PARIS, November 4, 2018
By clinching his first ATP Masters 1000 title, Russia’s rising star Karen Khachanov has hit another milestone in his breakthrough season. Only two weeks after winning his most emotional title on home soil in Moscow, the 22-year-old took the Rolex Paris Masters crown.
Khachanov snapped Novak Djokovic‘s 22 match win streak on Sunday afternoon. The World No. 18 struck nine aces, winning 76 per cent of his first service points to seal a 7-5, 6-4 victory in one hour and 37 minutes.
The new master!
🙌🙌🙌
The moment @karenkhachanov stunned Novak Djokovic in Paris for his first career Masters 1000 title. #RolexParisMasters pic.twitter.com/kkVYaIhNPF
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) 4. November 2018
“You are such an inspiration to a lot of players and you are truly a champion of our sport,” Khachanov paid respect to Djokovic during the on-court ceremony.
“This title means the world to me. I couldn’t be happier to finish the season like this.”
Khachanov, whe earns €973,480 in prize money and 1,000 ATP-Ranking points, becomes the first Russian to win a Masters title since Nikolay Davydenko in 2009. He prevents Djokovic from celebrating his return to World No. 1 with a fifth trophy in the French capital.
Granollers/Ram clinch doubles crown
Earlier in the day, Marcel Granollers of Spain and US-American Rajeev Ram took the doubles title. The duo, who teamed up for the first time, beat Jean-Julier Rojer from the Netherlands and Horia Tecau of Romania 6-4, 6-4. The final lasted one hour and 11 minutes.
“From the first match we felt very good on the court together. All the four matches we played, we played at a high level. We are very happy to end this week with the trophy,” said Granollers.
“I’ve lost against Marcel so many times, I thought, ‘Finally, it is good to have him on my side’,” Ram added. “We have known each other for years. We’ve played against each other in singles and doubles. It was a really great chemistry. We felt comfortable right from the beginning and had some really great wins.”
