Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev did not have the best single Masters in Madrid. By the will of the lot, they met each other in the fourth round and the silver medalist of the Tokyo Olympics turned out to be stronger. However, he failed to go far along the grid after defeating his compatriot, because in the next round the Russian got the second number of the world ranking Carlos Alcaraz.
The Spaniard is an extremely unfortunate opponent for Karen. Previously, they met twice, and both matches easily, almost to zero, were won by the young prodigy. This time Khachanov resisted, but still lost - 4:6, 5:7.
After that, both Russians focused on performing in pairs, where they were not even seeded, since they do not get into the top 100 in the ranking. And if Rublev has three titles in this category: he won with Aslan Karatsev, Dmitry Tursunov and Ukrainian Denis Molchanov, then his partner did not have a single trophy before Madrid.
However, they went out on the court together quite often. In 2018, the athletes reached the final of the Masters in Miami, and then in 2019 to the decisive match in Paris. This year they performed in Monte Carlo, but not very successfully: in the second round they lost to the leaders of the ATP ranking Wesley Koolhof and Neil Skupski.
This time, on the way to the final, Karen and Andrey also got serious rivals: first, the Russians defeated the strong Croats Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic, and then in the semifinals they coped with the current Roland Garros champions Marcelo Arévalo and Jean-Julien Roger. And if in the first match Khachanov and Rublev had problems and everything was decided only in a super tie-break, then in the second they calmly prevailed with a score of 6:4, 6:4.
In the final, the Russians had to fight with another experienced tandem: Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden were seeded seventh and on the way to the decisive match were stronger than Koolhof and Skupski, with whom domestic athletes in Mont Carlo could not cope.
However, the status of the Indian and Australian did not affect what was happening on the court. The first two games were an equal struggle. The pairs acted confidently on the serve, and only in the eighth game Karen and Andrey were able to convert a break point, and then served for a set.
Further, the nature of the game has not changed. However, this time Bopanna and Ebden managed to catch on in one of the games at the reception and led 3:1. The Russians did not find a way to recoup, losing in the end 3:6.
The winner of the "Masters" was determined at the championship tie-break. And here Karen and Andrey created an incredible breakthrough, taking six points in a row. And then all that remained was to calmly act on their serve, which the Russians did - 10:3.
Khachanov was in a great mood and wrote on the camera after the match: "Doubles specialists" (specialists in pairs - RT), and also drew a smiling emoticon. And Rublev admitted that Karen was angry with him when Andrei won trophies with other partners.
"You have no idea how many nasty things he said to me for winning tournaments with other guys. He was indignant: "You play with anyone once and win, but never with me." But I joked that I saved the victory at the biggest tournament for him, "said the Russian. "And that day has come," Khachanov added.
At the same time, according to experts, the duo is able to win in pairs further, if, of course, they find time. Because both have a good performance in singles as a priority. According to the winner of two Grand Slam tournaments in mixed Andrey Olkhovsky, the main advantage of Khachanov and Rublev over other rivals is high speed.
"Now it is not so difficult for two singles players to play in pairs, in doubles the competition is not as high as it was before, there are not so many strong players behind the top twenty of the rating. In addition, there is a huge pressure on them that they must show results against singles, "TASS quoted Olkhovsky as saying.
And according to the vice-president of the Russian Tennis Federation Alexei Selivanenko, athletes competently use each other's strengths.
"Paired games always have their own specifics. Especially under the regulations, when the decisive set is played as a tie-break up to 10 points. Andrey and Karen showed excellent well-coordinated tennis in Madrid, used all the strengths of each of them to the maximum - they served great, played from the flight. In the decisive tie-break, we managed to immediately seize the initiative and very clearly brought it to a victorious result," Selivanenko told RB Sport.
President of the Russian Tennis Federation Shamil Tarpishchev, in turn, noted that Khachanov and Rublev at the tournament were the only representatives of singles who beat all the leading pairs of the world.
"This happened due to the submission of Andrey and Karen. Plus, ours, due to their power, did not allow their opponents to create. And in the tie-break they demonstrated moral and volitional qualities, "Tarpishchev explained.