Tennis
Kukushkin Ends Career After Almaty Defeat by Tsitsipas
The Kazakh retires at 38 after his home tournament.
Mikhail Kukushkin ended his professional tennis career after a 6–1, 6–2 defeat by seventh-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece in the Almaty Open second round.
The 38-year-old Kazakh played his final competitive match in front of a home crowd, with family and fellow players joining his farewell, the Kazakhstan Tennis Federation reported.
Tsitsipas served eight aces and converted four break points in a match lasting just over an hour. He advanced to the quarterfinals, while Kukushkin brought a two-decade career to a close.
Afterward, Tsitsipas congratulated Kukushkin and described the unusual difficulty of facing someone in his last professional appearance. He said the experience felt “very eerie and weird,” according to the federation’s report.
Kukushkin reached a career-high singles ranking of No. 39 in the world in February 2019. He won the 2010 St. Petersburg title and reached the fourth round at the Australian Open in 2012 and Wimbledon in 2019.
