Karen Khachanov is on the comeback trail at the Zhuhai Championships this week after a season plagued by injuries.

The 27-year-old was playing some of the best tennis of his career not so long ago, reaching two consecutive Grand Slam semi-finals at the 2022 US Open and the 2023 Australian Open.

However, during his defeat to eventual champion Novak Djokovic in the fourth round of this year's French Open, he sustained a fracture in the sacrum bone in his back which caused him to miss a part of the season. The 27-year-old reflected on the injury and when he knew he had to listen to his body and take a break.

"The tendons, all the attachments, the bone itself, it was also kind of a stress fracture. Both things were connected. It all started from Australia. I had been playing well. I kept pushing. But then it got to the moment where I literally could not walk after the Roland Garros match with Novak. It was time. I could push to a certain moment, but it was a clear sign when I had pain to walk. That is when I had to stop," he said.

The Russian said that the break was beneficial in some ways, allowing him to spend more time with his family.

"It was kind of a setback, in a way, because I was in really good form and getting closer and closer and I proved it with my results. Most of all, I proved it to myself. I was really feeling that I was getting closer to the cherry on the pie. But these things, sometimes you cannot control them, so you have to just accept it and make the best out of it. What could I do? Okay, ‘I (will) have an unexpected vacation with my family’.

"I have been a family man since a young age and I am just really happy that I have already had two kids, two sons. I just kind of loved this moment," he continued.

However, the World No. 15 says he is now 'pumped' to be competing again. He is currently playing as the top seed at the Huafa Properties Zhuhai Championships.

"I'm really pumped. I'm really burning inside to compete again. At the same time, I need to keep my body in shape and know that I don't have any pains with any movement, so that I can be fully practising at 100 per cent.

"Lately, that's what has been happening. It's a good sign that I don't have any setbacks from that moment. I need to take a little time to get the form which I had before. I don't know how much time it will take … but at the same time, I know that if I did it before, why not do it again?" he said.