The previous three days have been a whirlwind for World No. 198 Ivan Gakhov, whose Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters journey will grow to be much more surreal on Tuesday when he performs World No. 1 Novak Djokovic.
“[I am] speechless in the intervening time. Nonetheless can not [believe it]. Even dreaming I feel it’s powerful to know what simply occurred the final couple of days,” Gakhov advised ATPTour.com. “Irrespective of factors, cash, one of the best reward is to play the best of all time tomorrow. That’s one of the best I might ask for.”
Early Friday, Gakhov didn’t know he would get into qualifying on the clay-court ATP Masters 1000 occasion. The truth is, the 26-year-old wanted a number of dominoes to fall in his favour simply to say a spot within the draw as an alternate.
Yannick Hanfmann, Alexandre Muller, Roberto Carballes Baena and Quentin Halys had been all entered in Monte-Carlo qualifying, however had been nonetheless competing in different tournaments. Due to that, they had been faraway from the Monte-Carlo qualifying discipline, creating room for 4 alternates: Ilya Ivashka, Joao Sousa, Vit Kopriva and Gakhov.
If any of the 4 gamers had misplaced on Friday earlier than the deadline of 9 p.m. native in Monte-Carlo and determined to nonetheless compete, Gakhov would have been out of luck. As a substitute, he was capable of play in ATP Masters 1000 qualifying for the primary time.
Gakhov’s flight into city landed at 8:18 Saturday morning and later that day he took on Prime 50 participant Adrian Mannarino, rallying to stun the Frenchman 1-6, 6-0, 6-1. The 26-year-old on Sunday ousted quickly rising #NextGenATP Frenchman Luca Van Assche 6-3, 0-6, 6-2 to earn his place in the principle draw.
On Monday, the lefty Gakhov earned an enormous win for the third consecutive day when he eradicated American Mackenzie McDonald 7-6(6), 2-6, 6-3 to earn his shot at Djokovic. Not dangerous for the fourth alternate into qualifying who had beforehand performed only one tour-level match.
Now as much as No. 161 within the Pepperstone ATP Stay Rankings, Gakhov is happy for the problem of enjoying two-time Monte-Carlo champion Djokovic.
“I actually love Novak, so normally I at all times cheer for him and he was enjoying these loopy matches towards Rafa and Federer, so it’s actually an honour. However I’ll attempt to, with respect clearly, face him tomorrow prefer it’s simply one other match,” Gakhov stated. “I’ll have my coach with me and we are going to simply research him as yet another participant. We’re all people, I do know it. Generally I feel Novak will not be, however all of us have our weak factors and we are going to attempt to simply discover out the place it’s and I’ll attempt to do my greatest.”
Gakhov didn’t develop up in a tennis household. His mother and father, Elena and Andrey, didn’t have a sports activities background, however they wished him to take part in sports activities “as a result of it’s wholesome and basically it’s higher than doing nothing”. He performed at an area junior academy and loved success at a younger age. The lefty remembers the 2005 Australian Open semi-final between Marat Safin and Roger Federer, which Safin received 9-7 in a gripping five-set thriller. “[The match] made me fall in love with this sport,” Gakhov stated.
With aspirations of turning into knowledgeable, he moved to Spain aged 14, spending greater than seven years in Gandia, a small metropolis in Valencia. Then Gakhov moved to Barcelona, the place he has been based mostly ever since. Generally he practises with Andrey Rublev.
“He helped me final 12 months with some clothes as a result of I don’t have any clothes sponsors,” Gakhov stated. “Daniil [Medvedev] can be an excellent pal of mine as a result of we play some video games collectively by telephone or by PlayStation. Karen [Khachanov] right here congratulated me after each win, so we have now a very good friendship between [us].”
Gakhov spends essentially the most time enjoying fantasy soccer with Medvedev.
“We attempt to construct our workforce and it relies upon how they do in actual life, particularly within the English Premier League. That’s why we comply with so much as a result of we play with plenty of associates,” Gakhov stated. “Daniil has the identical ardour enjoying for nothing [in] this soccer sport [as he does] on the tennis court docket, so it’s unbelievable his combating spirit.
“He at all times desires to win and he lives each second.”
Actual Madrid fan Gakhov enjoys soccer, Formulation 1 and snooker. However one other fascinating tidbit about him is that he has a big tattoo of a serotonin molecule on the suitable aspect of his neck.
“It was a traditional Sunday. Me and my sister, who’s older than me [by] like 9 years, we determined to do one thing collectively. It’s serotonin, which suggests happiness,” Gakhov recalled. “We simply determined, ‘Let’s do it’ and I feel the identical day we went and we did it. I actually prefer it.”
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Gakhov’s teaching workforce contains Miguel Sanchez, Salvador Navarro and Ivan Muguruza, who’ve a wealth of expertise, having individually labored with the likes of Tommy Robredo, Juan Carlos Ferrero and Flavia Pennetta. Sanchez is becoming a member of Gakhov in Monte-Carlo for his match towards Djokovic.
Though the previous few days have been a rollercoaster, Gakhov is getting used to such emotions. Two weeks in the past he received his first ATP Challenger Tour title in Girona, Spain. Now the 26-year-old will attempt to attain his biggest top but towards the No. 1 participant on the earth.
