Wimbledon quarter-finalist met wife as an eight-year-old and tennis rival married her twin

Karen Khachanov married his childhood sweetheart whose twin sister also has a taste for tennis stars. The Russian has been knocking on the door of a major Grand Slam title for the past few years, and he has another chance to break new ground at Wimbledon this week.

Khachanov has notched a pair of three-setters and a pair of five-setters en route to his quarter-final date with fifth seed Taylor Fritz on Tuesday. Both he and the American should be fresh and raring to go when they walk out onto Court 1, with Fritz breezing through his fourth-round tie in less than an hour following Jordan Thompson's retirement, and Khachanov encountering little in the way of resistance against Kamil Majchrzak.

Pulling for Khachanov in the quarters will be his wife, Veronika, who he met when they were only eight years old. They then started dating as teenagers and have been together for 14 years.

The world No.20 once told the hilarious story of how they met, which involved him hitting her with a baggage trolley at an airport, and her telling her mother: "What an idiot!" More than a decade down the line, in 2016, they tied the knot, and they have since welcomed two sons into the world.

In a curious twist, Veronika's twin sister not only bears exactly the same name, she also married a professional tennis star. Belarusian player Ilya Ivashka is therefore Khachanov's brother-in-law, and the pair have faced off competitively twice before.

It's clear who holds the bragging rights around the dinner table, however, as Khachanov won both of their head-to-head battles in straight sets, most recently at the Monte-Carlo Masters in 2023.

Khachanov also has a 2-0 head-to-head advantage over Fritz, but the Russian insists that can be discounted completely given that much has changed in the five years since they last played each other.

He said: "It's actually an interesting fact because last time with [Francisco] Cerundolo we played five times in one year, and sometimes you don't face one player in many years. I don't know. Either we lose earlier or we're not in the draw together.

"It will be a different match-up, definitely, from many years back because, first of all, we are both different players right now. Second of all, we are playing on a different surface. Third, it's the best of five. Grand Slam quarter-finals. Much more at stake. That's why it's like a new match completely."