#NextGen Star Surges Into First Semi-final

Russian #NextGen star Karen Khachanov is through to his first ATP World Tour semi-final after taking down his second seeded opponent at the Chengdu Open on Friday. The 20-year-old Muscovite defeated fourth seed Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 6-4.

In the first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting between the pair, it was the young Russian who outshone the Spaniard on serve, sending down 10 aces and conceding just six points on his first serve. He did not face a break point throughout.

Lopez, a winner in Gstaad this season, was attempting to reach his fifth ATP World Tour semi-final of the season. He was broken once in each set and it was enough for the player 15 years his junior to close it out in one hour and 14 minutes.

It was only Khachanov’s third ATP World Tour quarter-final, the second of the season after Kitzbuhel. He had taken down seventh seed Joao Sousa and Frenchman Adrian Mannarino en route and awaits sixth seed Viktor Troicki.

Troicki was a 6-3, 7-6(4) winner over Kevin Anderson, advancing in one hour and 31 minutes as he struck 12 aces and lost only nine points on serve.

“He beat me last time so I’m happy to tie things up between us,” said Troicki. “He’s a good player and he was in the Top 10 last year. It was a big game, but today I had my day, I played really good, I am happy. I returned his serve and in general, I am happy overall.”

Looking ahead to the clash with Khachanov, Troicki added, “I have never played him but he’s a talented young player. He proved that he can play big tennis, big games. I watched his match against Lopez. He really deserved to win. He played really aggressive tennis. I have to play really good to beat him and it’s not going to be easy. Hopefully I’ll give my best, enough to win the match.”

The 30-year-old Troicki is chasing his second title of the season after hoisting the trophy in Sydney at the start of the year. He was also runner-up in Sofia (l. to Bautista Agut) and has a 29-23 record on the season.

Top Seeds Reach Doubles Final

Top seeds Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram reached their fourth ATP World Tour final of the season as they defeated Nicholas Monroe and Artem Sitak 6-4, 7-6(5). The South African/American duo, winners already this year in Halle, are currently seventh in the Emirates ATP Doubles Race To London and bidding to qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals for the first time.

“One of the things that we’re trying to improve on is our record in finals,” said Ram. “We only won one out of three this year, so we will try to play better. No matter who our opponents are, it is going to be a tough match.”