MELBOURNE: Karen Khachanov, the only player in the men's draw to make successive Grand Slam semifinals in the last two majors, at the US Open in September and then at the Australian Open this fortnight, has been working on his consistency.
The Russian made the last four at Melbourne Park after his opponent Sebastian Korda of the United States retired when trailing 6-7 (5), 3-6, 0-3, having hurt his wrist. The Russian will take on Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas in the last-four stage. The Greek third seed outplayed Czech Jiri Lehecka 6-3, 7-6 (2), 6-4 later in the evening.
Like his form, Khachanov has also persisted with his support for the breakaway Republic of Artsakh, "Artsakh stay strong!' he has written on the courtside camera en route to the semifinals. The ethnically Armenian territory of Nagorna-Karabakh, known by the separatist faction as the Republic of Artsakh, broke away from Azerbaijan with Armenian support some two decades ago. Not happy with Khachanov's message, the Azerbaijan Tennis Federation has pressed the International Tennis Federation to take action against the Russian.
In his post-match interaction, Khachanov said he had not been warned against writing similar messages on the TV camera. "I say it many times. I have Armenian roots," Khachanov said after his quarterfinal victory. "From my father's side, from my grandfather's side, even from my mom's side. I'm half Armenian."
Khachanov said he had travelled to Armenia several times. "In 2021 November, my wife, our son and I went there for 10 or 12 days," he said. "We went to the capital in Yerevan, and we went around the whole country. We had a really nice sightseeing tour, went to different monasteries and different places."
