Karen Khachanov

Karen Abgarovich Khachanov (russian: Каре́н Абга́рович Хача́нов; born 21 May 1996) is a Russian professional tennis player. Khachanov has won four ATP Tour singles titles, including a Masters 1000 title at the 2018 Paris Masters, claimed an Olympic silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and reached a major semifinal at the 2022 US Open. He achieved his career-high singles ranking of world No. 8 on 15 July 2019.

Early life and background

Khachanov started playing tennis at the age of three in kindergarten when his parents put him into the tennis group. His father Abgar, an Armenian from Yerevan, played volleyball before studying medicine, while his mother, Nataliya, a Russian, also studied medicine. Khachanov's maternal grandfather was also half Armenian. Despite having been born in Russia, Khachanov tweeted: "I always say that I have Armenian roots."

He has a sister and a brother. His idols growing up were Marat Safin and Juan Martín del Potro, and favourite sports teams are Real Madrid and the Miami Heat. He decided to become a professional player at 12.

After Khachanov turned 15, he moved to Split, Croatia, where he trained under Vedran Martić, Goran Ivanišević's former coach. Later, he moved to Barcelona and was coached by Galo Blanco.

Junior career

Khachanov won the Under-18 European Championship title in Switzerland in July 2013. Together with Andrey Rublev he won a silver medal in doubles at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics. They lost in the final to Brazilian players Orlando Luz and Marcelo Zormann.

Professional career

2013–15: Davis Cup debut, First Future & Challenger titles

Still as under 18, Khachanov made his ITF Circuit debut at the $15K event in Russia, losing his first match against compatriot Alexey Vatutin. In September of the following year, he got a wildcard for his first ATP Tour participation at the St. Petersburg Open. There he recorded his first win by defeating Victor Hanescu in the first round. He then faced Lukas Rosol, but lost in straight sets. A month later he got another wildcard, for the Kremlin Cup. Things got even better there, as he defeated Albert Ramos Vinolas and top 30 Janko Tipsarevic. In the next round he lost to Ivo Karlovic. The following week he made his debut for Russia at the Davis Cup, and at age 17 years and 157 days he became the youngest Russian tennis player in the pro series, surpassing Mikhail Youzhny. There, he defeated Dean O'Brien of South Africa to help Russia advance in the 2013 Davis Cup Europe/Africa Zone Group I. He finished the season by playing at the two Challengers, reaching the quarterfinal in Geneva and then the first round in Helsinki.

After a slow start at the Chennai Open and two lower-ITF tournaments, Khachanov then played at the Davis Cup. He lost to Jerzy Janowicz of Poland in the first round of the 2014 Davis Cup Europe/Africa Zone Group I. He then continued with no success at one ITF event and Challenger events in Kazakhstan. However, he then made his Masters debut, after receiving a wildcard entry to the 2014 Miami Open, but lost in the first round to Daniel Gimeno-Traver. In August, he achieved his first significant result, winning his first ITF title at the $15K event in Kaohsiung. Two weeks later, he won another ITF title at the $15K event in Mulhouse. For the second year in a row, he got a wildcard for the Kremlin Cup, but again lost in the first round.

Despite playing at a few ATP Tour events in previous years, in 2015 Khachanov played mostly at ITF and Challenger tournaments, with some success. In the first half of the year, he won two $10K/15K events in France, both in March. In April he reached the semifinal and won the title at the $15K events in Uzbekistan. After that came some good results at the Challengers. In June, he advanced to the quarterfinal in Fergana and then the semifinal in Marburg. His next step was Wimbledon, in his first Grand Slam qualification appearance. He lost in the first round of qualifications. Later, at the US Open, he also failed to qualify for the main draw, this time losing in the second round of qualifications. In mid-July, he faced Pablo Andujar in the second round of the 2015 Davis Cup Europe/Africa Zone Group I. He lost that match in three sets. In September 2015, Khachanov won his first ATP Challenger Tour title in Istanbul, where he was unseeded. In the final he defeated top seed Sergiy Stakhovsky. He followed up this performance and finished the year with four consecutive Challenger quarterfinals, in Mons, Rennes, Brest and Mouilleron-le-Captif.

2016: First ATP title, Grand Slam debut

Khachanov made progress during 2016, however bigger results came in the second half of the year. He had a slow start with only a first round at the Chennai Open and the final stage of Australian Open qualifications, as well as failing to reach the main draw at Open Sud de France and Open 13. His following matches were on the Challenger Tour, making it to the quarterfinal in Cherbourg and later the final of Jonkoping and the quarterfinal in Kazan. He then entered the qualifications for Monte Carlo as his first clay Masters 1000 appearance. He lost to Taro Daniel in the first round. The following week he qualified for the Barcelona Open