Khachanov Battles Past Kyrgios In Cincy

Russian Karen Khachanov gutted out a 6-7(3), 7-6(4), 6-2 win against Nick Kyrgios on Wednesday evening to reach the third round of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati.

Khachanov served for the opening set and had a set point on Kyrgios’ serve at 5-6, Ad Out. But Kyrgios erased it with a second-serve ace and hit two more aces to force a tie-break.

The World No. 9 rebounded in the second-set tie-break, though, gaining a mini-break and serving out the set. In the third, Khachanov rolled, ending the match with four straight games.

“It was a really difficult match for me. I had to really work it out to get the win,” Khachanov said.

The 2018 Rolex Paris Masters titlist is looking to reach back-to-back Masters 1000 semi-finals after making the last four at the Coupe Rogers in Montreal (l. to Medvedev) last week. The Russian will meet France’s Lucas Pouille for a place in the quarter-finals on the line. Khachanov leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 2-1.

Pouille never faced a break point and beat #NextGenATP Canadian Denis Shapovalov 6-4, 6-4. The Frenchman, who made the Australian Open semi-finals in January, will try to reach his third tour-level quarter-final of the season (Stuttgart).

“Lucas played two good matches, I think he won two really tough matches,” Khachanov said. “I will be ready for tomorrow.”