Karen Khachanov is the champion of this year’s Kremlin Cup. The 22-year-old Muscovite defeated the Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 6:2, 6:2 in his home town on Sunday afternoon. It is Khachanov’s third success on the ATP World Tour, the second after Marseille this season.
By Florian Heer from Moscow
Two early breaks in each of the two sets made the difference in a fast endgame and Khachanov was able to raise the trophy after only 54 minutes playing time at the home Olimpiyskiy Stadium, which served as the venue for the 1980 Summer Games, boxing matches and basketball competition.
“I went into the game with confidence and played well. Of course that means a lot to me to win here”, Khachanov beamed in the following press conference. “It’s a dream come true for me. As a little boy I asked the players for autographs myself. Today’s experiences will always be remembered positively.”
Khachanov scored $152,785 in prize money and 250 ATP world ranking points for his latest success. On Monday, the young star will appear among the top 20 for the first time as the best placed Russian. Daniil Medvedev, whom Khachanov defeated in the semi-final on his way to the title, reaches a personal career high with 20th place.
“This shows me a positive development and that I can continue to improve,” Khachanov says. “The next few hours I will celebrate a little with friends and my family before I go to Vienna tomorrow afternoon. There again everything starts from zero.”
Over 80,000 spectators came to the arena in the last nine days and were not disappointed by their local heroes. Khachanov is the first Russian since Mikhail Youzhny 2009 to triumph in the men’s singles. On Saturday, Daria Kasatkina already achieved a success for the home nation in the women’s competition.
Already in the early afternoon Philipp Oswald, defending champion in the double competition in Moscow, had reached the final again. But this year the 32-year-old Austrian was defeated by the US-American duo Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram at the side of the Belarusian old champion Max Mirnyi with 6:7 (4), 4:6.
“In the end, only one or two points made the difference,” said Oswald after the final, which lasted 1 hour and 17 minutes. “We had a break point in the first set, which unfortunately we couldn’t use and then we went into the tiebreak. The match was dominated by four strong serve players and you get few chances.”
Exactly one year ago Mirnyi and Oswald had won their first joint title at the Kremlin Cup. Since then, two more have been added in Houston and New York.
“We had a great partnership,” said the four-time ATP double champion. “This was our last tournament. Max has left his future open. Maybe he’ll quit, maybe he’ll be a professor for another year. But he already told me after the US Open that I should look for a new partner. I am grateful for the time I have learned so much.”
Immediately after the final, Oswald headed back to Austria, where the home tournament will take place next week together with Jürgen Melzer in the Vienna Stadthalle. In the Russian capital, the two Austrians met as opponents in the second round. Now is the time to join forces.
“We’ve already played well together in the Davis Cup. Of course we hope to create a small sensation in front of our home audience,” Oswald says confidently.
The single draw from Moscow