Nickname: The Beast

Max Mirnyi is a frightening sight for anyone. Standing at 6'5" (1.96m), weighing in at 200 pounds (90kg), and carrying the horror movie nickname, 'The Beast', you get the idea that this is not a man to mess with.

But those statistics do Mirnyi the human being, an injustice. As brutal as his first serve may be, 'The Beast' is an intelligent, sensitive 23-year-old, as his favorite movie 'The Shawshank Redemption' implies.

The film, which tells the story of a man wrongly imprisoned, seems to strike a chord with tennis players-Britain's Tim Henman also lists it as one of his favorites. "Movies that really bring some sort of message, there aren't too many of them," says Mirnyi. "So I think The Shawshank Redemption is a great movie of its kind."

Mirnyi also knows how to pick his sporting heroes. "Definitely, without a doubt it is Michael Jordan," says 'The Beast' from Belarus. "I watched most of his games when he played. I followed his career and I know his biography very well. When I first came to the States they [the Chicago Bulls] were playing in New York and I went to see his game in Madison Square Garden. I was amazed by his athleticism. He's definitely my greatest role model."

But Mirnyi has another role-model closer to home. "My dad was a volleyball player and he was a part of the national junior Olympic team at the age of 18," he says of Nikolai Mirnyi, who also doubles as his coach.

"From the very beginning when I started walking, he decided that he was going to dedicate most of his time to me, which I'm grateful for," says Max about his dad. "He's been my best friend for all these years and we have a great relationship. We talk about stuff that dads and sons wouldn't normally talk about. He tells me anything he thinks about and I share everything I have in my head with him, no hesitation, because he sees everything I'm going through in my life and I've seen what he's done with his life." As for the Max Mirnyi tennis life, things are looking good. He beat Greg Rusedski to reach the third round of Tennis Masters Series-Indian Wells earlier this year, currently stands 53rd in the ATP Champions Race 2000.