The draw at Grand Slam tournaments is always unpredictable and sometimes merciless. It happens that in the first round you face players whose meeting you wanted to see a few stages later. This is exactly what happened at Wimbledon 2024, where one of the Russian tennis players – Karen Khachanov (racket number 21 in the world) or Aslan Karatsev (99) – will definitely end the fight in the opening match.
The last time the Russians met in the first round of the TBS was at the 2018 US Open, when Daniil Medvedev and Evgeny Donskoy met. The victory in that match was 7:5, 6:4, 6:2 for Daniil. Now, almost six years later, the Russian derby will be held at Wimbledon.
Khachanov and Karatsev, who were rivals in the first round of the British major, had previously met four times at ATP tournaments. The score of their match: 3-1 in favour of Karen. Three tennis matches were played on hard courts and one more, the last one, on grass: two years ago, in the first round of the “five hundred” in Halle, Khachanov defeated Karatsev in three sets (6:7, 6:1, 6:2).
In each match, at least in one set, the players reached a tie-break or a score of 7:5. That is why the battles between Karen and Aslan are never easy.
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As for the performances on grass, here Khachanov surpasses Karatsev. Last year, Karatsev missed the June-August part, but two seasons earlier, at Wimbledon 2021, he was able to reach the quarterfinals. In the fight for the semifinals, the Russian lost in a difficult five-set match to Denis Shapovalov (4:6, 6:3, 7:5, 1:6, 4:6).
Karatsev won his first victory on grass only in 2021, and at Wimbledon he reached the second round of the 2023 season and there he lost to Andrei Rublev (7-6, 3-6, 4-6, 5-7). Before last year’s British TBS, Aslan played in Stuttgart and Halle and won only one victory. It is important to note that both Karatsev and Khachanov have never reached the finals of tournaments on grass. Karen even reached the decisive stages only on strength.
Karen Khachanov, Aslan Karatsev, Daniil Medvedev, Andrei Rublev, Evgeniy Donskoy in preparation for the Davis Cup
Photo: from Karen Khachanov’s personal archive.
Khachanov’s successes this season are a little more impressive, but there is a clear explanation for this: Karatsev missed a lot due to injury. At the beginning of the season, in the first match in Brisbane, Aslan fell, injured his knee and then underwent surgery. The Russian was expected to need six months to recover, but at the end of April he competed at the Madrid Masters.
It was not easy for Aslan to fit into the season: during this time he dropped to the bottom of the top hundred of the rating and played only six matches, of which only one was a victory for Karatsev. Karen’s statistics on successful matches and losses look happier: 20-12.
Khachanov also recently missed tournaments due to injury. This happened last summer, during the period when Karatsev was dealing with a fracture of the sacrum. Now, a year later, the Russian feels fine and is playing, seemingly unconcerned about last year’s injury. Karatsev still needs time to get back to his former rhythm.
Karen and Aslan treat each other with respect off the court. Together, on the same team, they won the Davis Cup in 2021. But now they have to compete against each other for the first victory at this Wimbledon.
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The meeting between Khachanov and Karatsev is scheduled for today, July 2. Follow this and other matches from London on the “Championship”!
