TV commentator Alexander Metreveli: biography, achievements and interesting facts

Of the seventy-one years of life, 66 are given to sports. Alexander Iraklievich Metreveli is the most titled Soviet tennis player, whose talent Nikolai Ozerov called the gifted God. With his name is connected with the way of domestic tennis on the world stage after in 1956 the All-Union Federation became part of the international. What is known about this legendary athlete and TV commentator?

Biography pages

A Georgian boy, born in Tbilisi in November 1944, was very athletic since childhood. Quickly ran, jumped, jogging for the older brother, who first took the tennis racket in his hands. Parents - Irakli Petrovich and Anna Tikhonovna - encouraged the sons. The time was such that it was possible to get through only with your own work and talent. When Alexander was 10 years old, his brother brought him to his coach - Aram Khangulyan. He not only taught tennis, but also raised a personality from pupils.

Metreveli Alexander, tennis for whom he became a matter of life, started late by today's standards, but he already had many achievements in other sports. In Hangulyan, he was the youngest in the group, so from the very beginning he had to correspond to a certain level. In tennis for the young man everything that he excelled in: the speed of the sprinter, the endurance of the stayer and the speed of thinking of the chess player. Later, he himself will divide his life in sports into three periods. The first (1955 - 1960) is the time to get acquainted with the basics, when he firmly decided to connect his life with tennis.

Sporting successes

The second period Alexander Metreveli believes 1960 - 1965, when he managed to enter the all-Union arena. Already in 1961 he became the winner of the USSR among the young men, and since 1962 he is in the Top-10 of the best tennis players of the country. Beginning in 1966, the third stage follows, during which serious victories in the international arena over the stars of the first magnitude appear in his asset. Five times in singles, he will receive the title of the winner of the tournament and six times will reach the final, including at Wimbledon (1973). Twice he will be close to the title of Grand Slam and in doubles.

To win at Wimbledon, he did not have the experience. Because of the possible rain, the tournament organizers scheduled a transfer of the final match between Metreveli and Jan Kodesh from Czechoslovakia the next day. With this development of events, the men's and women's finals had to pass simultaneously, which is not entirely convenient. Therefore, it was decided not to cancel the game, but the Soviet athlete has already lost the necessary spirit. He fought desperately, conceding the second set with a score of 8: 9, which indicates a stubborn duel between two equal rivals. A year later in the Davis Cup, Metreveli will manage to take revenge, but that will be another story.

The best tennis player of the USSR

Since 1972, professional sports have been rated ATP, which allows to determine the best tennis players of the planet, ranking them among themselves. Alexander Metreveli in 1974 will take the 9th line of the world table of ranks, which will be his best achievement in his career. Playing up to 35 years, in his country he will remain undefeated. 29 victories in the national championship, including 17 in singles - this is the result of his sporting longevity. The absolute champion of the Spartakiad of the USSR, the multiple champion of Europe, the main matches in his life will be considered the Davis Cup games for the main team of the country.

In the interview, he will describe those special feelings that he experienced on the eve of team starts: a combination of pride and awe. It was impossible to fail his country, for which he will fight 105 times. Honored Master of Sports, he will be one of the first to enter the Tennis Hall of Fame on NTV +.

Prize money of Soviet tennis players

Today, fans are used to the fact that tennis players from the first hundred are quite wealthy people. Their prize money for winning tournaments allows them to live comfortably the whole subsequent life. Published income for the sporting career of the current leaders. So, Roger Federer earned 90.9 million dollars, Novak Djokovic - 79.4. Women's tennis is no worse than that: Serena Williams has $ 69.7 million in prize money, Maria Sharapova - 35, 1. And how were things in the 1970s, especially among Soviet athletes, because the country did not officially have professional sports? Alexander Metreveli says that even for reaching the final of Wimbledon, he received nothing, because before the athlete there was a choice: prize or per diem.

The tournament organizers provided the athletes with equipment, and this was already a great success, because domestic balls, rackets and uniforms could not compete in the international arena. The Sports Committee did not know what to do with the prize money, when they had to be actually received. This problem only arose among chess players and tennis players. From Rome, Metreveli had to carry money across the border in a suitcase, because there was no money transfer system. Officials of the Sports Committee for a long time bargaining, how much money can be left to the athlete, as a result, allocated 30%. These were his first prize money, to which he bought the "Volga" of the latest model.

Profession of the commentator

Before the collapse of the USSR, the great athlete lived in Georgia, where in 1968 he was educated journalist after graduating from Tbilisi State University. Immediately after the end of his sports career, he worked in the ministry, and then the sports committee of Georgia. His debut coincided with a great victory of the Dynamo football team in the international arena, which inspired him to work. In the same place he married Vartosanidze Natella Grigorievna, with whom he brought up two sons - Irakly, born in 1967, and Alexander, born 1976. Now in the third hundred of the world rating young Metreveli Alexander (tennis) plays. Commentator Metreveli-senior is brought to him by his own grandfather, this is the son of his elder Irakli.

After the collapse of the USSR, the former partner in the mix Anna Dmitrieva suggested that Alexander Metreveli try himself on television as a sports journalist. So he moved to Moscow with his family. Now he has more than 10 thousand ethers. Metreveli tried to comment on various sports, including football, but this did not bring satisfaction, because there was not enough professional knowledge. But tennis is his element. Working on NTV, he often had to comment on the tournaments paired with Anna Dmitrieva. Their duet is known under the name "ADAM". On the air, they argued, defending their view of what was happening on the court, making the reports live and exciting. In these disputes, Alexander Metreveli was more likely to be more persuasive.

Commentator on the problems of modern tennis

The condition in modern tennis is considered by the great sportsman as a crisis, considering that there are no conditions for its development in the country, including weather conditions, and a financial base. Stars of the world level, such as Safin, Davydenko, Sharapova, - this is luck, which is always temporary. Two-year disqualification of the latter may affect her decision to return to the big sport, there is no adequate replacement for Maria Sharapova today.

Alexander Metreveli is a famous critic of women's tennis, reminiscent of show business. He considers it rather primitive, inexpressive, not having a variety of arsenal. Watch the matches of girls outside the top ten boring and uninteresting. A fan of Roger Federer, he considers men's tennis to be fascinating in tough competition, where top players demonstrate excitement, fighting and unexpected combinations.

In one of the interviews, Metreveli said that after retirement he would be engaged in a garden. But given his enthusiasm for his favorite sport, it's somehow not very hard to believe.