Khachanov Rallies Past Kokkinakis

Karen Khachanov earned his 20th win at.    Roland Garros on Friday when he battled hard to reach the fourth round for the sixth time.In a big-hitting clash, the 11th seed Khachanov overcame Australian wild card Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-4, 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(5) in front of a packed crowd on Court Simonne-Mathieu.

Khachanov, who rallied from two sets to love down in his opening round against Constant Lestienne, reached the quarter-finals in Paris in 2019. He will aim to advance to that stage again when he faces Andrey Rublev or Italian Lorenzo Sonego in the last 16.

Khachanov played aggressively throughout the first two sets, striking 20 winners to take control. Kokkinakis responded by clinching the third set and had the chance to force a deciding set, serving for the fourth at 5-4. The 27-year-old Khachanov refused to go away, though, saving one set point to break back before he rallied from 2/4 in the fourth-set tie-break to earn a thrilling victory after three hours and 44 minutes.

With his 22nd tour-level win of the season, Khachanov improved to 2-0 in his ATP Head2Head series against Kokkinakis, who won a five-set epic against Stan Wawrinka in the second round.Aiming to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time, Khachanov is currently ninth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin. He has found his best level at majors in recent years, advancing to the semi-finals at the US Open in 2022 and the Australian Open earlier this season.