The 31st VTB Kremlin Cup finished in Moscow on Sunday. Among men, his winner was Aslan Karatsev, who won his second career title and climbed the world rankings to 18th place for the first time. In an interview with a Kommersant correspondent Evgeny Fedyakov the newly-made champion spoke about the difficulties that arose after the transcontinental flight from America, commented on the victories in the semifinals over Karen Khachanov and in the final over Croatian Marin Cilic, and also assessed his chances of getting to Turin for the final tournament of the Nitto ATP Finals.
– You flew to Moscow from California, where, together with Andrei Rublev, you reached the doubles final at the Indian Wells tournament. How difficult was it to adapt?
– In principle, I had enough time. The organizers of the Kremlin Cup met halfway, put my first match on Thursday, and I got a couple of days to recover. My whole team helped me in this, including the Portuguese physical training coach, who flew with me to Moscow. In terms of adaptation, the most difficult was the first match with Yegor Gerasimov. Well, then I got involved, although we played the quarterfinals with Gilles Simon very late on Friday.
– The difference between Moscow and California is ten hours. Did you sleep well?
– Of course not. Woke up at night. Therefore, during the tournament, I had to fill up at lunchtime.
– It seemed that the semi-final against Karen Khachanov, in the first game of which you had to play four set points, turned out to be more difficult than the final against Marina Cilic. Is it really so?
– Perhaps, yes. Emotionally, it was more difficult to gather strength. Therefore, the semi-finals turned out to be nervous and tense, especially the first set. I won’t say that the final against Cilic was easy, but on the whole it turned out roughly as I had expected. In Cilic’s game, a lot is decided by the first serve. If it passes, then he seizes the initiative and no longer gives it up. So I tried to accept as best as possible, and in rallies on my serve, act more varied. That helped.
– It is interesting that, having won your first title in Dubai in March, you also beat compatriot Andrei Rublev in the semifinals. Are such meetings especially important for you?
– We are friends, but when we go out on the court, we always strive to beat each other. In tennis, this is an absolutely normal situation.
– Probably, you also wanted to win the Kremlin Cup because Khachanov and Rublev have already succeeded?
– This is exactly what I did not think at all.
– Which victory do you put higher – in Dubai or Moscow?
– I think it’s still home, even though the category of the Dubai tournament was higher (ATP 500.— “B”). After all, the Kremlin Cup is a native tournament that I have played many times and started with qualifications five times. By the way, without it, I could not get into the main grid here before.
– In February, you set a goal for yourself to get into the top twenty. It has been achieved. Now you dream of getting to Turin for the final ATP Finals. But to do this, you actually need to win all matches in a row – first on St. Petersburg Open, and then in Paris. How ready are you for such feats?
– I’ll try to be ready. I will play match after match, and then we’ll see. After all, in front of St. Petersburg Open, I got a little pause. In St. Petersburg, I also seeded quite high, therefore, as in Moscow, I start from the second round.
– Is there a difference between the feelings that you experienced at the beginning of the season, when you reached the Australian Open semifinals, and now?
– At the beginning of the year, I was fresher, and after Australia I gained additional confidence. In the summer, however, there was a slight decline, but before the US Open, my team and I did a lot of work, which allowed us to go two rounds in New York. After that I flew to Kazakhstan, played there unsuccessfully, but over the last month I managed to get back to good condition, though not right away.
– To what extent did the Olympics affect your results in single player, where you managed to win silver in the mixed double with Elena Vesnina?
– Only for the better. The Olympiad is a special tournament that is held every four years, and I am glad that I had the opportunity to play it. In this sense, by the way, thanks to the pandemic – last year I would not have made it to the Olympics. And now, in August, I experienced new sensations, completely different emotions.
Tennis ratings
Rating ATP
eleven). Novak Djokovic (Serbia) – 11430 points. 2 (2). Daniil Medvedev (Russia) – 9630.3 (3). Stefanos Tsitsipas (Greece) – 7930.4 (4). Alexander Zverev (Germany) – 6680.5 (5). Rafael Nadal (Spain) – 5635. 6 (6). Andrey Rublev (Russia) – 5560.7 (7). Matteo Berrettini (Italy) – 4688.8 (9). Kasper Rud (Norway) – 3615.9 (8). Dominik Thiem (Austria) – 3405.10 (10). Hubert Hurkach (Poland) – 3378.11 (13). Yannick Sinner (Italy) – 3260.12 (12). Felix Auger-Alyassim – 3196.13 (15). Denis Shapovalov (both – Canada) – 2903.14 (16). Cameron Norrie (Great Britain) – 2895.15 (11). Roger Federer (Switzerland) – 2785.16 (14). Diego Schwartzman (Argentina) – 2693.17 (17). Christian Garin (Chile) – 2510.18 (18). Pablo Carreño Busta (Spain) – 2400. 19 (22). Aslan Karatsev (Russia) – 2392.20 (20). Roberto Bautista-Agut (Spain) – 2225. 30 (31). Karen Khachanov (Russia) – 1696.
WTA rankings
eleven). Ashley Barty (Australia) – 9076 points. 2 (2). Arina Sobolenko (Belarus) – 6750.3 (3). Karolina Pliskova (Czech Republic) – 5320.4 (4). Barbora Kreichikova (Czech Republic) – 4708.5 (5). Garbinier Mugurus (Spain) – 4425.6 (6). Elina Svitolina (Ukraine) – 4096.7 (7). Maria Sakkari (Greece) – 4005.8 (8). Uns Jabir (Tunisia) – 3455.9 (9). Belinda Benchich (Switzerland) – 3365.10 (10). Naomi Osaka (Japan) – 3326.11 (11). Iga Schwientek (Poland) – 3306.12 (12). Angelique Kerber (Germany) – 3265.13 (13). Paula Badosa (Spain) – 3248.14 (20). Anette Kontaveit (Estonia) – 3136 15 (14). Sophia Kenin (USA) – 3130. 16 (16). Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Russia) – 3085.17 (15). Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic) – 3035.18 (19). Simona Halep (Romania) – 2907.19 (17). Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan) – 2883.20 (18). Elise Mertens (Belgium) – 2795. … 28 (28). Daria Kasatkina — 2180. 32 (32). Veronika Kudermetova — 1920. 33 (37). Ekaterina Alexandrova — 1881… 42 (42). Lyudmila Samsonova (all – Russia) – 1551.
In brackets – the position in the previous version of the rating.
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