Maxim “Max” Filippov is no stranger to tennis championships. Throughout his 20-plus-year career, Max has played and coached the best. After an injury sidelined Max, he turned his tennis skills to coaching.
It all began in his sixteenth year when he returned to Kazakhstan and quickly ranked number three in the nation. In the same year that Max was a semi-finalist in the All-National Professional Open Event, he won the Under 18 National Singles and Doubles Titles. That year was the first time Max considered turning professional. Unfortunately, Max suffered a knee injury after moving to Spain to begin his first season on the professional tour.
In 2009, Max graduated from Kazakh Sports and Tourism University with a Bachelor’s in Coaching, specializing in Tennis. He quickly found a position as a personal tennis coach at the RUTEN Tennis Academy in Prague. He met his wife, Ksenia Lykina, at the World Universiade in Belgrade, Serbia, where he represented Kazakhstan and she represented Russia. They got married in 2010 and started working professionally at the end of 2011.
During this time, Max partnered with Lykina to complete her post-injury return. With his help, Lykina achieved a WTA ranking of 231 in Singles and 199 in Doubles by April 2013. The vast improvement from her previous ranking, 409 in 2009, was one of many coaching achievements Max had at the beginning of his coaching career.
The passion a player has for tennis can truly only be matched by the passion of their coach. Max has passion, undeniable passion. After returning to Kazan, Russia in 2014 with his now-wife Lykina, Max poured himself into coaching. He pushed and pushed to be allowed to coach Lykina when they returned to Russia, and to that end, he began working with the State Women’s National Team. While with the National Team, Max coached players in the US Open 2016 and 2017 Qualification games, the French Open 2017 and the Australian Open 2017, where his player reached the second qualification round, and a Doubles quarterfinalist for the WTA in 2017. His students also took prizes at other international WTA events.
Max’s true calling, however, is coaching high-performance juniors. Currently working at the Atlantic Club in New Jersey, Max has coached players of all ages and abilities. In 2021, Max worked with Kim Clijsters, a former professional player from Belgium holding #1 world rankings in Singles and Doubles back in 2003.
Max pursued certifications, specifically the Professional Tennis Registry (PTR) in Adult Development and Juniors 11-17 and the Global Professional Tennis Coach Association (GPTCA) C-Level. He also achieved MOT (Master of Tennis) Junior development by PTR. Max was awarded Sports Master by the National Sports Department of Kazakhstan and Coach of the Year “Florey Award” by WTCA in 2019.
Max has a passion for tennis and is dedicated to coaching. He now coaches Juniors whom he pushes to excel. And thanks to his resilient spirit and dedication to tennis, they can excel.
About the Author
Levi Baker is a sports writer and a self-proclaimed tennis fanatic. He writes about sports but holds a special place in his heart for all stories of tennis.
