Grand Slam semi-finalist Karen Khachanov slumped to a three-set defeat in his first singles match of the season on the Hong Kong Open on Wednesday.
Second seed and world quantity 15 Khachanov, who reached the Australian Open semi-finals a yr in the past, was thwarted in his preparations for this yr’s first Grand Slam by a second-round 7-6 (7/2), 2-6, 6-2 loss to Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori.
Russia’s Khachanov, who had a bye into the second spherical, struggled for consistency and solely discovered his vary when he rattled off 4 video games in a row to take the second set.
However Ruusuvuori, who got here from a set all the way down to beat France’s Benjamin Bonzi within the first spherical, regrouped and was all the time in management within the decider as he broke twice to expire the winner in 2hr 23min.
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“It was a really tough match in opposition to a terrific opponent,” stated the Finnish world quantity 69 who will face both Lorenzo Musetti of Italy or Russia’s Pavel Kotov on Friday for a spot within the semi-finals.
“I’ve misplaced a few instances in opposition to him and he’s all the time a really tough man to beat.”
Third seed Frances Tiafoe had no such issues as he loved snug win in opposition to Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic 6-3, 7-6 (7/4). American third seed Tiafoe, a US Open semi-finalist in 2022, wanted simply 92 minutes to guide his place within the final eight.
“For a primary match I assumed I performed very nicely,” stated world quantity 16 Tiafoe, who had additionally loved a first-round bye.
“I simply want the second set had been as straightforward as the primary.”
Tiafoe will now face rising Chinese language teenager Shang Juncheng, who recorded his second huge upset win of the week to achieve the quarter-finals.
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The 18-year-old world quantity 183, who likes to be known as “Jerry”, outlasted the Dutch world quantity 50 Botic van de Zandschulp 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/2) in a three-and-a-half hour battle of attritional tennis.
Shang might be in search of a 3rd giant-killing of the week in opposition to Tiafoe after additionally coming from a set all the way down to knock out seventh seed and world quantity 33 Laslo Djere of Serbia within the first spherical.
“It was a rollercoaster match,” stated Shang of his win over Van de Zandschulp.
“Three hours 30 on courtroom, however I used to be feeling very match so I’ve a terrific staff and the pre-season with them was superb.”
World quantity 5 and prime seed Andrey Rublev of Russia will open his 2024 marketing campaign on Thursday with a second-round conflict in opposition to Britain’s Liam Broady.