Andrey Rublev earned a place in the quarterfinals of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Monte Carlo by defeating Karen Khachanov 7-6(4), 6-2 in an hour and a half duel.
tournament draw
tournament results
A duel between two compatriots as such Andrei Rublev and Karen Khachanov who have shared many experiences together, such as competing together in dual modal. In the second turn of the princes’ track, these two main characters appeared. It was the sixth time they had met and the current world number six finished 4-2 in their head-to-head clash.
First set with no chances
Cleaning was fundamental during the first quarter. There was nothing anyone could do as the two of them served like a charm, leaving no resistance whatsoever to the opponent. It looked like a duel on another type of surface because everything was moving so fast. It would be Karen who found a glimmer of light in trying to find a way out other than sudden death. He reached deuce in the tenth game, but had to sit there. Then they got to a very important deciding game.
Andrey opened the gaps sharply. It finished 5-1 so that his rival wouldn’t have to do anything heroic to match him. At 7-4, Khachanov seemed to have suffered psychologically at the beginning of the second set. He took the first break of the match, also helped by Rublev, who relaxed for a few seconds.
Rublev opens space
However, she quickly corrected that by finding the flaws that Karen needed to stay competitive today. There were two consecutive breaks to get ahead. He imposed a lot on his countryman, leaving him very few arguments. In addition, he was able to beat him in the second break, which made it clear that he was much better in the decisive moments. Rublev eliminated Khachanov and reached the quarterfinals of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Monte Carlo.
