record1–3 (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles0
0 Challengers, 17 Futures
Highest rankingNo. 359 (20 June 2016)
Last updated on: 20 September 2021.

Vasko Mladenov (Bulgarian: Васко Младенов, born 30 July 1989) is a former pro tennis player and an active padel player[1] from Bulgaria.

He is a three time Bulgarian National champion, once in doubles (2014) and two times in singles (2016, 2017). Mladenov also holds the record for the most professional international doubles titles in Bulgarian tennis history (18 ITF titles)

Mladenov also played for two years at the number 1 position at St. John's University (New York) in ITA Division 1. During his stay in New York he won the North Regional Championship (2011).

He participated in the Davis Cup in doubles in March 2016 against Turkey, bringing Bulgaria a historic win 7:6, 6:7, 6:7, 7:6, 6:4 alongside fellow Bulgarian Alexander Lazov.[2]

Mladenov also took part in the Davis Cup tie against Tunisia in August 2016, where he won his singles match against Moez Echargui in a thrilling 6:7, 7:5, 7:6 match. He also took part in the Davis Cup group 3 tie against Iceland, Macedonia, Albania and finally Bulgaria faced Monaco in the deciding playoff to promote to group 2, unfortunately Bulgaria lost the tie. He made his debut at an ATP tournament in 2018, playing in his native Bulgaria the ATP Sofia Open.

At 2013 US Open, he was working with Novak Djokovic as his sparring partner.[3]

Early and personal life

Vasko was born in Sofia, Bulgaria, as the only child of Vasil, who is from Bulgaria and, Elena, who is from Russia. When he was five he began to play with his grandfather, Lev Shulga, who is a well known coach from the former U.S.S.R. Vasko speaks fluent Bulgarian, Russian and English. He is known for his aggressive and all-court style of play. Mladenov has a right-handed forehand and double-handed backhand. His favourite surface is hard. His hobbies are listening to music, playing the piano, playing snooker, billiards and playing football.

The Bachelorette Ukraine

In 2021, as a public figure, Mladenov took part in the second season of the Ukrainian version of “The Bachelorette” («Холостячка»), a famous romantic TV reality show, which ended up being the most watched TV show in Ukraine that year.

After the TV show, Vasko gained a large amount of fans in Ukraine.

Junior career

He won three tournaments as a junior. The first one was in 2005, he defeated Plamen Avramov in Plovdiv in straight sets, final score was 6–0, 6–1. The second one also was in 2005, in Timișoara, he defeated Maksim Bakunin in three sets, 6–4, 4–6, 7–6(4). The third and final one was in 2006, in Kyiv, he won the tournament after beating Uladzimir Ignatik in three sets, 3–6, 6–3, 6–1. All these tournaments were played on clay court. In 2007, in France, he played the European Junior. Bulgaria was represented by Vasko, Valentin Dimov and Aleksandar Lazov, they were runners-up.

Vasko Mladenov playing a point during the European Games in Krakow 2023.

Padel career

After finishing his professional tennis career in 2020, Vasko moved on to padel. Alongside his partner Kiril Dimitrov (BUL) he achieved a total of 5 international tournament titles between 2021 and 2023.

In 2022, Mladenov and Dimitrov took part in the Padel World Cup qualifications, there they managed to deliver the first ever padel victory (against Norway) in the history of Bulgarian padel.

Mladenov and Dimitrov are currently known as the best padel team in Bulgaria.

Music career

In 2009 Mladenov starred a career in music as a rap/hip-hop performer as “Vasko”. The majority of his songs are in Russian, however, Vasko has released 5 songs in Bulgarian over the years. So far he has released 4 albums: «Сердце Солдата» (2010), «Дороги» (2012), «VNY3» (2014) and «Отражения» (2022).[4][5][6][7][8]

Vasko has also released multiple singles.

Year-end rankings

Year 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Singles 1497 1541 969 950 1268 - - - - 1372 689 918 1071 965 1201
Doubles - 1476 796 727 584 - - - - 695 427 687 759 483 872

Challenger and Futures/World Tennis Tour finals

Singles: 2 (0–2)

Legend (singles)
ATP Challenger Tour (0–0)
ITF Futures/World Tennis Tour (0–2)
Titles by surface
Hard (0–0)
Clay (0–2)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Loss 0–1 Jul 2015 Turkey F28, Ankara Futures Clay Russia Ivan Nedelko 5–7, 3–6
Loss 0–2 Oct 2015 Ukraine F6, Cherkasy Futures Clay Russia Ivan Nedelko 5–7, 4–6

Doubles: 31 (17–14)

