Vasko Mladenov


Vasko Mladenov is a professional Bulgarian tennis player.
On 6 June 2016, he reached his highest ATP singles ranking of 637 in June 2016 whilst his best doubles ranking was 359 in June 2016. Mladenov is a winner of seventeen ITF titles in doubles.
Mladenov is also a two time Bulgarian National Champion. He participated in the Davis Cup in doubles in March 2016 against Turkey, bringing Bulgaria a historic win 7:6, 6:7, 6:7, 7:6, 6:4 alongside fellow Bulgarian Alexander Lazov.
Mladenov also took part in the Davis Cup tie against Tunisia in August 2016, where he won his singles match against Moez Echargui in a thrilling 6:7, 7:5, 7:6 match. He also took part in the Davis Cup group 3 tie against Iceland, Macedonia, Albania and finally Bulgaria faced Monaco in the deciding playoff to promote to group 2, unfortunately Bulgaria lost the tie. He made his debut at an ATP tournament in 2018, playing in his native Bulgaria the ATP Sofia Open. He worked as an official sparring partner with Novak Djokovic for the 2013 Us Open. Vasko is also a rapper and a music producer, writing his own music and lyrics, mainly in Russian. He has released 3 albums and multiple single records such as "Химия", "Океаны".

Early and personal life

Vasko was born in Sofia, Bulgaria, as the only child of Vasil, who is from Bulgaria and, Elena, who is from Russia. When he was five he began to play with his grandfather, Lev Shulga, who is a well known coach from the former U.S.S.R. Vasko speaks fluent Bulgarian, Russian and English. He is known for his aggressive and all-court style of play. Mladenov has a right-handed forehand and Double-handed backhand. His favourite surface is hard. His hobbies are listening to music, playing the piano, playing snooker, billiards and playing football. Currently he resides in Sofia, and is coached by Levar Harper-Griffith and Miroslav Gergov.

Junior career

He won three tournaments as a junior. The first one was in 2005, he defeated Plamen Avramov in Plovdiv in straight sets, final score was 6–0, 6–1. The second one also was in 2005, in Timișoara, he defeated Maksim Bakunin in three sets, 6–4, 4–6, 7–6. The third and final one was in 2006, in Kiev, he won the tournament after beating Uladzimir Ignatik in three sets, 3–6, 6–3, 6–1. All these tournaments were played on clay court. In 2007, in France, he played the European Junior. Bulgaria was represented by Vasko, Valentin Dimov and Aleksandar Lazov, they were runners-up.

Year-end rankings

Futures and Challenger finals: 22 (17–10)

Singles: 2 (0–2)

OutcomeNo.DateTournamentSurfaceOpponent in the finalScore in the final
Runner-up1.17 July 2015 Ankara, Turkey
ITF Futures $10,000
Clay Ivan Nedelko5–7, 3–6
Runner-up2.17 October 2015 Cherkasy, Ukraine
ITF Futures $10,000
Clay Ivan Nedelko5–7, 4–6

Doubles: 20 (12–8)

