Khokhlova began her skating career with Aleko, a children's ice ballet based in Moscow.

[1] At the age of 13, she considered taking up pair skating but was too old to learn the jumps so a coach suggested she try ice dancing.

At 2007 Trophée Eric Bompard, Khokhlova/Novitski upset reigning European champions Isabel Delobel / Olivier Schoenfelder to win the free dance, although finishing second overall.

[2] Khokhlova tried out with Lithuanian ice dancer Deividas Stagniūnas and Russian-Canadian singles skater Fedor Andreev.

[2] In May 2010, it was reported that Khokhlova would team up with Andreev, who had no previous competitive background in ice dance.

[3][4] Khokhlova / Andreev began training together in the second week of July, working on the ice 5–6 hours a day.