ALMATY/STARNBERG, October 20, 2024
Karen Khachanov is the champion of the 2024 Almaty Open. The No. 3 seed from Russia outlasted first-time ATP Tour finalist Gabriel Diallo of Canada 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 in Sunday’s singles final.
Khachanov was ahead by a set and a break, but Diallo displayed resilient tennis, fighting back from the edge of defeat to even the match and spark hopes of a comeback. The 28-year-old Moscow native struck six aces and won 72 per cent of his first-service points. Khachanov capitalized on six of his 19 break-point chances to secure victory in two hours and 22 minutes.
The winning moment
Khachanov overcomes a strong Diallo showing to reign victorious #AlmatyOpen pic.twitter.com/bjNub2kjQY
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) October 20, 2024
“A lot of emotions, now I’m relieved and super happy,” said Khachanov, who captured his seventh career title on the ATP Tour. “You can’t expect a final to be easy, without tension, but it was until 6-2, 4-2. Then he started to relax, go for his shots a little bit more, and he suddenly turned the match around.”
The World No. 26 pocketed $157,695 in prize money as well as 250 ATP Ranking points. With his victory in Almaty, Khachanov captured his first ATP Tour title on indoor hard courts since his win over Novak Djokovic at the 2018 ATP Masters 1000 event in Paris. This also marks the second time the 28-year-old has secured multiple titles in a single season, following his triumph in Doha earlier this year.
Indians wins maiden team title on the ATP Tour
Earlier in the day, Rithvik Choudary Bollipalli and Arjun Kadhe were crowned doubles champions. The all-Indian combination rallied from a set down to overcome Nicolas Barrientos from Colombia and Skandor Mansouri of Tunisia 3-6, 7-6(3), 14-12 in the final.
By winning their maiden ATP Tour team title, Bollipalli and Kadhe split $54,780 in prize money and collected 250 ATP Doubles Ranking points.
