Qualifying Alternate Gakhov Excited To Play 'Greatest Of All Time' Djokovic
Qualifying Alternate Gakhov Excited To Play ‘Greatest Of All Time’ Djokovic
The past three days have been a whirlwind for World No. 198 Ivan Gakhov, whose Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters journey will become even more surreal on Tuesday when he plays World No. 1 Novak Djokovic.
“[I am] speechless at the moment. Still cannot [believe it]. Even dreaming I think it’s tough to understand what just happened the last couple of days,” Gakhov told ATPTour.com. “No matter points, money, the best reward is to play the greatest of all time tomorrow. That’s the best I could ask for.”
Early Friday, Gakhov did not know he would get into qualifying at the clay-court ATP Masters 1000 event. In fact, the 26-year-old needed several dominoes to fall in his favour just to claim a spot in the draw as an alternate.
Yannick Hanfmann, Alexandre Muller, Roberto Carballes Baena and Quentin Halys were all entered in Monte-Carlo qualifying, but were still competing in other tournaments. Because of that, they were removed from the Monte-Carlo qualifying field, creating room for four alternates: Ilya Ivashka, Joao Sousa, Vit Kopriva and Gakhov.
If any of the four players had lost on Friday before the deadline of 9 p.m. local in Monte-Carlo and decided to still compete, Gakhov would have been out of luck. Instead, he was able to play in ATP Masters 1000 qualifying for the first time.
Gakhov’s flight into town landed at 8:18 Saturday morning and later that day he took on Top 50 player Adrian Mannarino, rallying to stun the Frenchman 1-6, 6-0, 6-1. The 26-year-old on Sunday ousted rapidly rising #NextGenATP Frenchman Luca Van Assche 6-3, 0-6, 6-2 to earn his place in the main draw.
On Monday, the lefty Gakhov earned a big win for the third consecutive day when he eliminated American Mackenzie McDonald 7-6(6), 2-6, 6-3 to earn his shot at Djokovic. Not bad for the fourth alternate into qualifying who had previously played just one tour-level match.
Now up to No. 161 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, Gakhov is excited for the challenge of playing two-time Monte-Carlo champion Djokovic.
“I really love Novak, so usually I always cheer for him and he was playing these crazy matches against Rafa and Federer, so it’s really an honour. But I will try to, with respect obviously, face him tomorrow like it’s just another match,” Gakhov said. “I will have my coach with me and we will just study him as one more player. We’re all humans, I know it. Sometimes I think Novak is not, but we all have our weak points and we will try to just find out where it is and I will try to do my best.”
Gakhov did not grow up in a tennis family. His parents, Elena and Andrey, did not have a sports background, but they wanted him to participate in sports “because it’s healthy and in general it’s better than doing nothing”. He played at a local junior academy and enjoyed success at a young age. The lefty remembers the 2005 Australian Open semi-final between Marat Safin and Roger Federer, which Safin won 9-7 in a gripping five-set thriller. “[The match] made me fall in love with this sport,” Gakhov said.
With aspirations of becoming a professional, he moved to Spain aged 14, spending more than seven years in Gandia, a small city in Valencia. Then Gakhov moved to Barcelona, where he has been based ever since. Sometimes he practises with Andrey Rublev.
“He helped me last year with some clothing because I don’t have any clothing sponsors,” Gakhov said. “Daniil [Medvedev] is also a very good friend of mine because we play some games together by phone or by PlayStation. Karen [Khachanov] here congratulated me after every win, so we have a good friendship between [us].”
Gakhov spends the most time playing fantasy football with Medvedev.
“We try to build our team and it depends how they do in real life, especially in the English Premier League. That’s why we follow a lot because we play with a lot of friends,” Gakhov said. “Daniil has the same passion playing for nothing [in] this football game [as he does] on the tennis court, so it’s unbelievable his fighting spirit.
“He always wants to win and he lives every moment.”
Real Madrid fan Gakhov enjoys football, Formula 1 and snooker. But another interesting tidbit about him is that he has a large tattoo of a serotonin molecule on the right side of his neck.
“It was a normal Sunday. Me and my sister, who is older than me [by] like nine years, we decided to do something together. It’s serotonin, which means happiness,” Gakhov recalled. “We just decided, ‘Let’s do it’ and I think the same day we went and we did it. I really like it.”
Gakhov’s coaching team includes Miguel Sanchez, Salvador Navarro and Ivan Muguruza, who have a wealth of experience, having individually worked with the likes of Tommy Robredo, Juan Carlos Ferrero and Flavia Pennetta. Sanchez is joining Gakhov in Monte-Carlo for his match against Djokovic.
Although the past few days have been a rollercoaster, Gakhov is getting used to such feelings. Two weeks ago he won his first ATP Challenger Tour title in Girona, Spain. Now the 26-year-old will try to reach his greatest height yet against the No. 1 player in the world.