Dennis Novikov had a September of success that many of the young players on the ATP Tour would be jealous of. The 21 year old American talent captured both the Cary, North Carolina and Columbus, Ohio Challenger tourneys in back-to-back weeks to catapult his ATP World Tour Ranking to an all time high of #144 in the world. In both finals, Novikov defeated American veteran Ryan Harrison in gritty finals where Novikov used a powerful serve and pin-point aggressive returning to assert his game in important moments. With the win Novikov (the son of Russian immigrants) announced to the American tennis community that he is primed for even more success in 2016.
The former UCLA Bruin started the 2015 season ranked #290. Over the course of 2015 Novikov increased his ranking while climbing the tour levels. Starting the season playing mainly futures events, now Novikov finds himself on the cusp of qualifying tournaments for main draw events, and direct qualifications for Slams. Novikov explains how his rankings and goals are important factors in the development of his career. “The past two weeks has been a big ranking boost to me, and put me inside the top 150 (#144), I believe this gives me a good base to crack top 100 by year end, and I would like to do that to make Australian Open main draw.” Novikov noted that cracking the top 100 and making the Australian Open were both goals he set for himself at the beginning of the year.
Dennis Novikov has shown that this laser-like focus on goals also translates to the court. In both of his tournament victories, Novikov faced crucial moments that could have derailed his championship hopes, but in each of those moments, he was able to raise his level of play and shot selection. Novikov pointed to his Cary, NC semifinal match with Brydan Klein of the UK as a good example. “I felt that I was primarily advancing in the rounds fairly easily ’til the semifinals where I played Klein… he was serving for the match 5-4 in the 3rd set. I think almost any tournament you win there is usually a match that you weren’t supposed to win but found a way to pull through and ultimately I think that was the match for me.”
In those crucial moments, Novikov relied on a big serve and aggressive returns to take control of points. “I felt that my serve was really clicking for me, whenever I needed a point I could get it, it didn’t really let me down. I think also my return was very consistent, but also very offensive, and I felt if I got a crack at a 2nd serve I pretty much won that point if I strike the ball cleanly.” His big serve helped him erase seven of the eight break point attempts Harrison had against him in the Columbus final. That belief in his serve, and himself, is a sign of the maturing and growing confidence Novikov has in his game.
With these tournament wins, and other wins such as the Calabasas Future title back in March, Novikov is seeing his status and name rise in the American tennis community. Although his name was very recognizable to serious American tennis fans by having won the US18 Nationals at Kalamazoo in 2012, and having had successful years of college tennis at UCLA, where he was name Pac-12 Player of the Year in 2013 after he advanced to the NCAA championship, these victories have propelled him into more of the limelight shared with other young American hopefuls like, Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe, Stefan Kozlov, Tommy Paul, etc. (Novikov has wins over each of these American hopefuls this season). And although flying under the radar by sticking with his father Vladimir as his coach, and going to UCLA to play for two seasons, Novikov credits both with helping to develop his game to the point where it is today. “I believe this time (college tennis) was beneficial to me, from the stand point of maturing as a person and player as I was pretty young when I played my first year at college.”
As Novikov looks forward to the completion of the 2015 season, and into 2016, he hopes that beyond cracking the top 100 and gaining entry into Slams, that he is able to take his ranking even higher into the top 50. This improved ranking will continue to grow as his game in much the same way it has this year, by working on developing both his strengths and weaknesses as a player. “I always try to polish/improve the things I’m good at while still working on my weaker sides. I have been working a lot on my movement around the court and feel I am much quicker now with the way I’m moving to the ball and when I’m not. I’ve also been working on the volleys to be able to finish points more at the net.”
A quick glance of Dennis Novikov’s Twitter (@DennisNovikov) reveals a timeline full of inspirational and motivational words reflective of Novikov’s work ethic and desire to be an elite tennis player. These mantras are guiding principles that he hopes will continue to push him both upward in the rankings and onto being the best possible player that he is capable of being. If 2016 is anything like the climb towards the top 2015 has been, he will be gaining in both ranking points and followers very soon.
Do not accept less than what you're capable of.
— Dennis Novikov 👑 (@DennisNovikov) September 3, 2015
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