New territory for Diallo in Almaty final, not so for Khachanov

20.10.2024    Views: 154
Source: KTF press-service
Author:

Ravi Ubha

 

In the brief history of Kazakhstan’s impressive ATP event, two players bagged their first ATP title while the other two added to their trophy cabinet.

One of the latter was legend Novak Djokovic in 2022.

Sunday’s final in the high altitude of Almaty — hosting the tournament after the move from Astana — features players who would keep with the trend.

Gabriel Diallo tries for that first title in his first ATP final, while Karen Khachanov bids for a seventh.

The heavy ranking edge sits in favour of Khachanov, who comes in at No. 26 compared to the big-serving Diallo’s 118.

Khachanov also beat Diallo in their lone head-to-head in August in Diallo’s hometown of Montreal.

He has had much practice facing hefty servers the entire week, too, having dispatched Otto Virtanen and home wildcard Beibit Zhukayev.

Khachanov’s record in finals is glittering, 6-2 at the highest level and 13-3 in total in all of his professional finals.

When he edged Aleksandar Vukic in Saturday’s semifinals, it additionally got him to a first indoor final since downing Djokovic at the Paris Masters in 2018.

But «I didn’t think about it because I played finals and won two titles after a few years of having a gap of not winning titles,» said Khachanov, referring to a spell of almost five years where he went without a title.

«So I don’t put too much attention to whether it’s indoor or outdoor, which surface. I play and compete to go through to win titles, that’s the most important thing.»

Khachanov had double the amount of match wins compared to losses through the clay swing but cooled. 

Having once made three straight Grand Slam quarterfinals — including two semifinals — he exited in the first or second round at his last three majors to players ranked outside the top 140.

But reaching the quarterfinal in Beijing last month gave the 28-year-old a boost.

Diallo entered the pro ranks later than many given he attended university in the US.

The newly turned 23-year-old — backed this week by a cousin who lives in Almaty — is now hitting his (big) stride.

Whereas Khachanov lost to Dan Evans in the longest ever US Open match in August — five and a half hours — Diallo achieved his best Grand Slam result by advancing to the third round in New York. He had to save match points in qualifying.

Diallo hasn’t found himself in such dicey situations in Almaty, only getting broken once, by the Canadian-born Alejandro Tabilo.

Standing 6-foot-8, he moves exceptionally well, and the conditions have suited him.

«Indoors, altitude, the ball travels nicely,» said Diallo, who sports a 5-1 record in his last six professional finals. «They are quite quick conditions, so managed to take the most out of the opportunity. Hopefully I can finish the week on a high note.»

If he prevails, Diallo would end the week by ousting the second (Tabilo), third (Khachanov) and fourth (Francisco Cerundolo) seeds. No matter what happens, he is guaranteed a Top 100 ranking for the first time on Monday.

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