Interview by Craig Gabriel. You played a wonderful match at the Australian Open against Monfils, it was the talk of the first round. Do you get a sense of a match’s standard and excitement when you are playing it?
Yes I feel the level of the matches very well when I play. The standard of the first two sets was good, but it got worse when I hurt the upper leg and couldn’t jump anymore on the serve and got slower.
It is always nice to play on crowded courts, and Margaret court is really nice, it was not my first match there. Not too big but nice and loud.
 
How did you feel after the match, physically and mentally?
On one hand I was really disappointed because of the injury and the loss, on the other hand I felt during the first sets that I have improved physically from last year and that I don’t need to mind long rallies anymore. Overall I wasn’t unhappy with my game.
 
What did you do after the Australian Open?
After Australian Open I went back home and tried to get better for Davis Cup.
 
Tell us about your preparation for davis cup
Well, to tell you the truth I was just doing physiotherapy every day with my new Italian Physio  Alessio
I started hitting for the first time two days before the tie bagan.
 
 
After six years without playing Davis Cup, how was your experience to be back?
It was really nice. It was a week end of nerves. I went on court Friday without knowing if I would make it to play a whole match, so for the captain it was not an easy decision.
He was quite nervous. Davis Cup is being plaid best of 5 and I had hit 50 minutes in two weeks J. But luckily we pulled it through.
 
You did get injured again during the third set against Lacko. How did that happen?
Well, I twisted the left ankle and it is the same leg that I injured against Gael. So it could be related, but I don’t know.
I tore the ligaments and it still hurts.
 
What does playing davis cup mean to you ?
For me it’s something new and special. It’s great to be playing for your country, you have different kind of emotions, more responsibility.
 
 
You father is your new coach. Tell us about that.
Well yes, he is my new-old coach. We work well together now. Dad is not that strict anymore as he used to be and is more focused on my game.
I have also changed  a lot and this helps him. He doesn’t need to push me so much anymore as before, now I am more responsible and able to work on my own as well.
 
What are the aims for the US Series coming up?
First of all I need to get back in the rhythm of practicing and playing matches. I had to pull out of san Diego and it was really looking forward to go there. I really like California.
Now I will start competing in Memphis next week and see how fast I get back in shape and start winning matches.

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Career Highlights

2012      Alex reached the final of Valencia, losing to Ferrer. In the quarter final he defeated the defending champion and Top Seed player Marcel Granollers.

Alex won the ATP 500 tournament of Washington, defeating Tommy Haas in the final: 6-7,6-4, 6-1

He reached the quarter final of the ATP Master series of Madrid, beating Tsonga before losing to Del Potro

He was runner up against Andy Murray in Brisbane

Alex played the fourth round of the ATP Master series of Indian Wells, losing to Nadal

In January, Alex reached a career-high ranking of 13 in singles and a doubles ranking of 42.

2011 Alex reached the quarter finals of the Australian Open, losing to Murray in four sets

He was finalist in Costa do Sauipe, Brazil, where he lost to Almagro

He played the semi-final of Acapulco, Mexico, losing to Ferrer

Alex reached the fourth round of the Master series of Miami, losing to Nadal

He won his first ATP title at the ATP 250 of Umag, Croatia. In the finals he upset former top 10 player and local hero Marin cilic in three sets: 6-4, 3-6, 6-3

Alex played the quarter final of the Master series of Shanghai

In doubles he won the Master series of Indian Wells, with Xavier Malisse, defeating the Swiss team Federer/Wawrinka in the final.

In 2010 Alex had a great start in Morocco: he won the Challenger of Meknes and reached the finals of Marrakech and Tanger breaking into the top 100 ATP for the first time in March. 
 
He moved on to ATP events where he reached his first semifinal in Eastbourne, on grass. 
 
Alex reached the second round of the Master Series event of Madrid, where he lost in a convincing match against Rafael Nadal: 6-4, 6-3 
 
Wins over Baghdatis, Youzhny, Gonzalez and Almagro made him known to the wide public ad earned him a career best ranking of 39. 
 
In July 2009 Alex won his first Challenger title in Orbetello, defeating Pablo Andujar 
 
In August he captured his second Challenger title in Como, where he defeated Juan-Martin Aranguren 
 
In September Alex won another Challenger: in Trnava, Slovakia, posting an easy two set win (6-2, 6-2) over Lamine Ouahab, after having defeated no.70 Gabashvili in the semis - in September Alex reached his first doubles final in the Challenger of Szczecin, Poland with his partner Smirnov, loosing against the Polish team Bednarek/Kowalczyk

Personal

Alex (Oleksandr) Dolgopolov was born on the 7th of November 1988, in Kiev, Ukraine. His father Oleksandr Dolgopolov sr is an ex tennis professional.
When Alex was born, his father was coaching Andrej Medvedev (Roland Garros finalist). They were based in the US (New York) and Alex naturally started playing tennis at the age of three. His father has been his main coach ever since.

From 2009 until 2012 Alex has teamed up with the Australian coach Jack Reader, at present he got back to work with his father Oleksandr.
 
Together they have climber over 300 ATP spots in less then 1 year time. His aggressive tennis suits best hard courts. In the past he preferred playing on clay, in order to prevent injuries to his knees. Now that he finished growing, the knees have become strong and stable and he is able to compete on hard courts for longer periods of time. Alex speaks fluent English and Russian, loves fast sports cars and enjoys chatting online