Khachanov drops out of top 10 ATP rankings

PanARMENIAN.Net - Russian-Armenian tennis star Karen Khachanov is no longer among the top ten tennis players in the latest ATP Rankings.

Khachanov had his breakthrough on grass in 2021 when he reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the first time and narrowly missed out on his maiden Grand Slam semis appearance after a marathon five-set defeat by Denis Shapovalov, Reuters said.

The big-serving Khachanov looked set to be a major threat in 2022 but was not able to play at the All England Club due to Wimbledon’s ban on Russian and Belarusian players after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, which Russia calls a ‘special operation’.

However, this year Wimbledon lifted its ban on Russian and Belarusian players and will allow them to compete in the grasscourt Grand Slam as “neutral” athletes.

The 6-foot 6-inch Khachanov has since reached two Grand Slam semis while he also gave Djokovic a scare at Roland Garros when he took a set off the Serbian in a quarter-final loss en route to breaking into the top 10 for the first time since 2019.

Throughout the recent edition of Australia Open, Khachanov supported Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh), which has been under Azerbaijan’s blockade for over three months now. After each victory, the tennis player approached one of the cameras shooting the game and wrote on the lens a message of support for besieged Armenians.