He was one of the first-ever Masters 1000 champions but never reached a Grand Slam final

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The Masters 1000 series was first introduced in 1990…

Sweden’s Stefan Edberg won the inaugural Masters 1000 tournament, beating Andre Agassi to the Indian Wells trophy 35 years ago.

The American got his revenge at the second event of the ‘Sunshine Double’, however, as Agassi defeated Edberg to win the Miami Open.

Both players won several Grand Slam titles during their careers, but what happened to the third-ever Masters 1000 champion?

Despite winning two Masters 1000 titles, including the third-ever, at the Monte-Carlo Masters, Russia’s Andrei Chesnokov never reached a Grand Slam final.

Andrei Chesnokov won the third-ever Masters 1000 tournament

In the first ‘Masters 1000’ edition of the Monte-Carlo tournament, Chesnokov qualified for the final on his favored clay courts.

Andrei Chesnokov at the 1990 Monte-Carlo Masters

• 1990 Monte-Carlo Masters 1R [WIN] vs Goran Prpic (Yugoslavia), 7-5, 6-3
• 1990 Monte-Carlo Masters 2R [WIN] vs Tomas Carbonell (Spain), 4-1, RET
• 1990 Monte-Carlo Masters 3R [WIN] vs Jaime Yzaga (Peru), 6-2, 6-1
• 1990 Monte-Carlo Masters QF [WIN] vs Marc Rosset (Switzerland), 6-3, 6-2
• 1990 Monte-Carlo Masters SF [WIN] vs Emilio Sanchez (Spain), 4-6, 6-1, 7-6

Advancing to the final, Chesnokov took on Austria’s Thomas Muster, a future French Open champion and world number one.

In straight sets, Chesnokov defeated Muster, 7-5, 6-3, 6-3, to become the third Masters 1000 champion in tennis history.

He continued to impress at the Masters 1000 level over the next few years, reaching five finals in total, winning another title at the 1991 Canadian Open.

Andrei Chesnokov’s record in Masters 1000 finals

However, for all his success at the Masters 1000 level, Chesnokov never qualified for a Grand Slam final.

He came closest in 1989, when Chesnokov reached the semifinals of Roland Garros.

Andrei Chesnokov at the 1989 French Open

• 1989 French Open 1R [WIN] vs Pablo Arraya (Peru), 6-4, 7-5, 7-6
• 1989 French Open 2R [WIN] vs Jonas Svensson (Sweden), 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-0
• 1989 French Open 3R [WIN] vs Carl-Uwe Steeb (Germany), 3-6, 6-1, 7-5, 6-3
• 1989 French Open 4R [WIN] vs Jim Courier (USA), 2-6, 3-6, 7-6, 6-2, 7-5
• 1989 French Open QF [WIN] vs Mats Wilander (Sweden), 6-4, 6-0, 7-5
• 1989 French Open SF [LOSS] vs Michael Chang (USA), 1-6, 7-5, 6-7, 5-7

After stunning Jim Courier and Mats Wilander in back-to-back matches, the Soviet star came up short against the eventual champion, Michael Chang.

Chesnokov never returned to the semifinals or quarterfinals of a Grand Slam after his defeat to Chang, losing several fourth-round matches.

Andrei Chesnokov’s Grand Slam performance timeline

It’s clear that things didn’t quite go to plan for the 59-year-old at the majors, but why couldn’t he get the job done?

‘If I was not born in the USSR I would have achieved more in tennis’ – Andrei Chesnokov

During an interview with AIF in 2021, Chesnokov explained how his upbringing affected his tennis career.

“There was nothing – no balls, no rackets, no tennis shoes,” he said.

“You could count the number of indoor courts on one hand.

“As a teenager, I only trained on the court three hours a week, and in the winter, I mostly played hockey.

“I think if I hadn’t been born in the USSR, I would have achieved more in tennis.”

It’s impossible to know if Chesnokov could have won a Grand Slam had he been born somewhere else, but it’s an interesting debate.

If he’d grown up with proper infrastructure and better training facilities, perhaps he would have gone all the way at the French Open in 1989…