Karen Khachanov reached the fourth round at the Mutua Madrid Open for the first time on Sunday when he clawed past Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 in a Madrid thriller.
Competing in front of a packed crowd inside Manolo Santana Stadium, both took large cuts at the ball as they looked to impose their powerful games. After a tight first two sets, Khachanov hit a purple patch in the decider. He struck 20 winners in the third set compared to four from Bautista Agut and won three straight games from 3-3 to triumph in two hours and 53 minutes.
Khachanov, who is making his sixth appearance in Madrid, reached the semi-finals at the Australian Open in January before he advanced to the last four at the Miami Open presented by Itau in March. The 26-year-old is chasing his fifth tour-level crown and first since 2018 this fortnight in the Spanish capital.
With his 18th win of the season, Khachanov improved to 3-6 in his long-running ATP Head2Head series rivalry against Bautista Agut. Up one spot to No. 11 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, Khachanov will next meet fifth seed Andrey Rublev.
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Rublev moved past Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka 6-2, 7-5 to continue his red-hot clay-court form in Madrid.
The fifth seed hit with relentless power in the fast conditions, blasting 35 winners to improve to 2-2 in his ATP Head2Head series against Nishioka. Rublev now holds a 10-1 record on clay this season, having lifted his maiden ATP Masters 1000 crown in Monte-Carlo and advanced to the final in Banja Luka.
Rublev is rolling 🎾
More brilliant attacking and defending from @AndreyRublev97 today 👏#TennisInsights | @atptour | @MutuaMadridOpen pic.twitter.com/cA50mmkgNh
— Tennis Insights (@tennis_insights) April 30, 2023
Rublev reached the quarter-finals in Madrid last season and will aim to match that when he takes on Khachanov in the fourth round. Rublev defeated long-time friend Khachanov en route to the title in Monte-Carlo, with the pair locked at 2-2 in their ATP Head2Head series.
In other action, Jaume Munar reached the fourth round at an ATP Masters 1000 for the first time, ending Italian qualifier Matteo Arnaldi’s run with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 victory.
The Spaniard fell to Arnaldi in Barcelona last week but gained his revenge in the Spanish capital to set a fourth-round meeting against Daniel Altmaier or German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann. Munar is up 19 spots to No. 69 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings.