VIENNA/WASHINGTON, October 26, 2024 (by Michael Dickens)
Karen Khachanov extended his winning streak to eight and advanced to his second straight ATP Tour final following a 6-2, 6-4 victory over World No. 10 and second seed Alex de Minaur at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna, Austria Saturday.
The 28-year-old from Russia has been playing nothing but winning tennis all week long inside Wiener Stadthalle, much to the delight of the Austrian fans who have been cheering for him. In his 90-minute Center Court triumph over de Minaur, Khachanov hit 27 winners, made only five unforced errors, converted four of six break points and outpointed his opponent 65-45. De Minaur mustered just 10 winners.
Karen Delivers @karenkhachanov pounds his way into the Vienna final with a 6-2 6-4 victory over De Minaur, notching his 8th consecutive win!#ErsteBankOpen pic.twitter.com/OSF68WaN3p
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) October 26, 2024
“Nothing to complain [about], [I’m] really playing good tennis,” Khachanov said in his post-match interview with ATP Media. “I’m enjoying the challenges of competing and performing. I’m just trying to keep the momentum going and to focus on the next game, next opponent, next match. That’s what I’m doing and so far, it’s going well.”
After Khachanov won his seventh career ATP Tour title in Almaty last week — his second title of the 2024 season — the 24th-ranked Moscow native is through to his 10th tour-level final and first above the ATP 250 level since winning the silver medal at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. He’s now 10-1 indoors this season.
Khachanov improved to 2-5 versus Top 10 players this year and his win against de Minaur was his first hard-court Top-10 win since defeating then-No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas at the Miami Open last March. The loss prevented de Minaur from reaching an 18th ATP Tour final.
The winning streak continues! @karenkhachanov beats Alex de Minaur with 6-2 6-4 to win his 8th match in a row and make it to the final of #ErsteBankOpen #ATPVienna #atp500 pic.twitter.com/ejjbANlXPZ
— Erste Bank Open (@ErsteBankOpen) October 26, 2024
In Sunday’s title match, Khachanov will face No. 7 seed Jack Draper of Great Britain, who became the fourth British player in tournament history to reach the Vienna title match after defeating No. 6 seed Lorenzo Musetti of Italy, 6-2, 6-4, an hour and 48 minutes on Center Court. It was Draper’s third consecutive victory over Musetti and it’s advanced him to the fourth ATP Tour final of his career — and third of this season. Khachanov has beaten Draper twice in three previous meetings.
It marks Draper’s first time into a final above the ATP 250 level and he joins Greg Rusedski, Tim Henman and Andy Murray among British players to make it to the Erste Bank Open final.
Electric performance by @jackdraper0 ⚡ He defeats Lorenzo Musetti with 6-2 6-4 on #ErsteBankOpen Center Court and makes it to his first-ever #ATP500 final!
Sascha Feuster pic.twitter.com/QFErWt1PoY
— Erste Bank Open (@ErsteBankOpen) October 26, 2024
Draper finished his semifinal victory with eight aces and 28 overall winners, saved eight of 10 break points he faced, converted five of 11 break points against Musetti, and outpointed him 85-67.
“I though the first set was really high level from my side,” Draper said in his post-match interview with ATP Media. “Definitely, Lorenzo is a really tough competitor. I’ve known him since I was really young. To play against him is always so difficult. He’s having an incredible season.
“The second set was really up and down. There were some long points and definitely some nerves and difficult moments, but I’m reall proud of the way I kept on fighting and kept on going. In the end I got it done.”
Take a bow, @jackdraper0
An inspired performance sends Draper into Sunday’s final in Vienna!#ErsteBankOpen pic.twitter.com/75aAyrHVs6
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) October 26, 2024
Draper’s triumph over Musetti boosted him to No. 15 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, securing a new career-high next week.
Around the Erste Bank Open
On Austrian National Day, unseeded Alexander Erler and Lucas Miedler of Austria saved two match points during their semifinal match tie-break against No. 3 seeds Harri Heliovaara of Finland and Henry Patten of Great Britain and won on their third match point, 1-6, 7-5, 13-11, in 85 minutes to advance to Sunday’s doubles final.
What a way to celebrate Austrian National Day!
Our doubles duo Alexander Erler & Lukas Miedler defeat Heliövaara/Patten and make it to the final of #ErsteBankOpen 2024 pic.twitter.com/FnIO3daKqR— Erste Bank Open (@ErsteBankOpen) October 26, 2024
Erler and Miedler withstood 10 aces from the reigning Wimbledon champions Heliovaara and Patten, whom were seeking their fifth tour-level title of the season. They saved six of nine break points and broke their opponents twice. Despite being outpointed 65-62, Erler and Miedler are through to their second consecutive final of the season and fourth title match of the season.
The Austrian duo, who won their first title of the season at Antwerp last week and have won seven straight matches, will face unseeded Neal Skupski of Great Britain and Michael Venus of New Zealand in the final.
Saturday’s Erste Bank Open results
Sunday’s Erste Bank Open order of play
By the numbers
Jack Draper has advanced to his first final above the ATP 250 level and is the fourth Brit to make the Vienna final after Greg Rusedski (1996, 1999), Tim Henman (2000), and Andy Murray (2014, 2016).
“Quotable …”
“Now it’s crunch time. Every match counts. Every single point counts.
“I am going to do my best. I haven’t played enough tennis this year, I have been sidelined for a while. So, plenty of energy and plenty of fight in me. So, I am going to make sure I give it my all every time I step out on court.”
— World No. 10 Alex de Minaur, during his on-court interview with ATP Media, following his quarterfinal win over Jakub Mensik Friday night.
