Yevgeny Kafelnikov Finds Switching to Golf Isn’t Easy

Written by: Staff on 25th July 2012

Yevgeny Kafelnikov Finds Switching to Golf Isn’t Easy

epa02985052 Yvgeny Kafelnikov of Russia reurns the ball to Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia during their match at the gala tournament Tennis Classics in Papp Laszlo Sports Arena in Budapest, Hungary, 29 October 2011. EPA/IMRE FOLDI |

Ivan Lendl found the transition from top flight tennis champion to touring golf professional to be a demanding process and now former world no.1 Yevgeny Kafelnikov is having a second attempt at successfully switching sporting codes.

The 38 year-old Russian, who unseated Pete Sampras from top spot on the ATP World Tour rankings in May, 1999, won the 1996 French Open and 1999 Australian Open singles titles, amassed a prize fund in excess of $23 million and is the last player to win the singles and doubles titles at a Grand Slam event, is entered for this week’s Austrian event on the European Tour, the Lyoness Open in Atzenbrugg.

Kafelnikov will be determined to do better than when he contested the Russian Open nearly four years ago. The man from Sochi returned cards of 89 and 80, meaning he meant he missed the halfway cut by 27 shots.

Three years earlier, when he made his debut on the second tier Challenger Tour, he fared even worse. Playing in Moscow, Â and he was dead last on 40 over par with scores of 88 and 96.

Kafelnikov is paired with Welsh World Cup winner Stephen Dodd and Swede Oskar Henningsson in the opening two rounds at Atzenbrugg and the field also includes last year’s French Open champion Thomas Levet and new Austrian star Bernd Wiesberger who will make his World Golf Championship debut in Akron next week.

Topics: Pete Sampras, Sports, Stephen Dodd, Swede Oskar Henningsson, Tennis News, tennis to golf sports news, Yevgeny Kafelnikkov