ATP Tour

Khachanov's ATP Perfect Player: What Karen would take from Alcaraz

If the stars of the ATP Tour could take parts of other players' games and make them their own, what would they want and why? That is the question behind ATPTour.com's new series, ATP Perfect Player.

In the first edition of the series, 2018 Rolex Paris Masters champion Karen Khachanov reveals what his Perfect Player would look like. While Khachanov leans on current superstars like Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, he also details the former players he would like to take shots or traits from.

Forehand: Juan Martin del Potro
Del Potro’s forehand. Because it was huge, powerful, dominant and aggressive.

Backhand: Marat Safin
He was my favourite player growing up and I think his backhand was one of the best strokes. He was super powerful, strong, dominant stable and consistent.

Serve: Roger Federer
Very precise. High percentage. Sharp.

[For guys like John Isner and Ivo Karlovic] I would say it was the power and the balance, because they are very tall, so the ball comes from a really different trajectory. And I think this is what makes it the toughest for a returner because the bounce is always higher than your shoulders, plus the angle.

Net game: Pete Sampras
The way he covered the net, the way he was jumping. He was guessing and anticipating quite well.

Feel: Marcelo Rios
He was extremely talented. Just to watch him play and the things he could do with the ball was very impressive.

Speed: Carlos Alcaraz
I’ll put Alcaraz. I think he is extremely athletic. It’s amazing how he covers the court, how he slides and gets to the ball. Extremely explosive.

The chance of an error [from his opponent] is quite big, because if you go for more shots, sometimes you have more risk of making a mistake. He can stay in the point, he can push you, forcing you to make a mistake. So that's why it makes it very tough to play against the guys who can play in offence and in defence really well.

Mental Game: Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic
Rafa obviously because of his fighting spirit, and never giving up, fighting for every point. This is what I think cost me a lot. And I think he is the one player who I admire [for that] and have learned a lot from him.

And Novak, from turning around a lot of matches and mentally staying strong. He has this ability to turn around any match, and I think you can never count him out, because, even from the situation that you thought it's impossible to win, I think he managed to put those thoughts aside and really have another match in the same match.

Wild Card: Speed & Consistency of Sinner’s Shots
Right now Sinner is showing it on a really, really high level, playing almost ping pong. Super, super well.

And I would also say the return of Andre Agassi. Especially with the speed of the court, where it was in the past, I think he was really jumping [the serve]. First of all, reading, then second of all, I think jumping and covering unbelievably on the return, staying on the baseline and just really putting the wrist in front and not only returning a lot of balls, but returning extremely aggressively.