Gakhov and the magical journey to fight Djokovic
* Djokovic - Gakhov: 6:40 pm today, Hanoi time.
Last Friday, Gakhov still failed to qualify for the Monte Carlo Masters qualifiers. The Russian tennis player only received a replacement seat for the qualifying round at the last minute, when a series of other names could not attend the tournament.
Yannick Hanfmann, Alexandre Muller, Roberto Carballes Baena and Quentin Halys were all initially on the shortlist. But the four players mentioned above all advanced at the ATP 250 tournaments last week in Estoril, Marrakech and Houston. As a result, they were dropped from the qualifying list at Monte Carlo. The four replacements are Ilya Ivashka, Joao Sousa, Vit Kopriva and Gakhov respectively.
Just one of the four names Hanfmann, Muller, Carballes Baena and Halys eliminated in the ATP 250 tournaments before the deadline of 9pm (local time) on Friday and still decides to participate in the Monte Carlo Masters qualifiers, Gakhov will not be eligible. call instead. But in the end, Hanfmann made the semifinals in Houston, Muller and Carballes Baena made the finals in Marrakech and Halys made the semifinals at Estoril.
Gakhov thus qualified for the first round of the Masters 1000. He flew to Monte Carlo at 8:18 am on Saturday, and defeated world top 50 Adrian Mannarino 1-6, 6-0, 6-1 that day. A day later, the 26-year-old tennis player defeated young talent Luca Van Assche 6-3, 0-6, 6-2 to win tickets to the main round.
Gakhov's dream-like journey has not stopped. On April 11, he eliminated Mackenzie McDonald 7-6(6), 2-6, 6-3 to participate in the second round, where Gakhov will face Djokovic. "I am speechless," Gakhov said after defeating McDonald in the first round of the Monte Carlo Masters. "Even in my dreams, I don't understand what's happened in the past few days. The score, the prize money doesn't matter, the biggest reward is to play against the greatest player in history."
Gakhov did not grow up in a family with a sports background. His parents, Andrey and Elena, didn't know much about sports, but wanted him to play tennis because it was healthy. Gakhov became interested in tennis after watching the semi-final of the Australian Open 2005. Gakhov's compatriot Marat Safin defeated Roger Federer in a dramatic five-set match.
With aspirations of becoming a professional tennis player, Gakhov moved to Spain at the age of 14, living for more than seven years in Gandia, a small city in Valencia. Gakhov came to Barcelona at the age of 21 and has lived there to this day. He often trains with compatriot Andrey Rublev. "Last year, he helped me with the kit, because I didn't have any sponsors," Gakhov said of Rublev.
Gakhov is also close to Daniil Medvedev, as the two often play video games together via phone or PlayStation. "Karen Khachanov is a good friend of mine, he congratulates me after every victory," Gakhov said.
Gakhov likes Real Madrid, F1 racing and Snooker. The special thing that he is often remembered by his colleagues, is the tattoo of the molecule serotonin on his neck. This substance is also known as the "happy hormone". "My sister is nine years older than me and we decided to get this tattoo together," Gakhov recalls. "It's serotonin, which means happiness. I really like it."
Gakhov's coaching staff includes Miguel Sanchez, Salvador Navarro and Ivan Muguruza, who have extensive experience, having worked with former tennis players such as Tommy Robredo, Juan Carlos Ferrero and Flavia Pennetta. Sanchez and Gakhov travel to Monte Carlo, and will be present for the match against Djokovic.
Before going to Monte Carlo, Gakhov had only played one match on the ATP Tour. The past few days have been like a roller coaster ride for the Russian tennis player, but Gakhov is slowly getting used to success. Two weeks ago, he won his first Challenger Tour title in Girona, Spain. Now, the whole football village knows the name Gakhov, as he prepares to fight the biggest match of his career against the number one player in the world.
