Rafael Nadal: Karen Khachanov reveals future hopes, thanks Spaniard after US Open thriller
RAFAEL NADAL’s defeat of US Open third-round opponent Karen Khachanov can help the Russian to improve in the future.
US Open: Crowds cheer as Nadal battles with Khachanov
That’s the belief of Khachanov himself, who expressed his delight at Nadal’s praise of him after a breathless four-set clash in New York.
Nadal dropped the first set and recovered to take a hard-fought second before winning tie-breaks in the third and fourth sets to earn a closely-contested triumph.
Afterwards, the world No 1 backed Khachanov to win “a lot of matches in his tennis career” and declared: “He’s a great player, he has a lot of good things. He has a great future to come.”
And the towering 22-year-old believes there are plenty of positive lessons to take away from their battle at Flushing Meadows despite the fact he might have won the match.
On Nadal’s praise, he said: “It feels great. Thanks to him. He's always polite and nice guy. Big respect to him. He's a great champion.
“Of course, it feels good. After a match like this when you give everything, okay, you didn't win, but I think it can give me a lot of experience, confidence, what else you can say just to keep going this way, and hopefully it will bring me to where I want to be.”
“I'm not the happiest guy in the world, I lost the match. But after some time, maybe one day, two days, I will think back and just watch the match.
“Of course, it will give me I think more experience, like I said, more confidence. To see which level I can play, which level I played here and the other Grand Slams or the other tournaments.
“That just shows that I'm really close to this high level against top guys. Hopefully it will be soon on my side.
I’m proud of myself that I could play a good game today, fight till the end. Just a few points difference that it could go another way.
“He had the chances, opportunities. I had opportunities. Just a very close match, good match. I hope people enjoyed, especially first time for me on Arthur Ashe. The atmosphere was amazing.
“Just happy to play these kind of matches on the big courts, Grand Slam. So yeah.”
Khachanov had previously never taken a set off of Nadal in their three previous meetings and the world No 26 believes there is a lot to take from his latest showdown with the 17-time Grand Slam champion.
He added: “This time was actually positive. I won one set against him. The other matches I didn't.
“I think I played better. I'm improving my game. Like I said, I played better.
“Okay, the other two matches, we had best-of-three. In Grand Slam we played only once, in Wimbledon last year in the third round.
“Yeah, different surface, this time on hard court. I mean, also I study him, I try to get ready. Of course, he knows me as well, what I like to do, how I like to play.
“That's why I think the match was great. I prepared better.
“I’m proud of myself that I could play a good game today, fight till the end. Just a few points difference that it could go another way.
“Big respect to Rafa. That's why he's No. 1 in the world, such a great fighter. I’m just happy about my performance. I hope to keep going that way.”