By Allen St. John
From the July / August 2001 issue of TENNIS.

Belarussian buddies Max Mirnyi and Vladimir Voltchkov didn't grow up on grass, but they sure can play on it.

There are no grass courts in Belarus -- at least not real ones. "Maybe three, four years ago we had some synthetic grass courts put up at our club in Minsk," says Max Mirnyi, who cracked the ATP Top 50 in singles last year. "They're like you see miniature golf courses made of, except filled with sand to give you a little bit of friction and a similar sensation of being a little bit unbalanced, like grass.

"Despite their turf-deprived upbringings, Mirnyi, 24, and his countryman Vladimir Voltchkov, 23, figure to be two of Wimbledon's most entertaining performers this year. Mirnyi, who won the 1998 mixed-doubles championship with Serena Williams, is one of the few dedicated serve-and-volleyers on tour. And Voltchkov last year became the first male qualifier since John McEnroe to advance to the semifinals.

Mirnyi and Voltchkov grew up together, learned the game at the same tennis club, and live only 100 yards apart in Minsk. They even shared a flat in London last year with their fathers (both named Nikolai).

"We value each other," says Voltchkov, "because we know the pride of the tennis in our country is on our shoulders.

"When asked about the inspirations for his aggressive game, the 6-foot-5 Mirnyi rattles off a Who's Who of grass-court tennis: McEnroe, Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg, Pete Sampras. "I like this type of tennis," he says. "Take it to an opponent and see how he responds.

"While he's primarily a ground-stroker, Voltchkov likes Wimbledon's low bounces and overall vibe. "Some places you just feel comfortable. You like the atmosphere, you like the way it looks around you," he says. "For me, England is the place.

"Voltchkov, whose entry-system ranking jumped from 170 in 1999 to 25 this spring, likes to keep last year's Wimbledon run in perspective. He was fine with being dubbed "Vladiator" by the British press (after seeing Gladiator four times during the fortnight for inspiration), but says his first trip to Centre Court was anticlimactic: "It's just another tennis match with a lot of people around."

As a teenager, economic troubles in Belarus forced Voltchkov to move to Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, where he trained with Sergei Leonjuk, a former pro from Russia. "It was very difficult years in Russia and Belarus," he says. "We barely had anything to eat.

"But these days, life is good for the two young Belarussians. And with their fathers cooking them heaping portions of pasta and draniki (potato pancakes with sour cream), neither hard-hitting, big-eating son will go hungry during Wimbledon. They will, however, book a little more living space this time around.