Last Updated on May 2, 2023
Karen Khachanov, a Russian professional tennis player, is currently one of the tallest athletes in the sport, standing at 6ft 6 inches (198cm). Born in Moscow on May 21, 1996 (26), he now resides in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
His father, Abgar from Armenia, played volleyball before pursuing a career in medicine. His mother, Natalia, a Russian, also studied medicine. Karen’s tennis journey began at the young age of 2 when his parents enrolled him in a tennis group. He later continued his training in Split, Croatia at 15 years old.
Turning pro in 2013, Karen has enjoyed a successful career, achieving a career-high singles ranking of number 8 on July 15, 2019. He has claimed four singles titles but has yet to win a doubles title, with his highest doubles ranking being 64, reached on his 22nd birthday in 2018.
As an international competitor, Karen has represented Russia in various tournaments. He played a vital role in securing the 2021 Davis Cup trophy for the Russian team and earned a silver medal in Men’s Singles at the 2020 ROC Olympics. During his junior years, he represented Russia in the 2014 Nanjing Olympics as an under-18 player, winning silver alongside Andrey Rublev.
Who Is The Current Coach of Karen Kachanov?
Jose Clavet
The current coach of Karen Kachanov is Jose Clavet, who often trains under his former coach Vendran Martic. He started his relationship with Jose after splitting up with Vendran Martic in 2020 when he struggled with his form.
Jose was an ex-Spanish tennis player who attained a career-highest ranking of 178 in the Singles Category and 119 in the Doubles during his playing days. After retiring from playing, he began his coaching career and has worked with quite a couple of tennis players from Spain.
He was the coach of his brother, Francisco Clavet, for many years before they parted ways in 1999. Jose has also worked with the likes of Àlex Corretja, Fernando Verdasco, Tommy Robredo and Feliciano López.
The Spanish coach has been significant in the recovery of Karen’s form as he recorded a title during their first season and has performed excellently since then, especially at the international level.
“We’re focusing on enhancing the consistency of his game. Our goal is to maintain a high-performance level throughout the year,” Clavet elaborates. “He has demonstrated strong play in specific tournaments, such as reaching the Wimbledon quarterfinals and earning a silver medal at the Olympics. However, to climb to the top of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, sustained excellence over many weeks is required. We’re working to instill that consistency in him. Additionally, we’re putting significant effort into refining his net game. Considering his baseline power, we want him to effectively finish more points at the net.”
Clavet discusses Khachanov’s enthusiasm in their collaboration as he seeks to lead this outgoing player towards greater achievements. The Spanish coach’s laid-back demeanor is one of his most attractive qualities, and he believes they have discovered the equilibrium Khachanov has been pursuing throughout his career. With a clear mind, the potential for his dedicated pupil is remarkably high.
“His capabilities are boundless,” Clavet observes. “He’s highly aggressive from the baseline and serves exceptionally well. His mobility is impressive for his height. Although there’s still room for improvement at the net, he’s by no means weak in that area. What makes me most proud is the well-rounded nature of his game.”
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Karen Kachanov Past Coaches
Karen has been involved with four coaches in his career development, right from his tennis group. He moved to Croatia at age 15 to train under Vendran Martic and later began to train at the 4Slam Tennis Academy under the watch of Galo Blanco. After parting ways with Galo, he continued to work with Vendran, then later appointed Jose Clavet as his head coach.
Igor Bitsenko
Not much is known about Igor Bitsenko except that he is a professional tennis coach in the capital city of Moscow. From further research, we found out that he once plays tennis before becoming a tennis development coach. He has also worked with Olga Ippolitova, now a Master of Sports in Kazakhstan.
Vedran Martic
Vedran Martic was the next coach Karen Kachanov worked with when he moved to Split in Croatia in 2011. Their partnership seems positive since they are still very much in contact even though Vendran is not recognized as his head coach. Vedran is a coach with vast experience since he has managed tennis players since 1996.
He has worked with several players, such as Petra Martic, Anke Huber, and Natalia Medvedeva, leading them to great success. The most prominent trainees he has worked with included Goran Ivanisevic, whom he coached between1996 and 2000 and guided to the 1998 Wimbledon title and a career highest ranking of World Number 2 in 2002.
Vedran also led Karen to his three ATP titles and highest ranking of World Number 8 before they parted ways in 2020. Now Vedran is the captain of the Croatian Davis Cup team.
Galo Blanco
Galo is an ex-professional tennis player and coach from Spain and worked with Karen while training at the 4Slam Tennis Academy. Galo played tennis until 2006 with just a Singles career title and the highest career ranking of 40 as his prominent achievements.
The Spaniard resulted to coaching after his retirement and has been quite successful, having worked with several top-class players such as Feliciano López alongside Albert Costa between 2006–2009; Milos Raonic between 2010 and 2013, Filip Peliwo between 2013 and 2014, Elias Ymer in 2015, and Dominic Thiem for a short while in 2018.
The most memorable time was with Milos Raonic, whom he led to 4 Singles Career titles and also guided Karen to one Singles title. Galo has quit coaching and now heads the athlete management agency of Kosmos.
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- Who Is Jannik Sinner’s Coach?
- Who Is Frances Tiafoe’s Coach?
- Who is Matteo Berrettini’s coach?
- Who Is Andrey Rublev’s Coach?
- Who Is Daniil Medvedev Coach?
Karen Khachanov’s achievements with different coaches
We have collected in the table the data about the trophies won by Karen Khachanov under the guidance of various coaches.
Coaches | Years of Completion | Titles |
Igor Bitsenko | 2011 | – |
Vedran Martic | 2011- 2014; 2017-2020 | 2018 ATP Masters 1000 Paris (Indoor/Hard) 2018 Moscow (Indoor/Hard) 2018 Marseille (Indoor/Hard) |
Galo Blanco | 2014- 2017 | 2016 Chengdu (Outdoor/Hard) |
Jose Clavet | 2020- till date | – |