pAlmatyrsquo;s staging of a first ATP tournament has proven to be a historic occasion for one of its residents, too. /p
pa href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/beibit-zhukayev/z09z/overview'Beibit Zhukayev/a contests his maiden ATP Tour quarter-final on Friday at the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/almaty/9410/overview'Almaty Open/a, with his parents expected to be in attendance again.nbsp;/p
p ldquo;Irsquo;m really happy that I got through to my first ATP quarter-final, especially playing at home,rdquo; said the 24-year-old wild card, who advanced to the last eight when the surging a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/tomas-machac/m0fh/overview'Tomas Machac/a retired due to illness after four games Thursday. ldquo;Itrsquo;s an incredible feeling. Irsquo;m very proud of myself.rdquo; /p
pZhukayev resides close to the mountains, about a 20-to-25-minute drive from the tournament venue without traffic, the No. 213 player in the PIF ATP Rankings said. /p
pWhen traffic strikes Kazakhstanrsquo;s most populous city, the commute stretches to an hour. /p
pHe has mixed sleeping in his own bed with heading to the official tournament hotel, depending on the circumstances. /p
pZhukayev wonrsquo;t need to head to Almaty Arena too early on Friday since his quarter-final against a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/karen-khachanov/ke29/overview'Karen Khachanov/a features in the night session slot of 7 p.m. /p
pA victory over the third seed would send Zhukayevrsquo;s PIF ATP Live Rabking past his career high of No. 171 set in May and get him closer to his ldquo;first goalrdquo; of breaking the Top 100. /p
p ldquo;Slowly, step by step, Irsquo;m improving this year,rdquo; said Zhukayev. ldquo;Irsquo;m happy in what form I am in right now here. So I hope I will improve more and more by the end of the year.rdquo;/p
[ATP APP]
pThe end of 2023 gave Zhukayev much reason for optimism. He collected his first ATP Challenger Tour title in Charlottesville last November to help secure a first Top 200 finish in the year-end PIF ATP Rankings. /p
pBut illness and injuries scuppered the progress of the big server, who told the ATP last year that he started to play tennis aged eight while on holiday in Turkey. /p
p ldquo;This year was not easy,rdquo; he said. ldquo;I made a good preseason, but then I got sick. I had some virus in my body and I lost my form that I built in the preseason.rdquo;/p
p/p
pHe still made the trip to Australia, but wasnrsquo;t 100 per cent. He missed about another month with illness thereafter, but felt his form improved on grass. /p
pTo that end, Zhukayev got closer to reaching the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament than ever before when he landed in the third and final round of a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/wimbledon/540/overview'Wimbledon/a qualifying. /p
pHowever, a lower back injury halted his progress during the North American hard-court swing. /p
pWith his back feeling better, Zhukayev qualified for the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/shanghai/5014/overview'Rolex Shanghai Masters/a for the second consecutive year mdash; his first ATP win came in Shanghai last season prior to losing to Khachanov despite 20 aces mdash; ahead of Almaty. /p
p ldquo;In China, I started feeling better,rdquo; said Zhukayev. ldquo;My lower back got better. And, yeah, Shanghai was not bad.rdquo; /p
pThe ATP Masters 1000 ended with a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/jannik-sinner/s0ag/overview'Jannik Sinner/a beating a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/novak-djokovic/d643/overview'Novak Djokovic/a. Djokovic, along with fellow ldquo;Big Threerdquo; members a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/roger-federer/f324/overview'Roger Federer/a and a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/rafael-nadal/n409/overview'Rafael Nadal/a, were Zhukayevrsquo;s tennis idols. /p
p ldquo;When I was growing up I always was watching Federer,rdquo; said Zhukayev. ldquo;I like how he played. And Nadal [I liked] for his athleticism and his character. He was always fighting lsquo;til the end. And Djokovic as well. /p
p ldquo;He was the last one in that company but at the end he is the greatest now, the greatest tennis player ever.rdquo; /p
pDjokovic also has ties to Kazakhstan, claiming the title in Astana in 2022 before the eventrsquo;s relocation to Almaty./p
p[NEWSLETTER FORM]/p
