Karen Khachanov is having a below-average season this year. While the Russian broke into the top ten of the ATP rankings in June, he is yet to win a title in 2019. The 23-year-old won three titles in 2018. The highlight was his victory at the ATP Masters 1000 Paris tournament. He defeated Novak Djokovic in the final in Paris, ending a 22-match winning streak by the Serbian. Despite his lack of titles in 2019, Khachanov has fared better in his personal life. He recently became a father after his wife Veronika Shkliaeva had their first child in September.
Who Karen and his wife met
Veronika and Khachanov have known each other since they were little kids. In a recent interview, the Russian revealed he has known her since he was eight years old. The Russian says that they also trained together at the same tennis club when they were 13. The two grew fond of each other and would chat non-stop. They started dating during their late teenage years. In 2016, Khachanov and Veronica got married. Karen was twenty years old at the time. His wife keeps a low profile and is not very active on social media.
Birth of son David
She occasionally goes to Khachanov’s matches to support him. However, she had been recently absent from the player’s box as she was pregnant with the couple’s first child. The couple welcomed their firstborn in September. In a post on Instagram, Khachanov revealed that Veronika had a baby boy. 23-year old later played at the St Petersburg Open a week after his son was born. At the tournament, he revealed they had named their son David.
The Russian player was recently in action at the Shanghai Masters. He lost in the round of 16 to Fabio Fognini. His compatriot, Daniil Medvedev, won the tournament, defeating Alexander Zverev in the final. Medvedev and Khachanov will represent their country in the Davis Cup finals in Madrid next month. In the meantime, Khachanov has said his focus is to finish the season well and try to win a singles title. He will play in the VTB Kremlin Cup in Moscow this week. The tournament has seen strong performances by Russian players. Since it began, Russian players have won the title 15 times. The world No.9 expects to do well at the tournament. After playing in Russia, he will turn his attention to Paris as he looks to defend the title.
Karen Khachanov’s ranking and performance in 2019
Ranked no.9, Khachanov played his last match on the 10th of October when he had to bow to Fabio Fognini 6-3 7-5 in the 3rd round in Shanghai.
Karen Khachanov’s best performance of this season was getting to the semi-finals in Beijing and Montreal.
Karen Khachanov |
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