Khachanov working with Davydenko, working on “Team Karen” membership

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Karen Khachanov, one of two Russians currently in the ATP Tour top 10, has asked advice of former world No. 3 Nikolay Davydenko in recent months, when he was struggling.

And Davydenko says he has an open invite to join Team Karen.

But while that hasn’t happened yet, the No. 2 seed at this week’s Citi Open started working with Davydenko two weeks ago – including 10 days of training in Moscow before coming to Washington, D.C. to start the hard-court season.

He joked that Davydenko was bored in Moscow, so he asked Khachanov whether he could tag along to hot and steamy D.C.

Khachanov’s regular coach, Vedran Martic, will be in Montreal next week for the Rogers Cup. Khachanov is hoping that Davydenko will be there as well.

So we’ll see how much he can sweet-talk him this week.

Here’s what the 23-year-old said about it (the shaky camera work was due to someone handing me a microphone to ask the question, and me not seeing her because she was behind me! And with the big AC units, sound is a struggle. So bear with us).