Alexander Donski (Bulgarian: Александър Донски; born 1 August 1998) is a Bulgarian tennis player.
| Country (sports) |  Bulgaria |
|---|---|
| Residence | Sofia, Bulgaria |
| Born | 1 August 1998 Philadelphia, PA, United States |
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) |
| Turned pro | 2017 |
| Plays | Right-handed (two-handed backhand) |
| Coach | Mike Donski |
| Prize money | US$121,728 |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 1–1 (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup) |
| Career titles | 0 0 Challengers, 2 Futures |
| Highest ranking | No. 525 (11 April 2022) |
| Current ranking | No. 951 (1 April 2024) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 4–9 (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup) |
| Career titles | 0 0 Challengers, 16 Futures |
| Highest ranking | No. 248 (3 October 2022) |
| Current ranking | No. 256 (1 April 2024) |
| Last updated on: 7 April 2024. | |
Donski has a career high ATP singles ranking of No. 525 achieved on 11 April 2022 and a career high doubles ranking of No. 248 achieved on 3 October 2022.[1][2] In singles, Donski has won two ITF World Tour titles and in doubles he won 16.
YouTube edit
Alexander is known for his YouTube channel called Operation Liftoff with Lazar Dokov, his cousin and fellow professional player/coach. The duo travel Europe to play in futures tournaments in a vlog style of video. They showcase the life an ITF Junior has to endure to succeed. The channel has over 5000 subscribers.[3]
Junior career edit
Donski reached a career high ITF junior ranking of 92 on 24 October 2016. He has compiled a win/loss record of 50–39 in Singles and 33–40 in Doubles.[4]
Professional career edit
2017–2020: early years: turning pro, ATP debut edit
Donski turned professional in 2017 and finished the year ranked No. 1578 in the ATP singles rankings.
Donski made his ATP main draw debut at the 2018 Diema Xtra Sofia Open, receiving a wildcard into both the singles and doubles tournament. By the end of 2018, Donski jumped 147 places to finish the 2018 season ranked No. 1431 in the ATP Singles rankings while finishing the year ranked 1061 in the ATP Doubles rankings.
In singles, his breakthrough on the ITF World Tennis Tour circuit came in 2019, when he reached a total of four ITF finals. He ended up as a runner-up at the M15 events in Sozopol, Telavi and Johannesburg before eventually winning his first ITF title in Pretoria after a three tiebreak sets win over Arthur Cazaux. During the season Donski also won his first two ITF doubles titles in Telavi and Pretoria as well as reaching his first ATP quarterfinal with Alexandar Lazarov at the 2019 Sofia Open.
In 2020 the Bulgarian received a wild card into the singles qualifying draw and the doubles main draw of the 2020 Sofia Open, but ended his participation in both with straight set losses in the opening round.
2021–2022: first ATP qualification win, top 250 debut in doubles edit
Donski's first singles win at the ATP level came at the 2021 Sofia Open, where he received another wild card for the qualifying draw and pulled an upset win over eighth seed Jurij Rodionov before losing to Andreas Seppi in the final round. Alexander also played in the doubles competition at his home ATP tournament with Dimitar Kuzmanov, but the Bulgarian duo lost in a third set tiebreaker to eventual champions Jonny O'Mara and Ken Skupski.
At the end of the 2021 season Donski started his rise in the doubles rankings with three more ITF titles, winning the trophy at the M15 event in Sozopol with Billy Harris and following it up with triumphs at the M25 events in Saint-Dizier and Villers-lès-Nancy with Petros Tsitsipas.
In January 2022, the Bulgarian continued his streak in doubles at a series of M25 events in Monastir and after 12 consecutive wins he added another trophy to his collection. In the following months Donski reached two more ITF singles finals in Tunisia, losing the first one to Laurent Lokoli before claiming his second singles title against Térence Atmane in March.
In the coming months Alexander won two more ITF doubles titles in Sarajevo and Alkmaar as well as also reaching three ATP Challenger Tour quarterfinals. At the 2022 Sofia Open the Bulgarian lost in the first qualifying round in singles, but he once again reached the quarterfinals in doubles with Alexandar Lazarov and made his top 250 debut in the ATP doubles rankings on 3 October 2022.
