It has been a season full of twists and turns on the ITF Beach Tennis Tour in 2018, and, thanks to Nikita Burmakin, it is also a historic one.

On Monday, the Russian rose to the top spot in the ITF Beach Tennis rankings, becoming the first male non-Italian European to hold the world No. 1 spot.

Burmakin is one of just two non-Italians in the Top 10 in the rankings, with Italy dominating the beach tennis landscape over the last few years.

The Russian has had a sensational year which has seen him lift a staggering 18 titles in 2018. Towards the end of the season, Burmakin forged a dominating partnership with Italian Tommaso Giovannini, and together the pair lifted the $50,000 titles in Kazan and Oranjestad, the two most prestigious tournaments in the calendar in terms of prize money.

To fully appreciate just how successful Burmakin has been throughout this season, you just need to look at the breakdown of his titles. He has lifted a trophy in every month of this year, except September, and has won tournaments across six different prize money categories.

He was an integral part of Russia’s Beach Tennis World Team Championship side which finished in third place in Moscow in August, only losing one tie all week, to Italy.

Burmakin and Giovannini also finished as runners-up at the 2018 ITF Beach Tennis World Championships, while Burmakin also partnered compatriot Sergey Kuptsov the 2018 European Beach Tennis Championships final.

In this week’s rankings, Burmakin takes over the top spot from Luca Cramarossa, who falls to No. 5, Giovannini rises to world No. 2, and Spain’s Antomi Ramos jumps up one spot to world No. 3.

Stay tuned for an interview with Nikita coming up soon. 

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