Three years ago, Karen Khachanov made a terrific first impression in Moscow, beating No. 27-ranked Janko Tipsarevic to advance to his first ATP World Tour quarterfinal. The 17-year-old lost there to Ivo Karlovic and, soon thereafter, began to lose himself.
"In 2014, I had to start again from the beginning," Khachanov told ESPN.com this week from Chengdu, China. "After that result, I had so much noise around me -- friends, players, journalists. I thought it was going to be easy, but the next year showed me it was not."
How times have changed. Last week, Khachanov (pronounced Hach-a-nov) played his third career quarterfinal match. This time, the promising Russian, now 20, advanced from that stage for the first time.
He took down the still-formidable No. 4 seed, Feliciano Lopez, then No. 6 Viktor Troicki in the semifinals and No. 5 Albert Ramos-Vinolas in a dramatic, come-from-behind final. In the breathtaking span of a week, he beat five players ranked among the top 62.
Khachanov, the unlikely Chengdu Open champion, moved 46 spots in the ATP rankings, to No. 55 from 101. He readily conceded he wasn't ready for success at 17.
"After three years I am now more mature and have improved a lot," Khachanov said. "I am a completely different player at this level."
He's the ninth first-time winner on tour this year, the biggest pool of victorious neophytes in five years. Moreover, Khachanov is the third member of the ATP's #NextGen to enter the winner's circle, joining Nick Kyrgios and Alexander Zverev. There are only two younger players ranked ahead of Khachanov, No. 24 Zverev and No. 42 Borna Coric, who are both 19.
Khachanov showed remarkable resilience in his 6-7 (4), 7-6 (3), 6-3 win against Ramos-Vinolas. The match ran 2 hours, 39 minutes, and the Russian finished with a narrow point margin of 111-109 and 14 aces.
According to Ramos-Vinolas, the difference was Khachanov's serving.
"He was serving so well and so fast," Ramos-Vinolas told the press afterward. "That's why I didn't return so well."
At 6-foot-6, 194 pounds, the aggressive Khachanov has a thumping serve and a forehand to match -- like his idol, two-time Grand Slam champion Marat Safin. He said both weapons have to get bigger and more consistent, although his favorite shot is the down-the-line backhand.
Afterward, Khachanov said he couldn't believe he had won his first title.
"I have been working hard," he said, "and I am happy to achieve my first goal."
This was the kind of performance Khachanov and his coaches have envisioned for several years.
At the age of 15, he left Russia to train with Vedran Martic, Goran Ivanisevic's former coach, in Croatia. Since then, Khachanov has been based in Barcelona for the past three years, learning the nuances of the game under Galo Blanco, who was Milos Raonic's early tutor.
Khachanov is a lithe, natural athlete who first picked up a racket at the age of 3. He played basketball in Russia at the national level as a high-schooler. His hobbies include reading and chess, and he's working toward an online degree in physical education from the University of Moscow.
He had planned to travel to Tokyo this week to try to qualify, but the run at Chengdu changed those plans and sent him a few days early to Shanghai (which starts next week), where he'll try to qualify his way into the main draw of the season's final Masters 1000 event. It will be his 27th tournament of the season.
Mastering the many components of professional tennis takes time. Novak Djokovic won the 2008 Australian Open at the age of 20, but waited three years for his second major title. Kei Nishikori broke through with his first title, at Delray Beach, at the age of 18. It was more than four years before he won again.
In becoming the first Russian man to win a title since Mikhail Youzhny three years ago, Khachanov will face some of the same raised expectations experienced by Zverev, Coric and Kyrgios.
Now, Khachanov said, he's ready.
"I've been working hard, and I've improved a lot, for sure, the mental and psychological aspect."
He declined to reveal any personal goals.
"I will continue to practice, listen to coach and play the tournaments," Khachanov said. "The main thing is to focus on the game and see how it goes."
If he does that, in time he could blossom into the top-10 player that some tennis observers are predicting.