Khachanov: “Before, the Big Four were above the rest, today it’s different”

Karen Khachanov believes that although Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner are ahead of the pack, the gap between the top players and the rest is not the same as it used to be

Karen Khachanov at the Rolex Paris Masters (Chryslene Caillaud/Panoramic)

Jérémy Baudu

February 25, 2024

Karen Khachanov has gone from strength to strength at the start of the 2024 season, winning the title in Doha on Saturday. After reaching the last 16 at the Australian Open and then the semi-finals at the Open 13 in Marseille, the Russian clinched the sixth title of his career in Doha, beating 18-year-old phenom Jakub Mensik in the final.

Since 2018, when he won his first (and only to date) Masters 1000 title in Paris, beating Novak Djokovic in the final, Khachanov has been a regular member of the Top 20, often doing well but never quite a Grand Slam winner.

In an interview with L’Equipe newspaper during the Marseille tournament, published this Saturday after his title in Doha, the 27-year-old Russian spoke of the difficulty of triumphing at the highest level with the presence of the Big 4 – Djokovic, Nadal, Federer and Murray. But he feels there’s more room to make a big splash on the current circuit, even if he puts Alcaraz and Sinner above the rest.

“Before, the Big Four, with Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray, was above the rest. There was a big difference in terms of level. Now, I have the feeling that…Alcaraz and Sinner are ahead, yes, but not that much. That’s my feeling. It’s going to get more and more interesting to see who’s going to dominate. Even though, OK, Novak is still playing,” he laughed.

KHACHANOV WANTS TO WIN A GRAND SLAM TOURNAMENT

From his victorious run at the Rolex Paris Masters in 2018 until the US Open 2022, Khachanov had been a bit of an under-achiever at the highest level, reaching the Grand Slam quarter-finals only once, at Roland Garros in 2019.

But over the past two years, the Russian has shown that he has made good progress with two consecutive Grand Slam semi-finals, at the US Open in 2022 and the Australian Open in 2023. Khachanov’s main goal and biggest dream is still to one day win one of the world’s four biggest tournaments.

“You want to win everything, of course, but I’m trying to be a big-match, big-tournament player. That’s when you have to be physically present, even if I don’t think I’m at 100% of my physical capacity yet. You have to be able to hold out for a long time, I know that even if I’m behind I can come back and that helps me.”

“My opponents know that to beat me they’ll have to play three very good sets. I haven’t won any Grand Slam tournaments; yet in the semi-finals or quarters, I’ve only lost to very good players, which shows that I’m there, very close. And my goal remains the same: to try and win a Grand Slam title.”