OutcomeNo.DateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponents in the finalScore in the final
Winner1.27 May 2007 Pleven, Bulgaria
ITF Futures $10,000
Clay Pirmin Haenle Roman Kelecic
Nikola Martinovic
2–6, 6–4, 6–4
Runner-up1.3 June 2007 Sofia, Bulgaria
ITF Futures $10,000
Clay Ilia Kushev David Savić
Miljan Zekić
4–6, 3–6
Winner2.2 September 2007 Burgas, Bulgaria
ITF Futures $10,000
Clay Sergey Betov Roman Kelecic
Nikola Martinovic
3–0, Ret.
Winner3.14 September 2008 Stara Zagora, Bulgaria
ITF Futures $10,000
Clay Boris Nicola Bakalov Ivan Bjelica
Miljan Zekić
6–3, 6–4
Winner4.20 December 2008 São Paulo, Brazil
ITF Futures $10,000
Hard Nikita Kryvonos Diogo Cruz
Rodrigo-Antonio Grilli
4–6, 6–1,
Runner-up2.28 December 2008 São Paulo, Brazil
ITF Futures $10,000
Hard Nicolás Pastor Mario Eckardt
Patrick Taubert
2–6, 2–6
Winner5.3 January 2009 São Paulo, Brazil
ITF Futures $10,000
Hard Lars Poerschke Diego Matos
Eládio Ribeiro Neto
6–1, 6–2
Winner6.18 May 2014 Rivne, Ukraine
ITF Futures $10,000
Clay Nikita Kryvonos Yurii Dzhavakian
Volodymyr Uzhylovskyi
6–4, 6–4
Runner-up3.25 May 2014 Rivne, Ukraine
ITF Futures $10,000
Clay Nikita Kryvonos Yurii Dzhavakian
Volodymyr Uzhylovskyi
2–6, 4–6
Runner-up4.11 July 2014 Plovdiv, Bulgaria
ITF Futures $10,000
Clay Dinko Halachev Romain Arneodo
Luca Margaroli
6–7, 4–6
Winner7.11 April 2015 El Kantaoui, Tunisia
ITF Futures $10,000
Hard Anis Ghorbel Remy Chala
Daniil Medvedev
4–6, 6–1,
Runner-up5.17 May 2015 Cherkasy, Ukraine
ITF Futures $10,000
Clay Vadym Ursu Sergiy Sergiienko
Artem Smirnov
6–3, 4–6,
Runner-up6.24 July 2015 Ankara, Turkey
ITF Futures $10,000
Clay Alexander Igoshin Daniele Capecchi
Federico Maccari
6–7, 6–3,
Winner8.6 September 2015 El Kantaoui, Tunisia
ITF Futures $10,000
Hard Anis Ghorbel Aziz Dougaz
Jordan Dyke
6–2, 6–7,
Winner9.13 September 2015 El Kantaoui, Tunisia
ITF Futures $10,000
Hard Anis Ghorbel Romain Bauvy
Ugo Nastasi
2–6, 7–5,
Runner-up7.29 November 2015 El Kantaoui, Tunisia
ITF Futures $10,000
Hard Anis Ghorbel Jordi Muñoz Abreu
David Perez Sanz
3–6, 1–6
Winner10.6 December 2015 El Kantaoui, Tunisia
ITF Futures $10,000
Hard Anis Ghorbel David Perez Sanz
David Vega Hernandez
6–7, 6–4,
Runner-up8.13 December 2015 El Kantaoui, Tunisia
ITF Futures $10,000
Hard Anis Ghorbel Peter Bothwell
Lloyd Glasspool
1–6, 4–6
Winner11.28 May 2016 Cherkasy, Ukraine
ITF Futures $10,000
Clay Volodymyr Uzhylovskyi Denys Mylokostov
Danylo Veremeychuk
6–4, 6–1
Winner12.5 June 2016 Stara Zagora, Bulgaria
ITF Futures $10,000
Clay Yan Sabanin Carlos Calderón-Rodríguez
Pedro Martínez
6–2, 7–6

Davis Cup

Vasko Mladenov debuted for the Bulgaria Davis Cup team in 2016 against Turkey in Ankara. Since then he has a 1–0 singles record and a 4–2 doubles record. He participated in Davis Cup in doubles in March 2016 against Turkey, bringing Bulgaria a historic win 7:6, 6:7, 6:7, 7:6, 6:4 alongside fellow Bulgarian Alexander Lazov.
Mladenov also took part in the Davis Cup tie against Tunisia in August 2016, where he won his singles match against Moez Echargui in a thrilling 6:7, 7:5, 7:6 match. He also took part in the Davis Cup group 3 tie against Iceland, Macedonia, Albania and finally Bulgaria faced Monaco in the deciding playoff to promote to group 2, unfortunately Bulgaria lost the tie.

Singles (1–0)

Doubles (4–2)