Karen Khachanov: I would like to be first of the NextGen to win a slam

World No.17 and rising Russian star Karen Khachanov recently spoke ahead of the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament about the prospects of the next gen and what his aspirations are.

“Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Andrey Rublev, Denis Shapovalov and I could all six dominate tennis in the future. However, I cannot say who will be number one, two or three in the future. For the moment, I feel that I am not far from the summit. It all depends on my state of mind, if I believe in myself enough and push myself enough. I think I can reach that level soon,” said Khachanov.

Interestingly, the Russian did not mention the likes of Nick Kyrgios and recent Australian Open Runner Up Dominic Thiem as a part of that list.

He further added, “I would like to be the first of the young people to win a Grand Slam. Everyone among the younger generation plays at a high level and I have a lot of respect for them all. We all have a similar level and it's hard to say who will be the first to get there. It could be anyone and it is difficult to bet on someone in particular.”

Out of the all the nextgen players, only Thiem and Medvedev have played in a Grand Slam finals. The Russian reached the final of the 2019 US Open while the Austrian played two finals at Roland Garros along with the Australian Open last month.

Khachanov has been ranked as high as No.8 on the ATP charts and has 4 titles to his name, including the Paris Masters, which he won by taking out Novak Djokovic in 2018.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2UKDBuD