First&Tour: Karen Khachanov

Transcript

Hi everyone! You're watching First&Red. I'm Anna Chakvetadze, and this is the second episode of our travel show. We're in the St Kilda area. What's interesting here? On one side you've got the bay, with penguins that come ashore, and on the other, Melbourne's nightlife hub. Shall we go for a walk? This isn't my first time in Australia — I've been here many times as a player. But this is the first time I've actually been to the beach. Unfortunately, tennis players don't get much free time. It's all matches, practice, recovery. But our favorite ambassador, Karen Khachanov, made time for us, and as always, we're going to show you an exclusive look at everything interesting. Karen, where are you? Today our guest is our favorite ambassador, Karen Khachanov. Wait, first question — really, "favorite"? Of course. Hi everyone. Karen, yesterday we interviewed Sasha Bublik, and he said he can't stand Australia or the Australian Open. Harsh, but honest. What's your relationship with Australia and the tournament? Well, first I'd say... he's been saying that for the last year, that he doesn't like any of the tournaments, and yet he keeps playing well in all of them. As for my relationship with Australia — I don't know, I genuinely like it here. It's a great tournament, probably one of the most fast-developing on the whole tour. Every year they change something, build something new. I actually got lost yesterday — I arrived and couldn't figure out where to go, where to run. I hadn't been here in a while, and they've changed everything — new courts, new stadiums, new arenas. And honestly, it's a very long flight to get here. But I think it's worth it. Different nature, different atmosphere, different people, different mentality. Give me your top three reasons you like Australia. The climate, the coffee, the animals. Animals? Which animals do you like? Kangaroos, koalas, wombats. I just love animals in general, and there are a lot of them here. I go to the zoo all the time. Didn't expect that answer, did you? I didn't, I really didn't. What are your favorite spots besides the zoo? Honestly, if we're talking about Melbourne specifically, I wouldn't say there's all that much. You can go to, I think, the Twelve Apostles — I still haven't made it there. Every year I want to go, either before the tournament starts or after. But after, all I want is to fly home as fast as possible, because it's a long trip and you just want to get home — especially if you've had some painful loss, in which case you really don't want to stick around even a couple extra days. So I wouldn't say there are that many places I've actually seen here, honestly. I was told to check out St Kilda Beach too, because apparently penguins come in at sunset. It's a beautiful spot — that's probably one of the ones I still want to visit. Basically, I haven't seen much, haven't been to many places here, if I'm honest. What about the famous Crown Casino? I wouldn't call it a landmark, exactly. Have you been? Yeah, I've been — walked through, stopped by. So did you go in, or just walk past? Both — I went in to look around, and I've also just walked past. Actually, I lived at Crown Towers for many years in a row — right at the hotel attached to the casino. So naturally I got to see and experience that whole scene, that atmosphere, every day. It's quite a scene — lots of hustle, lots of parties. Very loud, tons of people. Did you ever gamble there? Honestly, I don't play casino games, but I have played... me and my coach have this thing — I wouldn't call it a tradition, but we play cash poker. Purely among ourselves, just for fun, to joke around, laugh, kill some time — because as a team we often play card games together, just among ourselves. So when we actually play, it's with each other, not against the casino. Who wins more often, you or your coach? We both lose. No, actually, within the team, between the two of us, I win — but when we play against other people... well, we play different games, we don't play poker between just the two of us. And when we do go play poker, again, I'm not going in trying to win — that's the whole point — I go in to spend time and enjoy the game. People say players at that casino often lose all their prize money. Have you heard about that? What do you think? I've heard about it, I guess — but you know, every legend has its legend, so to speak — I don't know what's true and what isn't, all these rumors. I did personally see Lucas Pouille win fifty thousand dollars right in front of me, for example. How much he lost afterward, I don't know. But it's true — he was playing roulette, and his number came up. He put down, I don't know, some amount — I don't remember exactly how much he bet, but I think he won more than fifty thousand, because there's a multiplier on roulette, I don't remember exactly, 30-something, 36 maybe, or 18 — doesn't matter. Anyway, he won a big sum. But then, I think, he blew it all right back. Ended up in the red either way. Ended up in the red either way. Most likely. We can only speculate. Karen, compared to other players — even other Russian players — you generally keep yourself pretty composed on court. Andrey Rublev smashes rackets, Daniil Medvedev has meltdowns and argues with umpires. What does Karen Khachanov do when he gets angry? I usually blast the ball away — somewhere less problematic, just to be safe. And the main thing is not to hit anyone when you do it, because there have been situations — I remember with Shapovalov and with someone else — where the ball got away and hit an umpire. I try to aim high into the sky, far from everyone, to keep it safe. But I have gotten fined at a Grand Slam before — I think it was, what, 2019 or 2020, something like that — for not exactly polite words, let's say. Afterward I tried to argue that they were actually literary words — a feminine noun — but the fine stood: four thousand, which wasn't pleasant. I tried to appeal, showed them a dictionary, sent in documents, but nothing worked. After that, though, I think I mostly stopped swearing — though of course it still happens sometimes. There are still situations where I can't quite hold it together, and I might still shout — just maybe not so publicly. Exclusive content from the Australian Open, only here on First&Red, dear friends. Don't forget to like our video, subscribe, and support your favorite players. It was a surprise to see you in Aryna Sabalenka's box during the Battle of the Sexes. How did you end up