Russia’s Karen Khachanov believes his fairytale run to the Paris Masters title was aided by lessons he learnt from playing the top players in the world earlier this year.
The 22-year-old won his biggest title on Sunday at the AccorHotels Arena after stunning Novak Djokovic in straight sets. Khachanov produced an impressive all round game against his lacklustre opponent, who appeared to be suffering from the effects of his epic three-hour win over Roger Federer in the semi-finals. During the match, he managed to produce 31 winners to 27 unforced errors and broke the 14-time grand slam champion three times.
“One thing that with Novak you cannot just go to the net because he has unbelievable passing shots,” Khachanov said during his press conference. “You have to really prepare your coming through. You have to really sort out the right shots when you can step in and go to the net.
“So of course, the best scenario if I’m hitting left-right and I’m coming to the net with a shorter ball, sometimes it was not possible, but sometimes I did it really well. But in general, my game is aggressive and I have to try to step in more and to play the way I played, actually.”
Djokovic is one of a quartet of top 10 players that was knocked out of the tournament by Khachanov. He has also managed to score consecutive wins against John Isner, Alexander Zverev and Dominic Thiem. Prior to Paris, he had only ever defeated three top 10 players in his career and none of those were back-to-back wins.
Becoming the first Russian to win as Masters title since Nikolay Davydenko at the 2009 Shanghai Open, the world No.18 says he has been ‘pushed’ to work harder on the tour by his rivals. One of the biggest learning lessons for him this year occur at the US Open. Where he was knocked out in four tight sets by Rafael Nadal in the third round.
“I’m happy with the way I’m playing. Match by match I was increasing my level. I think that’s what I showed against all the top 10 guys. Today was Novak, the one who is No. 1 in the world.” He said.
“After some tough losses against top guys like Rafa in New York, I think they push me to the limit and even to work harder.
“I saw that my level is there. I could play and compete on this level. So it was a matter of just a few points.”
Despite his breakthrough, the rising star admits that he still has more to learn in the future. Especially when it comes to living up to expectations and praise he receives. The latest being from Djokovic, who described Khachanov as an ‘an established player and a top player.’
“I don’t mind about this attention. You have to deal with the pressure always I think on every stage.” Khachanov explained. “If you think about top guys, how they are doing when they go on court. For example, Novak went on the court with me, he’s the favourite still and you have to deal with this pressure. And in most of the situations and matches, they deal with it.”
“It’s a homework that I have to do. And with experience I think it will come.” He added.
Khachanov is the lowest ranked player to win a Masters title since No.26 Ivan Ljubicic in Indian Wells in 2010. He ends the 2018 at a ranking high of 11th in the world.
From #NextGenATP to @RolexPMasters champion 🏆
WHAT a year for @karenkhachanov 👊 pic.twitter.com/qshwoThxH4
— ATP World Tour (@ATPWorldTour) 4 November 2018
