Karen Khachanov: My goals are big and I can achieve them

Russian tennis star Karen Khachanov insisted he knew it would not be easy against Briton Cameron Norrie in the Toronto Masters first round. 

Khachanov, ranked at No. 29 in the world, beat recent Los Cabos champion Norrie 6-4 5-7 6-4 to reach the Toronto Masters. 

Norrie claimed his first break of the match in the 12th game of the second set to force a decider. 

After losing the second set, Khachanov started the third set with a break and held on to his serve the rest of the way to book a three-set win. 

"I knew that it would be a tough one because both of us right now are on the rise, playing good tennis, so I was expecting a difficult match,” Khachanov said, “It was a battle. I’m really pleased that I could deliver this result today.”

Khachanov wants to return to the top-10

"I want to keep going, keep having this momentum and try to improve and hopefully go higher,” Khachanov said, “I was in the Top 10 and this is where I want to go back to and I see myself in there. This is the goal right now. I am now more focusing on the things I need to do rather than the outcome. My goals are pretty big and hopefully I can achieve them.”

Khachanov enjoyed success at the Tokyo Olympics as he made the final before losing to Alexander Zverev.

"He played from the beginning to the end an unbelievable match," Khachanov admitted, per the ITF website. "I also played an outstanding match from my point of view, but he was just better today - all credit to him. For me, the Olympics stands alongside as the Grand Slams, that’s why I trained for this as soon as Wimbledon was over. I was dreaming of gold, but I’ll give it a try at the next Olympics."

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3iAxULe