Karen Khachanov proclaims champion for the first time in a Masters 1000

The 22-year-old Russian inflicts the first defeat in 87 days (7-5 ​​and 6-4, 1h 37m) at number one and wins the most important trophy of his career at Paris-Bercy. With a promising future, it is already 11th in the ranking.

Although Novak Djokovic is a magnificent player, as far as gestures and signals are concerned on the track, this Sunday his face betrayed him. During the 1h 37 minutes of the final against Karen Khachanov, his face said constantly that he had no cards and could not see the play. And it is that Nole ran into in front of the Russian that for some time emits signals and now, winning post day after day, already claims a gap between the most Granado of the circuit. With his impressive 1.98 and a steel right, the Muscovite (22 years old) disarmed the Serbian and won the Paris-Bercy trophy, a fourth of a race that continues on the same line to be important.

For a long time, Khachanov has been giving warnings. In the last two years he has left significant clues and this year he was not too far from beating Rafael Nadal in New York. Now, on the hard track of Bercy, he closed the circle that he drew since the beginning of the week, successively distressed high-caliber tennis players like John Isner, Alexander Zverev, Dominic Thiem and in the final (7-5 ​​and 6-4) at the very same Djokovic, who chained 22 consecutive victories and 87 days without knowing the defeat, snatching the number one Nadal. The last time he had given a game was in Montreal, on August 9 against the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Now, the one who stumbled was another young man who swiped three times the service and knew how to maintain the distances with a relentless drive and the power of serve. In this way, Khachanov achieved the most lustrous victory of his career - before, rewards in Moscow, Marseille, and Chengdu - and ascends to the eleventh place in the ranking, calling for a space among the strongest. His present and his future are acquiring brightness, while Djokovic took a jug of cold water because he was the big favorite. He did not find a way to stop his rival and was left without another Masters 1000, but he will land in the Masters Cup (from November 11 to 18) with an income of 565 points and 1 on the back.

The Russian tennis player Karen Khachanov won the Serbian Novak Djokovic in the final of the 1000 Masters in Paris, which crowned for the first time the champion of this tournament. Khachanov prevailed ... The Russian tennis player Karen Khachanov won the Serbian Novak Djokovic in the final of the 1000 Masters in Paris, which crowned for the first time the champion of this tournament.

It is also likely that the Serb was suffering the side effects of his epic three-set victory over Roger Federer in the semifinal on Saturday, but no merit can be deduced from the outstanding quality of the offensive game displayed by Khachanov. After scoring his fourth consecutive victory of the week over top-10 players, Khachanov - whose muscular build resembles his childhood hero Marat Safin, the last Russian winner in Paris - lifted the most important trophy of his thrilling career on Sunday.

Khachanov prevailed with partial of 7-5 and 6-4, in an hour and 36 minutes, before "Djoker", who has won the event four times and obtained his pass to the final, after defeating in two sets the Austrian Dominic Thiem by 4-6 and 1-6. Djokovic reached the final of Paris after facing in "quarters" the Croatian Marin Čilić, where he won in three sets (6-4, 2-6 and 3-6), and eliminating in the semifinals the number three ranking of the Association of Professional tennis players (ATP), the Swiss Roger Federer (6-7, 7-5 and 6-7). With this victory, the now number 12 of the ATP classification obtained his first Masters 1000 title in his career, with only 22 years. While "Nole" got the first place to be proclaimed as the best tennis player of the 2018 season of the ATP.