Khachanov revels in ‘biggest achievement’ of his career

Russian wins Paris Masters after snapping Djokovic’s 22-match winning run

Russia’s Karen Khachanov capped an impressive year with the “biggest achievement” of his career as he stunned Novak Djokovic 7-5, 6-4 in Sunday’s Paris Masters final.

Khachanov became the third different first-time winner of a Masters tournament this season — joining Juan Martin del Potro and John Isner — and rose to a career-high ranking of 11th yesterday.

He denied Djokovic a fourth title in a row ahead of his return to world No 1, and avenged a straight-set loss to the Serb at Wimbledon in July.

“It’s one of my biggest titles so far, biggest achievement. And in general, it’s a breakthrough season,” said Khachanov, who also won the Kremlin Cup in Moscow last month.

“And this title, it’s a good year-end. And maybe I’m not crying, but still I’m really happy. To finish the season like this is really a dream come true,” he added.

Going into the event, Khachanov had won just three of 19 encounters against players in the top 10 but claimed a fourth such scalp in a week after snapping Djokovic’s 22-match winning run.