World No. 24, Karen Khachanov, shared his thoughts on the role of family for a professional athlete.
“Someone has to sacrifice their career, a part of their life, to be there for you. Not seeing each other at all isn’t a relationship, it’s hard to maintain it that way. I have my own story. My wife, Veronika, and I have known each other since we were eight years old. Childhood love, you could say. You need to find your person – I was lucky, I found mine early in life. So, I had the desire to start a family, to get married young. I am grateful to Veronika for all of this. I became a young father – I have two sons. I am away a lot, but they can watch and cheer for me.”
– Is family a source of inspiration and strength for you?
– 100%.
– There is an opinion that family or relationships can be distracting, that you should focus on your career.
“Who came up with that opinion? Everything should be balanced in life, no matter what you do. When you are single, you might start partying, the focus shifts. The same thing happens if your significant other distracts you to some extent: if she is a model, actress, or has other interests… I know that’s what happened with Agassi. He was world No. 1, started dating Brooke Shields – and became No. 120, for example. Can you imagine? He went to different events, his focus shifted. Then he met Steffi Graf – how many ‘Slams’ did she win – and he became No. 1 again,” said the tennis player in a podcast with football player Fedor Smolov, Smol Talk.
