Russian tennis player Evgeny Donskoy spoke about his game this season, and also commented on the defeat from the Dutchman Botik Van de Sandschulp at the tournament in St. Petersburg.
– Of course, the season is not developing in a superb way. In general, the match was normal. Lost to a good opponent. Normal mood. Psychologically, there was a failure after the pandemic. It was hard to get out of the pit. We can say that I have not yet come out of it . But my game has gotten better. I started working with a new coach. We are working hard and it should bear some fruit.
It seems to me that it will be even more pleasant for Karatsev to perform in St. Petersburg. But this is my opinion. He has not lost a single set, which means he is physically in order. Perhaps the victory in the Kremlin Cup had an even greater effect, so here he became an even bigger favorite.
Khachanov is not having such a bad season, if you think so. He is in the top thirty, did not fall over 50 or even over 30. Now he is in 27-28th place, he plays great. It seems to me that Karen was the toughest opponent for Karatsev. They played smoothly. The first set decided everything. Karen works. I think everything is still ahead. The end of the year is coming soon. He plays well in Paris. Perhaps now he will still gain points and will not stand 27th.
Everyone loves to come to St. Petersburg, they've heard about the cool tournament. I love the city, the organization of the tournament. Here, the management does everything for the players to be comfortable and so that tennis players, coming here, would like to return. There are not many such tournaments. I understand them also because it is not so easy to make a cool tournament in the hall , ”Donskoy said on the air of the“ All for the Match! ”Program.
The ATP St. Petersburg Open tournament runs from 25 to 31 October. Donskoy was unable to reach the main draw, losing in three games in qualifying to Botik Van de Sandshulp (7: 5, 3: 6, 2: 6).