MOSCOW, October 17, 2018

Home favourite Karen Khachanov booked his spot in the quarterfinals of the VTB Kremlin Cup on Wednesday afternoon with a hard-fought victory over Czech qualifier Lukas Rosol. The No. 3 seed of the ATP 250 hard-court event won 6-4, 7-5.

Khachanov struck 10 aces, saved 12 of the 13 break points he faced, converting three of his own to prevail after one hour and 29 minutes. The 22-year-old Russian awaits the winner of the encounter between Austrailian wild card entry Nick Kyrgios and Mirza Basic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“It was a tough match. He is a former Top 30, Top 40. He is playing fast and I can’t say his game style is pleasant. I think indoors tennis suits him well, the ball doesn’t bounce much here. I am happy I could win in straight sets. I hope I will play better in the next matches,”  Khachanov said during his post match press conference.

Later in the evening, top seed Marco Cecchinato of Italy fell to Adrian Mannarino 6-2, 6-3. The 30-year-old Frenchman won 63 per cent of the total points played to finish the match in only 52 minutes.

Mannarino will next take on Egor Gerasimov of Belarus, who advanced to his second tour-level quarterfinal of the season. The World No. 217 backed up his victory over defending champion Damir Dzumhur with a 6-4, 6-4 triumph against Frenchman Benoit Paire.