there? Well, at some point, when I found out this event was happening, I jokingly messaged Andrey Vasilevski — her sparring partner and, as it happens, agent. Not even Aryna herself, actually — Anton too, hello. I said, listen, it'd be fun, I could even help coach — jokingly — tell Aryna how to beat Nick, since I've played him quite a few times and had some tough matches with him. They didn't respond right away, but then they said it would be great, of course, come along. And then, at some point, we actually didn't message for a couple of weeks — I remembered the match was supposed to be in Dubai. They flew in, and a couple of days before, we messaged, and they said, it's on, we're counting on you, come support Aryna, of course. So I went, and then they even offered for me to sit right next to the box. I saw you giving her tips there. Well, Aryna didn't add me to her coaching staff, so... Take that up with her — just kidding. No, actually, when I told her my thoughts on what she should do, she won five points in a row off it — though later... I told her she was rallying crosscourt with him, and he was outplaying her because he plays at your speed and just redirects the ball down the line first. I told her, redirect the ball down the line to his forehand first. Try to hit it — not necessarily super hard — just redirect it to the right, pressure him, he'll open up the crosscourt for you, and then you open your own line back on the right. Don't try to keep trading crosscourts with him. As his coach, what do you think — what was she missing in the end? I'm not a coach, I'm a player, so I can't really... Ah, dodging the blame for the loss, are we? No, because — you know how it goes, the player wins, the coach loses. There's your perfect example right there. Honestly, my philosophy is we win together and we lose together, as a team, all together. So what was missing — hard to pin down one single thing. First of all, she only had the one serve, and so did he — meaning, well, even though Aryna has an incredible first serve, her second is still weaker, that's just how it is for anyone. So he could immediately, you know, get into the court off that. That's one thing I told her too — you could try serving more to his body or wide to the right, avoid the kick serves, because he steps in from the left and immediately starts playing at your speed. But she told me right away, no, I can't, I can't hit a slice serve like that — and she took the risk anyway, which, well, that's just one of many moments. But honestly, she did great, she really fought out there, she really wanted it. I think it made for a great show either way — the whole point was to showcase men's and women's tennis together, combine them into one thing, and I think as an event, as an idea, it all came together, it all worked. Does she want a rematch, do you think it'll happen? I told her I'm ready for a rematch — in her place. No, not even a rematch — I said I'm ready to step in for Nick if she wants to face me instead, but we'll see. Will you go easy on her? We'll see when we get there. Alright, so — we were walking and talking, and where did we end up? We wandered into a Russian shop, found one right here. Lovely. No, we either found it or just stumbled onto it by accident, honestly not sure. Lovely — let's go take a look at what they've got. Shall we talk about our favorite products or what? Yes, of course. Hello. Good afternoon. Hi there. Oh, it's so nice in here. Thank you. What good stuff have you got? All Russian products? Russian, among others — European too. European? Slavic, let's say. Agreed, agreed — Ukraine, Belarus. No, I was just... I noticed you two look like Moscow girls, that's why I said it right away. Got it, got it, all correct, agreed. And what's this cake here? Halva in this form, got it. And Armenian Napoleon? French. Let's grab the poppy seed cake. Do you like poppy seed cake? Of course. We also have pirozhki. Pirozhki are great. What are they filled with? Ours are with cabbage. Great, can we get a few? Two with cabbage, two with meat. Well, if you want. Vatrushka. I think you like vatrushka even more. I really love sweets, but I already grabbed the poppy seed cake. What would be your favorite dessert? Napoleon, obviously — how could you even ask. We tried it together in New York. Actually, we were at a Georgian restaurant, we kept going back... All around, all around — we need an Armenian Napoleon. Look at your pickles. Oh, I love these. Don't you have barrel-fermented ones? No, sorry, no barrel ones — only the tomatoes are. I guess so. Look, some other pickles here. Oh, we're about to stock up big time. Great. Dinner, dinner — let's see what else there is. We won't go out for dinner, that settles it, all homemade. Look, dumplings, all good. Just need to figure out where to boil them. There, some sushki, no wait, look, gingerbread cookies too, candies, baranki. Should get enough for the whole team, right? Of course. Look, Poltava sausage, see that? Sausage. Oh, look what I found — Borjomi? Yes. We'll need to go to the banya then. What, would you drink that between games on court? Borjomi? Why not — they say it helps you get more balls into the court. Let's test that. I drink sparkling water anyway, why not — Borjomi especially, of course. Karen, one main goal for this season? One main goal — let's say, finish in the top ten. One thing you changed in your preparation for this season? Hard to pick just one, but I'd say I worked more on my body — so that physically I can handle the loads I've always trained at, to be fully ready for matches. One thing you really like about Australia? The coffee. One thing that annoys you about Australia? Strange people. One thing you thought differently about, and Australia changed your mind? Well, there was a stereotype I had about Australia. You got here and realized it wasn't true? I'd say the nature. One opponent you'd want to face at the Australian Open this year, if you drew them? Sinner. One opponent you would NOT want to face? Sinner. Alright — your baseline minimum goal for this season? In terms of ranking, or... Results. Results — I'd say top 20. Your dream-scenario ceiling for this season? Top 8. Do you remember your first match in Australia? I do, I do — it was in 2015, if I'm not mistaken. I was playing qualifying. It was, of course it would be, 42 degrees. It wasn't easy, but I managed to win that match. What's your most memorable moment connected to Australia? As strange as it sounds, probably the match against Kyrgios that I lost.