Andrey Rublev and Karen Khachanov played an exhibition match at the UCLA Tennis Centre in Los Angeles for the Artsakh refugees.Rublev and Khachanov recently competed at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells and had disappointing campaigns. While the World No. 5 was eliminated by Jiri Lehecka in the third round, the latter was eliminated by Thiago Seybouth Wild in his opening round. The Russian duo also partnered in the doubles but were eliminated in their opening round by the Italian duo of Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Sonego.
Khachanov announced on Instagram that he would be playing an exhibition match against Rublev on March 16 at the UCLA Tennis Centre in Los Angeles, with a portion of the proceeds going to the Artsakh refugees, who are currently seeking shelter in Armenia.This issue is close to Khachanov’s heart as he has Armenian roots. His father Abgar is Armenian and his maternal grandfather was also partly Armenian.
Here are some highlights from the event.
A lot of people came out to support Karen Khachanov’s initiative. Among them was tennis legend Andre Agassi, whose father Emmanuel is of Armenian and Assyrian heritage.
The Russian took to Instagram to share a photo of him with Agassi and thanked the 53-year-old for coming out to support the event.
“From little Armenia with love ❤️🇦🇲. Thanks for coming and support the event! @agassi 🤝,” he wrote.