Karen Khachanov has been working in the shadows amidst all the buzz at Wimbledon as the Russian tennis player has matched his career-best performance at the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club by setting up a quarterfinal clash against American tennis player Taylor Fritz. The 29-year-old has had a relatively comfortable route to the last eight, having not played a single-seeded player so far. His clash with the World No. 5, Fritz, will be the first time Khachanov faces a seeded player all tournament.

Born to an Armenian father and a Russian mother, Karen Khachanov claims to have roots in both Armenian and Russian cultures. He currently resides in the United Arab Emirates.

As one may have noticed, Khachanov remains the only athlete in the men’s side of the draw with no flag next to his name on scorecards and online. This is due to his Russian nationality, as the governing body of tennis, the International Tennis Federation (ITF), has a mandate that bans Russian and Belarusian tennis players from competing under their national flag.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the sport’s premier organisation ruled that players hailing from Russia and Belarus would be barred from competing unless they sign a “personal declaration of neutrality”, under which they agree to play without formally representing their nation at Tour-level tournaments.

Furthermore, athletes from the two nations have been barred from participating in team events since the initial invasion, rendering them ineligible to compete in tournaments such as the Davis Cup and the Billie Jean King Cup.

“Players from Russia and Belarus will continue to be allowed to compete in international tennis events as individuals. However, they will not compete under the name or flag of Russia or Belarus until further notice,” the ITF stated.

The ITF’s updated mandate, which allows Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete as neutrals, follows a controversial move by the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club not to allow players from the countries to participate in the 2022 Wimbledon Championships. This was the first time athletes were prohibited from competing in tennis tournaments on the grounds of nationality since World War II when German and Japanese players were barred from competing for the same reason.

The AELTC’s unilateral imposition of a ban was justified by the fact that they felt it was unfair for the Russian regime and its allies to derive any benefit from the involvement of its players in the 2022 Championships.

“In the circumstances of such unjustified and unprecedented military aggression, it would be unacceptable for the Russian regime to derive any benefits from the involvement of Russian or Belarusian players with The Championships. It is therefore our intention, with deep regret, to decline entries from Russian and Belarusian players to The Championships 2022,” read the statement.

Further drama brewed when the ITF, ATP, and WTA jointly announced their decision not to award ranking points for performances in the tournament owing to the exclusion of athletes from a certain nationality. This decision left high-ranking players, such as Aryna Sabalenka, Daniil Medvedev, Karen Khachanov, and Andrey Rublev, all unable to participate, drawing widespread reactions both in favour of and against the decision.

Karen Khachanov matches career-best Wimbledon performance

17th-seeded Karen Khachanov matched his career-best performance at SW19 as he beat Polish tennis player Kamil Majchrzak in straight sets in the round of 16 to reach the quarterfinals of Wimbledon for only the second time in his career.

The 29-year-old Russian had previously reached the quarterfinals in 2021, where he lost to Canadian Denis Shapovalov in a thrilling five-set match. Karen Khachanov is yet to face a single-seeded player in this year’s edition of the All-England Championships.

Karen Khachanov beat American Mackenzie McDonald in straight sets in his opening encounter, before scraping through against Japanese tennis player Shintaro Mochizuki in five sets in the second round.

In the third round, Karen Khachanov faced Portuguese Nuno Borges, as he came back from 1-2 down to win the match three sets to Borges’ two. With his fourth-round victory, Khachanov has set up a quarterfinal clash against World No.5 Taylor Fritz.

The 2024 US Open finalist, like Khachanov, has only gone as far as the quarterfinals in his time at SW19. Despite being ranked 12 places lower than his opponent, Karen Khachanov will be confident heading into this encounter knowing his record is 2-0 against the American.