KUKUSHKIN Mikhail

General
REPRESENTING KAZAKHSTAN
He began his international career representing the Russian Federation, but switched to representing Kazakhstan in late 2008 after moving to the country and taking citizenship. "It was very difficult to leave my parents, but when Kazakhstan approached me, I was 20 years old and still ranked 150. Everyone around tennis thought I had top 100 potential, but I couldn't make the breakthrough without the right level of professional preparation, physios, fitness and nutrition, as I was always alone. I could not predict what was going to happen, but I had belief in myself. I didn't have experience at all when I first broke into the top 100. I was not a professional athlete, I only knew how to hit a tennis ball over the net. I didn't know I had to prepare, athletic stuff and the gym - I didn't go to the gym a lot as a teenager, I did exercises with my father, but Kazakhstan helped me to learn all those things. They taught me to become a player. I learned from listening." (atptour.com, 02 Jul 2019)