Karen Khachanov kicked off his Monte Carlo Masters campaign with a hard-fought win. The 9th seed edged past his fellow countryman and close friend, Daniil Medvedev, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 in a grueling two-hour and 52-minute battle. Medvedev contended with cramps late in the match.
Despite the physical setback, Medvedev maintained his focus and closed out the match with a decisive break at 5-4. With this win, the higher-ranked Russian notched his seventh victory over Khachanov in nine meetings. Medvedev nearly let a 5-1 lead slip in the opening set but managed to secure it 7-5 after more than an hour.
In the second set, Khachanov found himself down 4-2 and on the brink of defeat, but he stormed back by winning four straight games to take the set 6-4 and force a decider. The final set saw Karen break back three times, but Medvedev eventually clinched the win with his third consecutive break at 5-4.
Medvedev finished the match with 11 more points than Khachanov. Despite serving at just 50% and facing major issues on his second serve, he managed to prevail. Khachanov capitalized on 47% of his return points and converted eight of 16 break opportunities, but it wasn’t enough to secure the win.
Karen struggled on serve, conceding 52% of the points in his service games and getting broken nine times out of 20 chances. While Medvedev delivered more service winners, Khachanov made up ground at the net. Still, the higher-ranked Medvedev gained the upper hand with stronger baseline play.
The 9th seed started steadily, taking a 2-1 lead with a forehand winner and securing his first break in the following game thanks to a clever drop shot. Khachanov then missed a backhand on the sixth point and suffered another break, falling behind 5-1.
However, he suffered a setback in the 12th game despite being up 40-15. Medvedev reeled off four consecutive points, clinching a pivotal break after a forehand error from his opponent to take the set 7-5 in 61 minutes.
The second set began with a flurry of breaks, with three in a row. Daniil secured two of them and built a 3-1 lead after firing a backhand winner down the line. The 9th seed followed up with a love hold, capped by an ace in the fifth game, but he lost serve two games later with a double fault.
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