Russian Next Gen player Karen Khachanov has split with his Spanish coach Galo Blanco but continues training in Barcelona under the guidance of 50-year-old Croatian coach Vedran Martic.
Khachanov returned to his first coach, who guided him at the start of his career. Martic worked with his compatriot Goran Ivanisevic.
Khachanov started playing tennis at kindergarten at the age of three when his parents put him in the tennis group. His father Abgar played volleyball at a high level before studying medicine. His mother Natalia studied medicine. Karen’s idols were Marat Safin and Juan Martin Del Potro. He has been compared to Marat Safin.
Karen attended the Sozvedzie secondary school in Moscow and is nearing graduation from the University of Physical Education in Moscow.
Karen beat Albert Ramos Vinolas to lift the 2016 Chengdu title in October 2016 becoming the first Russian player to win a ATP World Tour tournament since Mikhail Youzhny won in Valencia in 2013. He was the third Next Gen player after Nick Kyrgios and Alexander Zverev to win an ATP title in 2016.
During the 2017 season Khachanov reached the second round at the Australian Open where he lost to Jack Soc.
He went on to reach the fourth round at Roland Garros, where he beat Tomas Berdych and John Isner before losing to Andy Murray. On clay he also qualified for the quarter finals in Barcelona, Bastad, Lyon and Hamburg.
On the grass court he got through to the semifinal in Halle where he was defeated by eventual champion Roger Federer and to the third round at Wimbledon before losing against Rafael Nadal in straight sets. He qualified for the inaugural edition of the ATP Next Gen Finals in Milan but he did not advance from the round robin group.
He also played basketball at national level at the high school. At the age of 15 he left Russia to train with Martic in the Croatian city of Split. The 21-year-old Russian player has been based in Barcelona for the past four years to train under the guidance of Galo Blanco, the former coach of Milos Raonic.
Khachanov will open his 2018 season at the Hopman Cup in Perth, where he teams up with Anastasya Pavlyuchenkova.