Khachanov Masters McDonald Test In Marseille
Third seed Karen Khachanov fought past a determined Mackenzie McDonald 7-6(4), 6-4 on Wednesday to reach his second quarter-final in as many weeks at the Open 13 Provence.
“It was a really difficult match, he won yesterday and he played already in these conditions,” Khachanov said. “I feel like I was ready and I played good, but matches [are] never easy. You need to adjust. He is so fast, you need to really build the point against him. It was a difficult match, a really competitive one and I’m happy I could go through and get this kind of intensity and rallies.”
The 2019 champion has been building up momentum after starting the season with a run to the Great Ocean Road Open semi-finals and recording a win over Stan Wawrinka on his way to the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament last week in Rotterdam.
Khachanov, who sits at No. 21 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, was in for a battle against the in-form American. McDonald held firm against the Russian’s firepower, and sent them into a tie-break. Khachanov narrowly edged through on a late mini-break, but was in trouble early in the second set as his big serve began to misfire.
McDonald finally broke through at 2-0 and again at 3-1, but Khachanov broke back each time to stay within touching distance. He was under pressure from the American until the end, shaking off break points in each of his service games as he took a 4-3 lead before sealing the victory in an hour and 54 minutes.
“At the end, this is what is so important, to stay mentally there,” Khachanov said. “I feel like I am doing that well and I want to continue that way.”
[WATCH LIVE 2]Khachanov will face Matthew Ebden in the next round. The Brit advanced with a comfortable 6-2, 6-2 victory over Emil Ruusuvori earlier in the day.
Also in action, Cameron Norrie and Egor Gerasimov began their Marseille campaigns with a victory on Wednesday. Norrie edged past French qualifier Constant Lestienne 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-3 while Gerasimov needed 51 minutes to record a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Yannik Hanfmann.