Olympia 2020: Karen Khachanov first finalist in Tokyo
Karen Khachanov became the first player to reach the final of the Olympic tennis tournament in Tokyo. The Russian defeated Pablo Carreno Busta in straight sets.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Jul 30, 2021, 09:37 am
It comes as no surprise that a Russian would play for individual Olympic gold in Tokyo. Rather the fact that this is neither Daniil Medvedev nor Andrey Rublev . The latter had already said goodbye to Kei Nishikori in round one. Medvedev was knocked out against Pablo Carreno Busta in the quarterfinals on Thursday. But he could not withstand the pressure from Karen Khachanov in the first semifinals: Khachanov won 6: 3 and 6.3 and has already secured a medal. In the final it's either against Novak Djokovic or Alexander Zverev .
In the current world rankings, Khachanov is only the fourth-best player from Russia as number 25, but has recently shown increasing form: The 25-year-old reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon, where he lost to Denis Shapovalov after five hard sets. After he also had to cover the full distance against Sebastian Korda in the previous round.
Carreno Busta, on the other hand, won the tournaments in Marbella and Hamburg in 2021 - but had no chance against Khachanov in Tokyo. The Spaniard still has the game for third place. The opponent in the battle for bronze will be tough.
By the way, the representatives of the ROC still have a medal chance in mixed doubles: There Andrey Rublev with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Aslan Karatsev with Elena Vesnina reached the semifinals. One precious metal has already been determined, a double strike is possible.