Legend (doubles)
ATP Challenger Tour (0–0)
ITF Futures/World Tennis Tour (17–14)
Titles by surface
Hard (10–5)
Clay (7–8)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–1)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1–0 Jun 2007 Bulgaria F3, Pleven Futures Clay Germany Pirmin Haenle Croatia Roman Kelečić
Croatia Nikola Martinović
2–6, 6–4, 6–4
Loss 1–1 Jun 2007 Bulgaria F4, Sofia Futures Clay Bulgaria Ilia Kushev Serbia David Savić
Serbia Miljan Zekić
4–6, 3–6
Win 2–1 Sep 2007 Bulgaria F6, Burgas Futures Clay Belarus Sergey Betov Croatia Roman Kelečić
Croatia Nikola Martinović
3–0 ret.
Win 3–1 Sep 2008 Bulgaria F8, Stara Zagora Futures Clay Bulgaria Boris Nicola Bakalov Serbia Ivan Bjelica
Serbia Miljan Zekić
6–3, 6–4
Win 4–1 Dec 2008 Brazil F33, São Paulo Futures Hard (i) United States Nikita Kryvonos Brazil Diogo Cruz
Brazil Rodrigo-Antonio Grilli
4–6, 6–1, [10–5]
Loss 4–2 Dec 2008 Brazil F34, São Paulo Futures Hard (i) Argentina Nicolás Pastor Germany Mario Eckardt
Germany Patrick Taubert
2–6, 2–6
Win 5–2 Dec 2008 Brazil F35, São Paulo Futures Hard Germany Lars Pörschke Brazil Diego Matos
Brazil Eládio Ribeiro Neto
6–1, 6–2
Win 6–2 May 2014 Ukraine F4, Rivne Futures Clay United States Nikita Kryvonos Ukraine Yurii Dzhavakian
Ukraine Volodymyr Uzhylovskyi
6–4, 6–4
Loss 6–3 May 2014 Ukraine F5, Rivne Futures Clay United States Nikita Kryvonos Ukraine Yurii Dzhavakian
Ukraine Volodymyr Uzhylovskyi
2–6, 4–6
Loss 6–4 Jul 2014 Bulgaria F5, Plovdiv Futures Clay Bulgaria Dinko Halachev Monaco Romain Arneodo
Switzerland Luca Margaroli
6–7(4–7), 4–6
Win 7–4 Apr 2015 Tunisia F13, El Kantaoui Futures Hard Tunisia Anis Ghorbel France Remy Chala
Russia Daniil Medvedev
4–6, 6–1, [11–9]
Loss 7–5 May 2015 Ukraine F1, Cherkasy Futures Clay Ukraine Vadym Ursu Ukraine Sergiy Sergiienko
Ukraine Artem Smirnov
6–3, 4–6, [7–10]
Loss 7–6 Jul 2015 Turkey F29, Ankara Futures Clay Russia Alexander Igoshin Italy Daniele Capecchi
Italy Federico Maccari
6–7(6–8), 6–3, [7–10]
Win 8–6 Sep 2015 Tunisia F21, El Kantaoui Futures Hard Tunisia Anis Ghorbel Tunisia Aziz Dougaz
United States Jordan Dyke
6–2, 6–7(6–8), [10–6]
Win 9–6 Sep 2015 Tunisia F22, El Kantaoui Futures Hard Tunisia Anis Ghorbel France Romain Bauvy
Luxembourg Ugo Nastasi
2–6, 7–5, [12–10]
Loss 9–7 Nov 2015 Tunisia F33, El Kantaoui Futures Hard Tunisia Anis Ghorbel Venezuela Jordi Muñoz Abreu
Spain David Pérez Sanz
3–6, 1–6
Win 10–7 Dec 2015 Tunisia F34, El Kantaoui Futures Hard Tunisia Anis Ghorbel Spain David Pérez Sanz
Spain David Vega Hernández
6–7(2–7), 6–4, [10–8]
Loss 10–8 Dec 2015 Tunisia F35, El Kantaoui Futures Hard Tunisia Anis Ghorbel Republic of Ireland Peter Bothwell
United Kingdom Lloyd Glasspool
1–6, 4–6
Win 11–8 May 2016 Ukraine F3, Cherkasy Futures Clay Ukraine Volodymyr Uzhylovskyi Ukraine Denys Mylokostov
Ukraine Danylo Veremeychuk
6–4, 6–1
Win 12–8 Jun 2016 Bulgaria F3, Stara Zagora Futures Clay Russia Yan Sabanin Spain Carlos Calderón
Spain Pedro Martínez
6–2, 7–6(7–2)
Loss 12–9 Aug 2016 Belarus F1, Minsk Futures Hard Russia Markos Kalovelonis Belarus Yaraslav Shyla
Belarus Dzmitry Zhyrmont
6–7(8–10), 3–6
Loss 12–10 Jul 2017 Turkey F25, Istanbul Futures Clay Serbia Nikola Ćaćić Serbia Miki Janković
Bulgaria Dimitar Kuzmanov
4–6, 6–2, [9–11]
Loss 12–11 Jul 2017 Turkey F26, Istanbul Futures Clay Russia Alexander Igoshin Turkey Sarp Ağabigün
Ukraine Marat Deviatiarov
2–6, 6–7(5–7)
Loss 12–12 May 2018 Tunisia F18, Djerba Futures Hard Tunisia Anis Ghorbel Ecuador Diego Hidalgo
Netherlands Sem Verbeek
2–6, 4–6
Win 13–12 May 2018 Tunisia F19, Djerba Futures Hard Tunisia Anis Ghorbel Lebanon Hady Habib
Spain José Vidal Azorín
4–6, 7–6(9–7), [12–10]
Win 14–12 May 2018 Tunisia F20, Djerba Futures Hard Tunisia Anis Ghorbel Benin Alexis Klégou
Italy Francesco Vilardo
6–3, 4–6, [10–7]
Win 15–12 Jun 2018 Tunisia F21, Djerba Futures Hard Tunisia Anis Ghorbel United States John Paul Fruttero
France Albano Olivetti
6–3, 6–2
Win 16–12 Sep 2018 Tunisia F32, Monastir Futures Hard Tunisia Anis Ghorbel Peru Alexander Merino
Germany Christoph Negritu
6–3, 6–3
Loss 16–13 Nov 2018 Estonia F2, Tartu Futures Carpet (i) Switzerland Luca Castelnuovo Estonia Vladimir Ivanov
Russia Maxim Ratniuk
4–6, 6–1, [4–10]
Win 17–13 Mar 2019 M15 Tabarka, Tunisia World Tennis Tour Clay Tunisia Anis Ghorbel Spain Sergio Martos Gornés
Spain Oriol Roca Batalla
6–4, 6–1
Loss 17–14 Aug 2019 M15 Irpin, Ukraine World Tennis Tour Clay Kazakhstan Sagadat Ayap Ukraine Vladyslav Orlov
Georgia (country) George Tsivadze
6–1, 3–6, [5–10]

