Khachanov Makes Fast Start in ‘s-Hertogenbosch

Karen Khachanov hit the ground running on debut at the Libema Open in ‘s-Hertogenbosch on Tuesday afternoon.

The fifth seed broke four times in a 6-3, 6-3 triumph against World No. 82 Alejandro Tabilo, a win that improved his career grass-court record to 20-10. Khachanov was solid on serve throughout against the Chilean, dropping just two points behind his first delivery in the pair’s maiden ATP Head2Head meeting.

The 26-year-old Khachanov is hunting his first tour-level title since he became an ATP Masters 1000 champion at the 2018 Rolex Paris Masters. The closest he has come in 2022 is a run to the championship match in Adelaide in January.

The World No. 23’s next assignment in the Netherlands is a second-round meeting with Kamil Majchrzak, after the Pole completed a 6-1, 6-4 win over Dominik Koepfer.

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Jenson Brooksby was kept on his toes by home wild card Jesper De Jong at the Libema Open, but the American held firm to seal a 7-6(3), 6-3 victory on his first match on grass for 2022.

In his only previous tour-level event on the surface last July, Brooksby enjoyed a breakthrough run to a maiden ATP Tour final at the Infosys Hall of Fame Open in Newport. He will hope a similarly deep run on his first appearance in ‘s-Hertogenbosch can jump-start his season after he won just four matches across four clay-court tournaments in April and May.

Brooksby and World No. 144 De Jong exchanged breaks early in their first-round clash on Tuesday afternoon, before the eighth seed raised his game to take the first set tie-break. The American secured the only break of the second set to set a second-round clash with Hugo Gaston in the Netherlands.

Despite his moderate run on the clay, Tuesday’s win improved Brooksby’s winning record for 2022 to 12-8. The 21-year-old reached a second ATP Tour final in Dallas in February, and he currently sits at a career-high No. 34 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

Tallon Griekspoor notched the first tour-level grass-court win of his career in front of his home fans as the World No. 56 battled to a 7-5, 7-5 victory against Aljaz Bedene to set a second-round clash with Felix Auger-Aliassime. Dutch No. 1 Botic van de Zandschulp was unable to make it two local winners on Tuesday, however. The sixth seed started well against Emil Ruusuvuori but could not maintain his level as the Finn rallied to a 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 win.

#NextGenATP contender Brandon Nakashima prevailed in an epic all-American clash with seventh seed Tommy Paul. The 20-year-old dominated the third-set tie-break to clinch a 6-7(4), 7-6(5), 7-6(2) victory in the pair’s first tour-level meeting and reach the second round on tournament debut.

Nakashima currently sits in eighth position in the Pepperstone ATP Race To Milan, as he bids to qualify for November’s Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals for the second year in a row.

“It’s very exciting,” said the World No. 64 Nakashima after sealing his first tour-level grass-court win. “I think my game really suits the grass well, and that I could really do some damage this year.”

Also on Tuesday, defending champion Adrian Mannarino completed a tense 7-6(4), 7-6(9) first-round win against Italian qualifier Andreas Seppi. The Frenchman lifted his sole tour-level title at the last edition of the ‘s-Hertogenbosch event, held in 2019, and he next faces fourth seed Alex de Minaur.