"Honestly, I felt bad for the guy" - Karen Khachanov felt bad for Arthur Gea after bathroom incident

Karen Khachanov's 6-3, 7-6(3), 6-0 win over Arthur Gea stole the headlines for a very bizarre incident in the first set. The Russian 'felt bad' for his opponent as he advances into the next round of the French Open.

He reviewed his performance and how he snuck away in the final two sets. "Look, when you go out there, you always need to expect some difficulties and challenges. That’s part of the mental preparation," he said on the Tennis Channel.

"The first set could have gone easier my way. In the second set, I had a few break points early on and didn’t convert them. Then suddenly he was serving for the set, so actually he was closer to winning it than me. But I stayed calm, broke him back and played a really good tiebreak. I think we both used a lot of energy physically and mentally throughout the second set. Then, as soon as I broke him early in the third, it gave me a good lift towards the end of the match."

The notable event that happened was Gea desperate to go to the toilet halfway through the first set. He asked the umpire but was forced to see out the game before being granted to go. It took over four minutes and the Russian would be faced with three break points when the action resumed as he tried to get his rhythm back.

"Actually, it’s not the first time. Everything happens for the first time in everyone’s career eventually, right?" he said. "I think it’s more a question about the rules — when you can leave the court and when you can’t. But as a human being, I understand him, because sometimes you can have that desperate need. What can you do? You just accept it and wait for him. Honestly, I felt bad for the guy."

Gea was getting the full backing from the French crowd. While in this instance it did not help him from putting up more of a challenge, it can give players that extra boost on court. For Khachanov, he is all too apparent to this scenario.

"I think I’m used to it by now," he admitted. "I’ve played against local players everywhere — French players in France, Italians in Italy, Canadians in Canada, Australians in Australia, Americans in the US, British players in Great Britain — literally almost everyone.

"So you have to be ready for it beforehand. There’s nothing you can do, even if 95 per cent of the crowd is against you. And honestly, it’s much better to have that atmosphere than to play in front of an empty crowd."

It was also a very hot day in Paris. Temperatures soared above 30 degrees Celsius making conditions rather tricky to play in. "It was still a very physical match. We played almost two hours and 40 minutes in the heat, so I’m definitely feeling it," he said.

"It wasn’t one of those straightforward one-hour-40 matches with just a couple of breaks in each set. It was tense and there were moments where I had to overcome difficulties. Physically, it was demanding too. So yes, it was in straight sets, but it definitely wasn’t easy."

Recently turning 30-years-old, Khachanov can be seen as one of the more experienced players on tour. With there so many young talents coming through, the experience at this level could provide to be pivotal, although he was not so sure.

"We’ll see. Over the years, I’ve learned not to have too many expectations anymore. Of course I have goals and motivation to reach them, but the higher the expectations are, the harder you crash when things don’t go your way. That’s probably one of the biggest lessons experience has taught me. You have to stay excited and motivated to achieve things, but at the same time not put limits or pressure on yourself. You live for today and solve today’s problems. Don’t think too much about the future or the past."

He came to this realisation a couple of years ago. "I’ve reached the top 10 three different times in my career, but only for short periods. Obviously I still have big goals — I want to finish in the top 10 consistently, I want to qualify for the ATP Finals and achieve those things.

"But at the same time, if it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen. You try to do the best you can every day in your job, in practice and in matches. After that, you see where it takes you. If you expect that because you worked hard everything will automatically work out, tennis doesn’t work like that."

The number 13 seed will also face a very experienced player, albeit not at this level in the form of Marco Trungelliti in the second round.