Vasko Mladenov
# Vasko Mladenov

Vasko Mladenov (Bulgarian: Васко Младенов, born 30 July 1989) is a former pro tennis player and an active padel player from Bulgaria.

He is a three time Bulgarian National champion, once in doubles (2014) and two times in singles (2016, 2017). Mladenov also holds the record for the most professional international doubles titles in Bulgarian tennis history (18 ITF titles)

Mladenov also played for two years at the number 1 position at St. John’s University (New York) in ITA Division 1. During his stay in New York he won the North Regional Championship (2011).

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.

At 2013 US Open, he was working with Novak Djokovic as his sparring partner.

## 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.

## The Bachelorette Ukraine

In 2021, as a public figure, Mladenov took part in the second season of the Ukrainian version of “The Bachelorette” («Холостячка»), a famous romantic TV reality show, which ended up being the most watched TV show in Ukraine that year.

After the TV show, Vasko gained a large amount of fans in Ukraine.

## 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, $7–6^{(4)}.$ The third and final one was in 2006, in Kyiv, 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.

## Padel career

After finishing his professional tennis career in 2020, Vasko moved on to padel. Alongside his partner Kiril Dimitrov (BUL) he achieved a total of 5 international tournament titles between 2021 and 2023.

In 2022, Mladenov and Dimitrov took part in the Padel World Cup qualifications, there they managed to deliver the first ever padel victory (against Norway) in the history of Bulgarian padel.

Mladenov and Dimitrov are currently known as the best padel team in Bulgaria.

## Music career

In 2009 Mladenov starred a career in music as a rap/hip-hop performer as “Vasko”. The majority of his songs are in Russian, however, Vasko has released 5 songs in Bulgarian over the years. So far he has released 4 albums: «Сердце Солдата» (2010), «Дороги» (2012), «VNY3» (2014) and «Отражения» (2022).

Vasko has also released multiple singles.

## Year-end rankings

| Year | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Singles | 1497 | 1541 | 969 | 950 | 1268 | - | - | - | - | 1372 | 689 | 918 | 1071 | 965 | 1201 |
| Doubles | - | 1476 | 796 | 727 | 584 | - | - | - | - | 695 | 427 | 687 | 759 | 483 | 872 |

## Challenger and Futures/World Tennis Tour finals

### Singles: 2 (0–2)

* Legend (singles)
* ATP Challenger Tour (0–0)
* ITF Futures/World Tennis Tour (0–2)
* Titles by surface
* Hard (0–0)
* Clay (0–2)
* Grass (0–0)
* Carpet (0–0)

| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Loss | 0–1 | Jul 2015 | Turkey F28, Ankara | Futures | Clay | Ivan Nedelko | 5–7, 3–6 |
| Loss | 0–2 | Oct 2015 | Ukraine F6, Cherkasy | Futures | Clay | Ivan Nedelko | 5–7, 4–6 |

### Doubles: 31 (17–14)

* Legend (doubles)
* ATP Challenger Tour (0–0)
* ITF Futures/World Tennis Tour (17–14)
* Titles by surface
* Hard (10–5)
* Clay (7–8)
* Grass (0–0)
* Carpet (0–1)

| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Win | 1–0 | Jun 2007 | Bulgaria F3, Pleven | Futures | Clay | Pirmin Haenle | Roman Kelečić Nikola Martinović | 2–6, 6–4, 6–4 |
| Loss | 1–1 | Jun 2007 | Bulgaria F4, Sofia | Futures | Clay | Ilia Kushev | David Savić Miljan Zekić | 4–6, 3–6 |
| Win | 2–1 | Sep 2007 | Bulgaria F6, Burgas | Futures | Clay | Sergey Betov | Roman Kelečić Nikola Martinović | 3–0 ret. |
| Win | 3–1 | Sep 2008 | Bulgaria F8, Stara Zagora | Futures | Clay | Boris Nicola Bakalov | Ivan Bjelica Miljan Zekić | 6–3, 6–4 |
| Win | 4–1 | Dec 2008 | Brazil F33, São Paulo | Futures | Hard (i) | Nikita Kryvonos | Diogo Cruz Rodrigo-Antonio Grilli | 4–6, 6–1, [10–5] |
| Loss | 4–2 | Dec 2008 | Brazil F34, São Paulo | Futures | Hard (i) | Nicolás Pastor | Mario Eckardt Patrick Taubert | 2–6, 2–6 |
| Win | 5–2 | Dec 2008 | Brazil F35, São Paulo | Futures | Hard | Lars Pörschke | Diego Matos Eládio Ribeiro Neto | 6–1, 6–2 |
| Win | 6–2 | May 2014 | Ukraine F4, Rivne | Futures | Clay | Nikita Kryvonos | Yurii Dzhavakian Volodymyr Uzhylovskyi | 6–4, 6–4 |
| Loss | 6–3 | May 2014 | Ukraine F5, Rivne | Futures | Clay | Nikita Kryvonos | Yurii Dzhavakian Volodymyr Uzhylovskyi | 2–6, 4–6 |
| Loss | 6–4 | Jul 2014 | Bulgaria F5, Plovdiv | Futures | Clay | Dinko Halachev | Romain Arneodo Luca Margaroli | $6–7^{(4–7)},$ 4–6 |
| Win | 7–4 | Apr 2015 | Tunisia F13, El Kantaoui | Futures | Hard | Anis Ghorbel | Remy Chala Daniil Medvedev | 4–6, 6–1, [11–9] |
| Loss | 7–5 | May 2015 | Ukraine F1, Cherkasy | Futures | Clay | Vadym Ursu | Sergiy Sergiienko Artem Smirnov | 6–3, 4–6, [7–10] |
| Loss | 7–6 | Jul 2015 | Turkey F29, Ankara | Futures | Clay | Alexander Igoshin | Daniele Capecchi Federico Maccari | $6–7^{(6–8)},$ 6–3, [7–10] |
| Win | 8–6 | Sep 2015 | Tunisia F21, El Kantaoui | Futures | Hard | Anis Ghorbel | Aziz Dougaz Jordan Dyke | 6–2, $6–7^{(6–8)},$ [10–6] |
| Win | 9–6 | Sep 2015 | Tunisia F22, El Kantaoui | Futures | Hard | Anis Ghorbel | Romain Bauvy Ugo Nastasi | 2–6, 7–5, [12–10] |
| Loss | 9–7 | Nov 2015 | Tunisia F33, El Kantaoui | Futures | Hard | Anis Ghorbel | Jordi Muñoz Abreu David Pérez Sanz | 3–6, 1–6 |
| Win | 10–7 | Dec 2015 | Tunisia F34, El Kantaoui | Futures | Hard | Anis Ghorbel | David Pérez Sanz David Vega Hernández | $6–7^{(2–7)},$ 6–4, [10–8] |
| Loss | 10–8 | Dec 2015 | Tunisia F35, El Kantaoui | Futures | Hard | Anis Ghorbel | Peter Bothwell Lloyd Glasspool | 1–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 11–8 | May 2016 | Ukraine F3, Cherkasy | Futures | Clay | Volodymyr Uzhylovskyi | Denys Mylokostov Danylo Veremeychuk | 6–4, 6–1 |
| Win | 12–8 | Jun 2016 | Bulgaria F3, Stara Zagora | Futures | Clay | Yan Sabanin | Carlos Calderón Pedro Martínez | 6–2, $7–6^{(7–2)}$ |
| Loss | 12–9 | Aug 2016 | Belarus F1, Minsk | Futures | Hard | Markos Kalovelonis | Yaraslav Shyla Dzmitry Zhyrmont | $6–7^{(8–10)},$ 3–6 |
| Loss | 12–10 | Jul 2017 | Turkey F25, Istanbul | Futures | Clay | Nikola Ćaćić | Miki Janković Dimitar Kuzmanov | 4–6, 6–2, [9–11] |
| Loss | 12–11 | Jul 2017 | Turkey F26, Istanbul | Futures | Clay | Alexander Igoshin | Sarp Ağabigün Marat Deviatiarov | 2–6, $6–7^{(5–7)}$ |
| Loss | 12–12 | May 2018 | Tunisia F18, Djerba | Futures | Hard | Anis Ghorbel | Diego Hidalgo Sem Verbeek | 2–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 13–12 | May 2018 | Tunisia F19, Djerba | Futures | Hard | Anis Ghorbel | Hady Habib José Vidal Azorín | 4–6, $7–6^{(9–7)},$ [12–10] |
| Win | 14–12 | May 2018 | Tunisia F20, Djerba | Futures | Hard | Anis Ghorbel | Alexis Klégou Francesco Vilardo | 6–3, 4–6, [10–7] |
| Win | 15–12 | Jun 2018 | Tunisia F21, Djerba | Futures | Hard | Anis Ghorbel | John Paul Fruttero Albano Olivetti | 6–3, 6–2 |
| Win | 16–12 | Sep 2018 | Tunisia F32, Monastir | Futures | Hard | Anis Ghorbel | Alexander Merino Christoph Negritu | 6–3, 6–3 |
| Loss | 16–13 | Nov 2018 | Estonia F2, Tartu | Futures | Carpet (i) | Luca Castelnuovo | Vladimir Ivanov Maxim Ratniuk | 4–6, 6–1, [4–10] |
| Win | 17–13 | Mar 2019 | M15 Tabarka, Tunisia | World Tennis Tour | Clay | Anis Ghorbel | Sergio Martos Gornés Oriol Roca Batalla | 6–4, 6–1 |
| Loss | 17–14 | Aug 2019 | M15 Irpin, Ukraine | World Tennis Tour | Clay | Sagadat Ayap | Vladyslav Orlov George Tsivadze | 6–1, 3–6, [5–10] |

