Wikipedia

Vasko Mladenov

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

Vasko Mladenov
Country (sports) Bulgaria
ResidenceSofia, Bulgaria
Born (1989-07-30) 30 July 1989 (age 35)
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.

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Singles: 2 (0–2)

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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   Ivan Nedelko 5–7, 3–6
Loss 0–2 Oct 2015 Ukraine F6, Cherkasy Futures Clay   Ivan Nedelko 5–7, 4–6

Doubles: 31 (17–14)

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

Davis Cup

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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)

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

Doubles (4–2)

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

References

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  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)
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