Potanin, Andrey Nikolaevich

Andrei Potanin started playing tennis at the age of six; his first coach was his mother - V. Bulysova. In the future, Andrei trained with such trainers as A. Bulysov, O. Tsaune , I. Panasevich, E. Negrebetskiy . In 1954 he became the champion of the USSR among young men in singles, further confirming this title until 1957 (in 1954-1956 he also won the junior championship of the USSR in doubles); in 1956 received the title of master of sports of the USSR ^[2] .

In 1958, Potanin, along with Anna Dmitrieva, became the first Soviet tennis player to compete in the Wimbledon tournament : in the men's singles competition, he reached the quarter-finals (the next year he played in the adult tournament at Wimbledon the only time he left the fight in the first round ^{[ 3]} ). In 1958, Potanin also became the champion of the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions in singles, adding to this title a victory in pairs two years later. In 1962, he won the USSR championship in singles, following the results of the year he headed the top ten tennis players of the USSR, and in total he entered it annually from 1957 to 1965. From 1957 to 1966, he won the title of champion of Leningrad 12 times in various categories, including 7 times in singles; in 1967 he won the Leningrad Spartakiad in the singles and men's doubles (in 1963 - the champion in mixed doubles) ^[2] .

Potanin’s playing style was characterized by a persistent game from the back line, the Leningrad master preferred long ball rallies, during which he tried to determine the opponent’s weak spot, changing the depth and direction of the blows and twisting the ball ^[2] . During this period, a similar playing style (which Potanin himself later called “Spanish”) was considered unacceptable by the leadership of Soviet tennis, and as a result of Potanin they were not included in the USSR national team ^[4] and limited their ability to play abroad. As a result, Potanin completed his speeches early, graduating from Leningrad University in 1963, and in 1970 becoming a candidate of physical and mathematical sciences ^[2] ; worked at the Leningrad Hydrometeorological Institute ^[1] . In the 1970s, he trained in Sweden, where he participated in team tournaments as part of the university team ^[2] . In 1992, working at Uppsala University , became the champion of Sweden among veterans ^[1] .

Upon returning to his hometown, Potanin began teaching tennis, creating his own section. In the future, he trained for many years in Zelenogorsk . His wife also worked as a coach. Son, Andrei - physicist, daughter, Irina Komarova - master of sports in tennis, was the head coach of the Olympic Reserve School of the St. Petersburg Palace of Youth Creativity ^[1] . In 2010, the name of Andrei Potanin was included in the lists of the Russian Tennis Hall of Fame ^[4] .

• Boris Fomenko. Potanin Andrey Nikolaevich // Russian tennis. Encyclopedia. - M. , 1999.