Karen Khachanov is set to make their break into the top 10 after a very successful season, in which he reached his career high of world number 11.
Khachanov had never reached the top 30 going into the summer hard-court season before qualifying for his first ATP Masters 1000 semifinal at the Canadian Open before losing to Rafael Nadal in the semifinal. The Russian 22-year-old player beat four top 10 players John Isner, Alexander Zverev, Dominic Thiem and Novak Djokovic en route to winning his maiden Masters 1000 title in Paris Bercy. In the third round he saved two match points against John Isner. He has become the first Russian player since 2009 to win an ATP Masters 1000 title since Nikolay Davydenko in Shanghai 2009.
He won two ATP 250 titles in Marseille and Moscow (where he become the first Russian player to win the Kremlin Cup since Mikhail Youzhny in 2009).
At Grand Slam level Khachanov won two five-set matches against Mrcos Baghdatis and Frances Tiafoe to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon before losing to eventual winner Novak Djokovic. At Roland Garros he reached the fourth round for the second consecutive year. In the French capital he lost to Alexander Zverev after leading 2 sets to 1. The young Russian player lost to eventual semifinalist Rafa Nadal in four sets in the third round after 4 hours and 23 minutes.
“After some tough losses against top guys, like against Rafa Nadal in New York, who pushed me to the limit and made me want to work even harder, I saw that my level was there, and I could play and compete on this level. It was a matter of just a few points. I knew if I kept doing what I was doing, it would turn around. I was really believing in this, and that’s what happened”, said Khachanov.
Khachanov is just 320 points behind world number 10 John Isner and has a chance to break into the top 10 at the start of the 2019 season, as he has just 135 points to defend until February.
“I have to continue working in the same way. It’s not like I will do something completely different. If I am world number 11 this year, I have to do the same or even better to go higher next year”.
