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Marat Safin may be his successor to Bercy. Triple winner of the tournament and long-time co-record holder of the tournament with Boris Becker, before Novak Djokovic dethrone in 2015, the fiery Muscovite can finally count on a compatriot as comfortable as him on the courts of Bercy. This compatriot, his name is Karen Khachanov. Winner of Alexander Zverev in the quarterfinals on Friday, a net success and without blunder in two rounds (6-1, 6-2), the 22-year-old may have won his ticket to fame in front of the Parisian public. On Saturday, he will have the opportunity to qualify for his first Masters 1000 final against Austria's Dominic Thiem. Yes, it's a trap game, but it will not have to face a regular of the places to know a member of the "Big Four". This was the case in August when he played his first semifinal in M1000 in Canada against Rafael Nadal, future winner of the tournament.
Not always very talkative and not inclined to confidences, Khachanov did not revolutionize the history of the press conference after his success against his friend Zverev, he had already met at Roland Garros earlier in the season. "I take full advantage of playing a very good tennis right now", he acknowledged after his first success against a member of the Top 5 a few weeks after offering a great resistance to Nadal in the 3rd round of the US Open. "It's been going on for months now, I'm playing confidently right now, I did not expect to win on that score, but I've been solid from start to finish and I've implemented the plan with my coach. to survive yesterday's match (against John Isner, against whom he saved two match points, ed) gave me a boost of confidence."
Video – Marathon, twists, dantesque points: This Nadal – Khachanov regaled Flushing
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Spanish training like Safin
This half Parisian comes mainly to confirm something that one sensed: its ascent is just beginning. And she will bring it to a certain height because the Russian has put all the ingredients to succeed. He will be at worst 13th in the ATP rankings next Monday, at best 11th in case of final success. Ranked 18th on Monday, his best ranking so far, he started the year 2018 in 45th place after having experienced a second part of the 2017 season very irregular where the break occurred after Cincinnati. A few weeks earlier, he had played his first second week in Grand Slam at Roland Garros. A little wink in 2018, he lived the same seesaw but with a totally opposite trajectory: an eighth Porte d'Auteuil, his favorite Grand Slam, then a rocker during the North American tour. This Canadian half put him on rails. This season, his record has increased two titles, in Marseille in February, and at home in Moscow in October. Signs that do not lie on his motivation to go even higher.
Hard worker, Khachanov found the perfect balance to raise his level of play continuously since his visit to professionals. His career is like a long climb of stairs: it's simple and structured. From the ITF circuit to his career with the big boys in 2013. Like Safin, his idol of childhood, precursor of the exodus of Russian players out of the country, he flew to Barcelona to improve and surround himself to succeed at the high level. It is alongside Galo Blanco, with whom he worked from 2013 to the end of 2017, that he took the first steps towards the summits. "Karen has incredible potential and I think he has not quite realized how high he was. He worked very hard to achieve great performances. And we're not just talking about playing in a Grand Slam quarterfinal", said the former mentor Milos Raonic, he led the doors of the Top 10 ATP between 2010 and 2013, about his former protégé at Roland Garros 2017, the second big turning in the career of the Russian after his first ATP title won at the end of 2016 in Chengdu France and Paris, it succeeds.
Khachanov, a brilliant all-rounder
This animal that hides in Khachanov, all Bercy could see during the week. Very powerful, sometimes brutal when he triggers his strikes, the right-hander has a complete technical panoply for a baseline player. And especially weapons to get the points. Reversed with two precise and heavy hands that offers him a lot of control, forehand club – he excels in crossed pbading on this side – big service, everything exudes power in the Muscovite. A power he had to learn to control. "There are times when he wants to go too fast. But when he plays well he can do what he wants, but he can not succeed by burning the steps", explained Blanco on a purely technical level.
In 2018, he perfected his service alongside his first coach, Croatian Vedran Martic, known to have accompanied Goran Ivanisevic from 1996 to 2000 (with five finals played at Wimbledon), and Younes El Aynaoui. Martic is the mentor, the guide. Khachanov left home at 15 to follow him to Split. The transition to Barcelona took place afterwards. This first start is the small plus of Khachanov, meticulous and open to change. His young compatriots – Andrey Rublev (in Barcelona) and Daniil Medvedev (in France) – have also chosen the exodus to succeed. With them, Russian tennis is being reborn … but not totally. Because it is by looking elsewhere that they succeeded.
Before opting for tennis, Khachanov, a rather handsome jack-of-all-tradesman, engaged in diametrically opposed activities: studies in sports science, high-level basketball until the age of 15, and a strong ability to play chess, a specialty in Russia. "When I was 11-12, I was taking chess lessons. So I like to play chess during my free time, it's one of my hobbies. I think it can help to win. Even though I never really thought about it"As is often the case with champions, it is within a very sporting family that he grew up and developed his father, a former professional volleyball player (before turning to medical studies), and his mother, accomplished sportsman, sent him to tennis at the age of 3. A sport that he practiced more than others and that won his heart.
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