Karen Khachanov (US Open Tennis - Twitter)
No.11 seed Karen Khachanov will face the challenge of Gregoire Barrere in the second round of the Italian Open
Karen Khachanov is having a good year and is coming into this encounter with his eyes set on glory. The Russian ace has been pretty consistent so far with semi-final appearances at the Australian Open and the Miami Open being the major highlights of his season.
He is coming into this match following an impressive Madrid Open campaign where he reached the quarter-finals in singles and won the doubles title. Khachanov is seeded no.11 at the Italian Open and he certainly has the ability to go all the way and clinch the title.
Khachanov received a ‘Bye’ in the first round due to his superior ranking and is now set to take the court directly in the Round of 64. The Russian star will be high on confidence but there is certainly no room for complacency. It remains to be seen if Khachanov can continue his good vein of form and live up to expectations.
Barrere has come into this match following a shock first round exit from a Challenger tournament in France. Despite playing on home turf and being seeded No.7, he couldn’t quite live up to expectations in his previous event. The Frenchman hasn’t been consistent enough on the ATP tour so far and has suffered early exits from most of the tournaments he has played this year.
However, he has made a good start at the Italian Open, getting the better of Brandon Nakashima in straight sets in the first round. The Frenchman will face an uphill task against Khachanov and he will have to play out of his skin to register a win against the Russian.
Details:
Date – Friday, 12th May
Court Type – Clay outdoor surface
Telecast – Tennis Channel
Start Time – To be Announced
Location – Foro Italico
Match details – Round of 64 match
Khachanov and Barrere have played each other once before on the ATP tour. The sole encounter was played at the 2019 Roland Garros with Khachanov emerging victorious and thereby leads 1-0 on head to head. On paper, Khachanov is the favourite both in terms of form and rankings. However, one can certainly not rule out Barrere and he is expected to put up a tough fight. Despite that, we are predicting a comfortable win for Karen Khachanov in straight sets.
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