ATP Challenger and ITF Futures/World Tennis Tour finals edit
Singles: 6 (2–4) edit
|
|
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 0–1 | May 2019 | M15 Sozopol, Bulgaria | World Tennis Tour | Hard |  Altuğ Çelikbilek
|
7–6(7–5), 3–6, 2–6 |
| Loss | 0–2 | Aug 2019 | M15 Telavi, Georgia | World Tennis Tour | Clay |  Yan Bondarevskiy
|
4–6, 0–6 |
| Loss | 0–3 | Sep 2019 | M15 Johannesburg, South Africa | World Tennis Tour | Hard |  Benjamin Lock
|
7–6(7–5), 3–6, 6–7(3–7) |
| Win | 1–3 | Sep 2019 | M15 Pretoria, South Africa | World Tennis Tour | Hard |  Arthur Cazaux
|
7–6(7–3), 6–7(5–7), 7–6 (8–6) |
| Loss | 1–4 | Feb 2022 | M15 Monastir, Tunisia | World Tennis Tour | Hard | Laurent Lokoli
|
0–6, 6–3, 5–7 |
| Win | 2–4 | Mar 2022 | M15 Monastir, Tunisia | World Tennis Tour | Hard | Térence Atmane
|
6–2, 5–7, 6–3 |
Doubles: 28 (16–12) edit
|
|
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 0–1 | May 2018 | Bulgaria F1, Sozopol | Futures | Hard |  Vasil Kirkov
|
Sébastien Boltz Caio Silva
|
5–7, 3–6 |
| Loss | 0–2 | May 2019 | M15 Sozopol, Bulgaria | World Tennis Tour | Hard | Alexandar Lazarov
|
Alec Adamson Vasil Kirkov
|
6–4, 2–6, [6–10] |
| Loss | 0–3 | Jun 2019 | M15 Plovdiv, Bulgaria | World Tennis Tour | Clay | Simon Anthony Ivanov
|
Alexander Igoshin Evgenii Tiurnev
|
1–6, 7–6(11–9), [5–10] |
| Win | 1–3 | Jul 2019 | M15 Telavi, Georgia | World Tennis Tour | Clay | Maksim Tikhomirov
|
Yan Bondarevskiy George Tsivadze
|
6–4, 6–4 |
| Loss | 1–4 | Sep 2019 | M15 Johannesburg, South Africa | World Tennis Tour | Hard |  David Pichler
|
Benjamin Lock Courtney John Lock
|
3–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 2–4 | Oct 2019 | M15 Pretoria, South Africa | World Tennis Tour | Hard |  Raheel Manji
|
David Pichler Mehluli Sibanda
|
6–2, 7–5 |
| Loss | 2–5 | Sep 2021 | M25 Říčany, Czech Republic | World Tennis Tour | Clay |  Colin Sinclair
|
Toby Kodat Adam Pavlásek
|
3–6, 5–7 |
| Win | 3–5 | Oct 2021 | M15 Sozopol, Bulgaria | World Tennis Tour | Hard |  Billy Harris
|
Yan Bondarevskiy Kai Wehnelt
|
6–1, 6–4 |
| Win | 4–5 | Nov 2021 | M25 Saint-Dizier, France | World Tennis Tour | Hard (i) |  Petros Tsitsipas
|
 Blake Ellis Tristan Schoolkate
|
6–4, 4–6, [10–7] |
| Win | 5–5 | Nov 2021 | M25 Villers-lès-Nancy, France | World Tennis Tour | Hard (i) | Petros Tsitsipas
|
Blake Ellis Tristan Schoolkate
|
7–6(7–2), 3–2 ret. |
| Win | 6–5 | Jan 2022 | M25 Monastir, Tunisia | World Tennis Tour | Hard | Théo Arribagé
|
Dan Added Clément Tabur
|
6–2, 5–7, [10–7] |
| Loss | 6–6 | Jan 2022 | M25 Monastir, Tunisia | World Tennis Tour | Hard |  Zvonimir Babić
|
Théo Arribagé Titouan Droguet
|
6–1, 4–6, [8–10] |
| Win | 7–6 | Jun 2022 | M15 Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina | World Tennis Tour | Clay | David Pichler
|
Constantin Bittoun Kouzmine Michael Vrbenský
|
5–7, 7–6(7–2), [12–10] |
| Win | 8–6 | Jun 2022 | M15 Alkmaar, Netherlands | World Tennis Tour | Clay |  Karl Friberg
|
Patrik Rikl Matěj Vocel
|
3–6, 3–3 ret. |
| Win | 9–6 | Oct 2022 | M15 Sozopol, Bulgaria | World Tennis Tour | Hard |  Vladyslav Orlov
|
Tuna Altuna Olaf Pieczkowski
|
6–2, 3–6, [10–5] |
| Loss | 9–7 | Nov 2022 | M25 Heraklion, Greece | World Tennis Tour | Hard | Tim Sandkaulen
|
Sandro Kopp Neil Oberleitner
|
7–6(7–2), 3–6, [7–10] |
| Win | 10–7 | Mar 2023 | M15 Monastir, Tunisia | World Tennis Tour | Hard |  Ray Ho
|
 Bogdan Bobrov Christoph Negritu
|
7–5, 6–3 |
| Loss | 10–8 | May 2023 | M15 Antalya, Turkey | World Tennis Tour | Clay | Egor Agafonov
|
Anton Chekhov Ivan Nedelko
|
6–4, 4–6, [8–10] |
| Loss | 10–9 | Jun 2023 | M15 Štore, Slovenia | World Tennis Tour | Clay | Dominik Kellovský
|
Matthew William Donald Jakub Nicod
|
2–6, 2–6 |
| Loss | 10–10 | Jul 2023 | M15 Celje, Slovenia | World Tennis Tour | Clay | Zaharije-Zak Talic
