World No. 15 Russian tennis player Karen Khachanov shared his thoughts on the early elimination of 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic, as well as his upcoming match against Croatian Dino Prizmic at the Rome Masters in Italy.
— Just before the tournament, we were talking about the theoretical possibility of facing Novak Djokovic in the fourth round. But here you are, and it’s Prizmic standing opposite you. Were you surprised by this turn of events? What do you think of him as a player?
“Not entirely surprised. But then again, when Novak loses at such an early stage — it happens very rarely, and it is surprising. However, in my view, Novak himself has said he’s been dealing with some issues. Maybe physical problems are gradually starting to appear now. That’s probably why he hadn’t played before this. He only began his clay season here in Rome. Usually, I recall him playing in Monte Carlo as his first tournament. It has always been tough for him to start on clay — not that he always won or played well in Monte Carlo. Those early clay events are tricky. So he needed to get into his rhythm. And Prizmic is the kind of player who didn’t let him do that, so to speak. He fought for every point, capitalized on the chances he created, and basically took them. So, on one hand, this result at the tournament was surprising, but on the other, given the current circumstances, not so much,” Khachanov said in an interview with Championat’s Daniil Salnikov.
