Mikhail Youzhny’s wife Yulia passes away following long battle with illness

Mikhail Youzhny’s wife Yulia reportedly passed away in Dubai last week following a long illness, per Cindy Shmerler of The New York Times and ESPN. 

Youzhny, 46, married his wife Yulia on November 22nd, 2008, in Moscow. The following year, Youzhny and Yulia became parents after welcoming their son Maxim. In 2012, Youzhny and his wife became parents for the second time after their son Igor was born.

Youzhny, a former nine-time ATP champion and a former world No. 8, retired from pro tennis in 2018. After his retirement, Youzhny and his wife welcomed their third child when their first daughter was born. 

Mikhail Youzhny and his kids© Mikhail Youzhny – Instagram

Over the last few years, Yulia battled a serious illness and sadly lost her battle at the start of this year. 

Sad news from the tennis world. Former world No. 1 doubles player Max Mirnyi from Belarus had surgery for a malignant brain tumor and is recuperating in Florida. And two-time U.S. Open semifinalist Mikhail Youzhny’s wife Yulia died last week in Dubai following a long illness.

— cindy shmerler (@shmerlsc) January 17, 2024

How has Youzhny’s life looked since retiring from pro tennis?

After retiring from pro tennis in late 2018, Youzhny stayed associated with the game, having agreed to start working with Denis Shapovalov in 2019 August. Youzhny’s first coaching gig on the ATP Tour ended up being a long and successful one as he worked with the Canadian until the end of the 2021 season. During his time with Shapovalov, Youzhny led the Canadian to his first Wimbledon semifinal in 2021 and a top-10 ranking.

Mikhail Youzhny© Getty Images Sport – Kevin C. Cox

In a recent interview from late December, Youzhny revealed that lately he has been working with a young Russian player who is making his first moves on the ITF level. Also, Youzhny revealed that Cristian Garin offered him a job, but he politely rejected it because he didn’t have time to travel with the Chilean.

“He doesn’t have an ATP point yet, so it’s a different challenge. If we get to the Grand Slam qualifiers, it’s going to be a big win for us already, since we started almost from zero,” Youzhny recently told Tennis Majors.

“Cristian asked me to work with him, but I don’t have time now. I told him that we could practice together a little bit and perhaps be at a few tournaments, but I am not sure.”