|
 Buvaysar Gadamauri Jakub Nicod
|
2–6, 3–6 |
| Loss | 10–11 | Nov 2023 | M15 Monastir, Tunisia | World Tennis Tour | Hard |  Tiago Pereira
|
 Daniel De Jonge John Sperle
|
w/o |
| Win | 11–11 | Dec 2023 | M15 Monastir, Tunisia | World Tennis Tour | Hard | Tiago Pereira
|
Christoph Negritu Michael Zhu
|
6–2, 2–1, ret. |
| Win | 12–11 | Dec 2023 | M15 Monastir, Tunisia | World Tennis Tour | Hard |  Tao Mu
|
 Igor Kudriashov Aleksandr Lobanov
|
6–0, 3–6, [12–10] |
| Win | 13–11 | Mar 2024 | M25 Faro, Portugal | World Tennis Tour | Hard | Tiago Pereira
|
Simon Freund Johannes Ingildsen
|
6–4, 3–6, [10–7] |
| Loss | 13–12 | Mar 2024 | M25 Quinta do Lago, Portugal | World Tennis Tour | Hard | Tiago Pereira
|
Gabriel Décamps Eero Vasa
|
2–7, 7–6(7–3), [7–10] |
| Win | 14–12 | Mar 2024 | M25 Vale do Lobo, Portugal | World Tennis Tour | Hard | Tiago Pereira
|
 Alberto Barroso Campos Imanol López Morillo
|
6–4, 4–6, [10–8] |
| Win | 15–12 | Mar 2024 | M25 Loulé, Portugal | World Tennis Tour | Hard | Tiago Pereira
|
Dan Added Jakub Nicod
|
7–6(8–6), 2–6, [10–1] |
| Win | 16–12 | Apr 2024 | M25 Monastir, Tunisia | World Tennis Tour | Hard | Tiago Pereira
|
Jordan Chiu Fred Simonsson
|
6–4, 6–2 |
National participation edit
Davis Cup (4 wins, 3 losses) edit
Alexander Donski debuted for the Bulgaria Davis Cup team in 2019. Since then he has 8 nominations with 7 ties played, his singles W/L record is 1–0 and doubles W/L record is 3–3 (4–3 overall).[5]
|
|
|
indicates the result of the Davis Cup match followed by the score, date, place of event, the zonal classification and its phase, and the court surface.
| Rubber result | No. | Rubber | Match type (partner if any) | Opponent nation | Opponent player(s) | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 1–4; 13–14 September 2019; Kelvin Grove Club, Cape Town, South Africa; Group II Europe/Africa First Round; Hard surface
| ||||||
| Defeat | 1 | I | Doubles (with Alexandar Lazarov) |  South Africa
|
Raven Klaasen / Ruan Roelofse | 3–6, 2–6 |
 4–1; 6–7 March 2020; Costa Rica Country Club, San José, Costa Rica; World Group II Play-Off; Hard surface
| ||||||
| Victory | 2 | V | Singles |  Costa Rica
|
Rodrigo Crespo Piedra | 6–2, 6–4 |
| 3–1; 4–5 March 2022; Sport Hall Sofia, Sofia, Bulgaria; World Group II Play-Off; Hard (i) surface
| ||||||
| Victory | 3 | III | Doubles (with Alexandar Lazarov) |  Paraguay
|
Juan Borba / Hernando José Escurra Isnardi | 6–3, 7–5 |
| 3–0; 16–18 September 2022; Bulgarian National Tennis Center, Sofia, Bulgaria; World Group II; Clay surface
| ||||||
| Victory | 4 | III | Doubles (with Alexandar Lazarov) | South Africa
|
Lleyton Cronje / Raven Klaasen | 6–3, 7–6(8–6) |
| 3–1; 4–5 February 2023; Wilding Park, Christchurch, New Zealand; World Group I Play-Off; Hard surface
| ||||||
| Defeat | 5 | III | Doubles (with Petr Nesterov) |  New Zealand
|
Artem Sitak / Michael Venus | 4–6, 6–3, 3–6 |
| 1–3; 16–17 September 2023; Bulgarian National Tennis Center, Sofia, Bulgaria; World Group I; Clay surface
| ||||||
| Victory | 6 | III | Doubles (with Alexandar Lazarov) |  Kazakhstan
|
Alexander Bublik / Aleksandr Nedovyesov | 6–3, 6–3 |
| 1–3; 3–4 February 2024; Tennis Center Avenue, Burgas, Bulgaria; World Group I Play-Off; Hard (i) surface
| ||||||
| Defeat | 7 | III | Doubles (with Alexandar Lazarov) |  Bosnia and Herzegovina
|
Mirza Bašić / Damir Džumhur | 6–7(10–12), 3–6 |
References edit
- ^ "Alexander Donski - Overview - ATP Tour - Tennis". ATP Tour. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
- ^ ITF Tennis – Pro Circuit – Player Profile – DONSKI, Alexander (BUL)
- ^ YouTube – Operation Liftoff channel
- ^ ITF Tennis – Juniors – Player Profile – DONSKI, Alexander (BUL)
- ^ Davis Cup – Player Profile – DONSKI, Alexander (BUL)
