MOSCOW, April 11. /TASS/. /TASS/. Russian tennis player Karen Khachanov advanced to the quarterfinals round of the 2024 ATP Masters in Monte Carlo after defeating compatriot Daniil Medvedev in Round 3 of the tournament on Thursday.
Khachanov, seeded-15th at the tournament, defeated Russia’s top racquet Medvedev in straight sets 6-3; 7-5, and he is now set to face off in the quarterfinals against the winner of a match between Germany’s 5th-seed Alexander Zverev and 12th-seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece.
"I lost a couple of tight matches to him on hard courts," the official ATP website quoted Khachanov as saying after his win over Medvedev. "On clay I have not got a title yet but I have good results on clay. Roland Garros two-time quarter-finals."
"Always winning matches but not winning the tournament," he continued. "In a way I think overall my results on clay are better than his maybe and mentally he said many times he does not like to play on it."
"That gives me extra confidence and maybe on clay the game is a little bit different," Khachanov stated. "I mean it is different and that is the way I tried to approach today. I tried to spin more and move him outside the line. A few differences between hard courts and clay courts."
Speaking about his upcoming quarterfinals stage game, Khachanov said: "First thing is to be consistent. I think lately my results have been better and better."
"Then to think how to beat the top guys and be at the top. These are the things that we have to keep in mind and keep working on," according to him.
"The win today gives extra confidence in my pocket to continue this tournament and to step into the clay swing," Khachanov added.
Khachanov, 27, who is currently 17th in the ATP Rankings, has six career ATP titles, with one win this year. His best performance in the Grand Slam series was when he reached the semifinal rounds at the 2022 US Open and the 2023 Australian Open. The Russian player also took home the silver medal in men’s singles at the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo. He also won the 2021 Davis Cup as part of the Russian national team.
Medvedev, 28, is currently fourth in the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Rankings. In 2022, the top Russian racket spent sixteen weeks as the number one player in the world. He is the 2021 US Open Champion and has 20 ATP tournament titles under his belt. He won five of these 20 titles in 2023. Also, in 2021, he won the Davis Cup as well as the ATP Cup playing for the Russian national team.
The 2024 ATP Masters Monte Carlo tennis tournament is played on outdoor clay courts between April 7 and 14 and offers over $6.4 million in prize money. The reigning champion of the tournament is Russia’s Andrey Rublev.
Russian players’ neutral status at tennis tournaments
On February 28, 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued recommendations to international sports federations to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from taking part in international tournaments, citing Moscow’s special military operation in Ukraine as the reason.
Following the IOC’s recommendations in late February 2022, the majority of global sports federations decided to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from all international sports tournaments.
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) ruled on March 1, 2022 to suspend the membership of the Russian and Belarusian national tennis federations while also canceling all previously scheduled tennis tournaments in the two countries.
On March 14, 2022, the ITF also confirmed its prohibition of the Russian and Belarusian national tennis teams from the 2022 Davis Cup and 2022 Billie Jean King Cup.
However, the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) allowed tennis players from Russia and Belarus to continue participating in WTA and ATP tournaments, but only under a neutral status.