Toronto (Canada) (AFP) – Karen Khachanov reached his second straight prestige quarter-final on Saturday, ambushing eighth seed Casper Ruud 6-4, 7-5 to continue his ATP hot streak at the Toronto Masters. Khachanov will bid for a quarter-final berth at the US Open tuneup against Alex Michelsen, who claimed his first Masters last-eight place with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over fellow American and good friend Learner Tien.
Khachanov was playing his first tournament since reaching the Wimbledon quarter-finals last month. The world number 16 reeled off 18 straight points on serve over the first and second sets and produced love games in his final two service games of the match. Norway’s Ruud, playing his second event after skipping Wimbledon because of injury, was never able to gain control, although he rallied from 4-2 down in the second set to level at 4-4 before Khachanov got back on track.
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“I had nothing to complain about until this point,” said Khachanov, who notched his first win of the season over a top-20 player. “I tried to control play and my game plan was working, especially with the first serves. It became difficult, but I’m super-glad I was able to put everything together at the end and finish the match.”
Michelsen took full advantage of 42 unforced errors from Tien to close out their match in 81 minutes. “It feels really good,” the 20-year-old winner said. “It’s uncharted territory from now on. I’m super-happy to be in the quarters.” Michelsen said that despite the raft of errors from Tien, he had to take care with his own forehand to claim the victory. “I hit my forehand super-well today and I knew that if I didn’t I would be in trouble,” he said.
© 2024 AFP
