Khachanov Cruises On Day 3 Of US Open Qualifying
Khachanov Cruises On Day 3 Of US Open Qualifying
Kovalik, Myneni also advance on Thursday
Day 3 of US Open Qualifying on Thursday saw a NextGen star move within one round of qualifying for his first Grand Slam main draw, while a slew of other notable players also won their second-round qualifying matches.
NextGen star and third seed Karen Khachanov of Russia continued his impressive play with a straight-sets win over Adrian Menendez-Maceiras of Spain, 6-4, 6-3. The 20 year old fired nine aces and won 73 per cent of his first serve points in the match.
“It’s always tough to find your way at the beginning of a tournament and get through the first couple of matches,” said Khachanov. “But I’ve been able to adapt to to the situation, so I’m happy that I get to play again tomorrow.”
Khachanov has advanced to the final round of qualifying this year at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, but has yet to qualify for a Grand Slam in his young career. He’ll next play the winner of the match between NextGen star Noah Rubin of the U.S. and No. 28 seed Michael Berrer of Germany for a chance to make his maiden main draw at a major.
“It would be unbelievable for me to make it into the main draw here,” said Khachanov. “I just have to focus on my game tomorrow and show that I deserve it.”
Several other players also won their second-round qualifying matches to put themselves in contention to make their debut Grand Slam main draw: No. 15 seed Jozef Kovalik of Slovakia, No. 26 seed Saketh Myneni of India, Guilherme Clezar of Brazil, Ilya Ivashka of Belarus, Alexander Sarkissian of the U.S., Jan Satral of the Czech Republic, Marton Fucsovics of Hungary and Henri Laaksonen of Switzerland.
Mid-match showers saw play suspended with half of the 32 second-round qualifying matches still to be completed. Among the players on court when the rain came are No. 12 seed Joao Souza of Brazil, No. 13 seed Dennis Novikov of the U.S. and Rubin.
Players still to come on court for their matches on Thursday include top seed Yuichi Sugita of Japan, NextGen star and No. 14 seed Jared Donaldson of the U.S. and rising American teenager Reilly Opelka.