Davis Cup

Vasko Mladenov debuted for the Bulgaria Davis Cup team in 2016 against Turkey in Ankara. Since then he has a 1–0 singles record and a 4–2 doubles record (5–2 overall). He participated in Davis Cup in doubles in March 2016 against Turkey, bringing Bulgaria a historic win 7:6, 6:7, 6:7, 7:6, 6:4 alongside fellow Bulgarian Alexander Lazov. Mladenov also took part in the Davis Cup tie against Tunisia in August 2016, where he won his singles match against Moez Echargui in a thrilling 6:7, 7:5, 7:6 match. He also took part in the Davis Cup group 3 tie against Iceland, Macedonia, Albania and finally Bulgaria faced Monaco in the deciding playoff to promote to group 2, unfortunately Bulgaria lost the tie.

Singles (1–0)

Edition Round Date Surface Opponent W/L Result
2016 Europe/Africa Zone Group II RPO 17 July 2016 Hard Tunisia Moez Echargui W 6–7(5–7), 7–5, 7–6(7-5)

Doubles (4–2)

Edition Round Date Partner Surface Opponents W/L Result
2016 Europe/Africa Zone Group II R1 5 March 2016 Bulgaria Alexander Lazov Hard (I) Turkey Cem İlkel
Turkey Tuna Altuna
W 7–6(8–6), 6–7(5–7), 6–7(4–7), 7–6(7–5), 6–4
RPO 16 July 2016 Bulgaria Alexandar Lazarov Hard Tunisia Malek Jaziri
Tunisia Skander Mansouri
L 4–6, 4–6, 3–6
2018 Europe Zone Group III RR 4 April 2018 Bulgaria Dimitar Kuzmanov Clay Albania Elbi Mjeshtri
Albania Genajd Shypheja
W 6–0, 6–0
RR 5 April 2018 Bulgaria Dimitar Kuzmanov Clay Iceland Birkir Gunnarsson
Iceland Egill Sigurdsson
W 6–2, 6–1
RR 6 April 2018 Bulgaria Adrian Andreev Clay North Macedonia Stefan Micov
North Macedonia Gorazd Srbljak
W 6–4, 6–3
PRO 7 April 2018 Bulgaria Dimitar Kuzmanov Clay Monaco Romain Arneodo
Monaco Benjamin Balleret
L 4–6, 3–6
  • RPO = Relegation Play–off
  • PPO = Promotion Play–off
  • RR = Round Robin

References

  1. ^ "MIRS App". results.european-games.org. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  2. ^ "Bulgaria Davis Cup team", Wikipedia, 2 May 2023, retrieved 30 June 2023
  3. ^ "Васко Младенов за работата с Джокович, симбиозата между тениса и музиката, както и спешната нужда от промени в БФТ - Tennis.bg". tennis.bg (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  4. ^ – ATP World Tour – Tennis Players – Vasko Mladenov
  5. ^ Tennis – ATP World Tour – Tennis Players – Vasko Mladenov – Playing Activity – Singles
  6. ^ Tennis – ATP World Tour – Tennis Players – Vasko Mladenov – Playing Activity – Doubles
  7. ^ Tennis – ATP World Tour – Tennis Players – Vasko Mladenov – Rankings History
  8. ^ ITF Tennis – Pro Circuit – Player Profile – MLADENOV, Vasko (BUL)

External links

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