Russian tennis player Karen Khachanov spoke about how he spends time with his son on a tight schedule and tries to show his coaches Russian cities, as well as his dream of winning the Davis Cup.
– Which of your relatives did you manage to take with you to St. Petersburg?
– I am always glad to come to St. Petersburg, this is really one of the best tournaments – pleasant organization and meetings always. I came with my wife, son, coaches, and my sister will drive up on Wednesday. Due to restrictions, the whole family will probably not be able to come. Although, if I go further, maybe they will come, but for now such a plan.
– Given the constant traveling, how do you manage to monitor the growth and development of your son?
– I track it by video. We call each other every day when they are not with me. Again, I manage to come to some tournaments together. We want and plan for this, but with the same restrictions, we have not quite succeeded yet. On the other hand, that year in quarantine it turned out to be almost five months together when the tournaments were suspended. And from that moment, yes, I travel a lot, our schedule is very intense, very busy. We try to look for positive moments, we communicate the way we can.
– In what area does your son already have interests?
– He is a very active guy, energy car. Large, healthy. Let's see if he likes sports, will do some sports. It's too early to say, he was only two years old, but he already looks four or five.
– Have you given him a small racket?
– Small – no, but he already managed to lift mine and even hit it a couple of times, to which I was a little surprised.
– Do you have some places of power in each city where you play, against which you need to be imprinted, or are the photos that you post on Instagram random?
– No, there is no such plan. Even ordinary photographs are not so many. When I manage to take a walk and just have a spontaneous desire to be photographed in a beautiful place, I do it. And in Moscow there is a photo against the background of St. Basil's Cathedral – because after the tournament the next day I wanted to show the city to my coaches a little. We had a Sunday brunch at Doctor Zhivago across from Red Square and then we just took a walk, so we took a picture there.
– What are their impressions?
– They, of course, did not see a lot of things, but Moscow is a very beautiful city, at least they managed to see something, maybe. My physiotherapist runs a lot – he ran around Moscow on some days. He also really likes St. Petersburg. They are especially delighted with the night Peter. So far, they like Russia, so they come.
– Let's finish with the tennis question. The composition of the Russian national team for the Davis Cup has been announced. Tarpishchev announced that Safiullin will join your squad so that you can play sparring peacefully …
– Maybe I didn't even know. The composition that is announced is the strongest. The guys and I have always dreamed of winning the Davis Cup with such a squad. We went to this, played all the play-offs and qualifying matches and now we got to the final part of the modified Davis Cup. This tournament has always been a priority, I always wanted to come, even at the end of the year. I think everyone is ready. The main thing is to avoid injuries. Everyone will come deservedly, the team we want to be.
Recall that at the St. Petersburg Open Khachanov will play the first match against Adrian Mannarino. Earlier, in doubles, the tennis player, together with Andrei Rublev, reached the quarterfinals of the tournament.
- Karen Khachanov: “Mannarino is a very unpleasant opponent. I will try to fight “