## 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 (5–2 overall). 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)

| Edition | Round | Date | Surface | Opponent | W/L | Result |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2016 Europe/Africa Zone Group II | RPO | 17 July 2016 | Hard | Moez Echargui | W | $6–7^{(5–7)},$ 7–5, $7–6^{(7-5)}$ |

### Doubles (4–2)

| Edition | Round | Date | Partner | Surface | Opponents | W/L | Result |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2016 Europe/Africa Zone Group II | R1 | 5 March 2016 | Alexander Lazov | Hard (I) | Cem İlkel Tuna Altuna | W | $7–6^{(8–6)},$ $6–7^{(5–7)},$ $6–7^{(4–7)},$ $7–6^{(7–5)},$ 6–4 |
| 2016 Europe/Africa Zone Group II | RPO | 16 July 2016 | Alexandar Lazarov | Hard | Malek Jaziri Skander Mansouri | L | 4–6, 4–6, 3–6 |
| 2018 Europe Zone Group III | RR | 4 April 2018 | Dimitar Kuzmanov | Clay | Elbi Mjeshtri Genajd Shypheja | W | 6–0, 6–0 |
| 2018 Europe Zone Group III | RR | 5 April 2018 | Dimitar Kuzmanov | Clay | Birkir Gunnarsson Egill Sigurdsson | W | 6–2, 6–1 |
| 2018 Europe Zone Group III | RR | 6 April 2018 | Adrian Andreev | Clay | Stefan Micov Gorazd Srbljak | W | 6–4, 6–3 |
| 2018 Europe Zone Group III | PRO | 7 April 2018 | Dimitar Kuzmanov | Clay | Romain Arneodo Benjamin Balleret | L | 4–6, 3–6 |

* RPO = Relegation Play–off
* PPO = Promotion Play–off
* RR = Round Robin
