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The 22-year-old Russian has for some time been
seen as one of the rising young talents of the sport but few
could have envisaged his demolition of the Serbian superstar,
who was on a three-month, 22-match winning streak.
Djokovic was expected to celebrate his return to world number
one on Monday with a record-extending fifth Paris title but he
went down in one hour 37 minutes amid a hail of 31 crushing
winners from the Muscovite's racket.
"To finish my season like this is a dream," Khachanov told the
crowd in the Bercy arena, explaining that Djokovic had always
been an inspiration to him.
He even took a leaf out of the Serb's book of celebrations by
bending down to kiss the Centre Court. "Maybe I'm not crying,
but still I'm really happy," he told reporters later.
Khachanov, a strapping 1.98-metre huge hitter with surprisingly
fleet movement around the court for such a big man, took
advantage of Djokovic being a little under the weather after a
week struggling with flu-like symptoms.
Yet even though the Serb admitted he had not recovered
physically after his epic three-hour win over Roger Federer in
Saturday's semi-final, he had nothing but praise for the
outstanding quality of Khachanov's attacking game.
"All credit to Karen, he did a great job today. He deserves the
trophy," Djokovic told the crowd.
Earning his fourth straight win over a top-10 player this week,
Khachanov, whose muscular game resembles that of his childhood
hero Marat Safin, a Russian three-times winner in Paris, picked
up the biggest title of his burgeoning career.
It was his third triumph of the year, all on indoor hard courts,
and will rocket Khachanov from 18th in the world to a
career-high 11th on Monday.
Even better news for a sport always on the lookout for the next
bright young thing to challenge the established order of
Djokovic, Federer and Rafa Nadal, Khachanov showed why he has
the weapons and temperament to offer them a real threat.
"I'm sure we'll see a lot of great games from him in the
future," conceded Djokovic.
What was most impressive about Khachanov's victory was the
manner in which he bullied Djokovic around the court with the
depth and booming accuracy of his groundstrokes and his
confidence in his ventures to the net.
The only previous time they had met, Djokovic crushed the
Russian in straight sets at Wimbledon and, briefly, it seemed as
if the same fate could await Khachanov again as he was
out-rallied to go 3-1 down in the opening set.
Instead, up against a great champion looking for a fourth
consecutive tournament win, following his victories at the
Cincinnati Masters, the U.S. Open and the Shanghai Masters, the
chess-loving Russian changed his strategy.
"After that, my intensity (changed), I stepped in more inside
the court, started to move him and maybe he didn't expect that,"
said Khachanov, who did not give up another break point in the
rest of the match with his pinpoint, heavy serving.
Constantly keeping the master of defence on the back foot, he
converted a decisive break point at 5-5 with an irretrievable
backhand at full stretch before taking the set in 57 minutes.
Then, with Djokovic clearly breathing harder, he earned the
decisive break to go 2-1 up in the second set after the Serbian
pushed a weary-looking backhand into the net.
Yet Djokovic did not sound too dismayed, saying he hoped to be
physically 100 percent for the ATP Tour finals which start in
London next Sunday.
"I'm going to be number one tomorrow, officially. What more can
I ask for? I mean, I had a most amazing last five months of the
year."
(Reporting by Ian Chadband; Editing by Toby Davis and Clare
Fallon)
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