Twelve years after the first, Karen Khachanov scored his 200th hard-court ATP victory in Cincinnati. The Russian faced Valentin Royer in the second round and prevailed 6-4, 7-6 in an hour and 50 minutes.
Thus, Karen became the tenth player born in 1990 or later with 200 ATP wins on hard. He joined Grigor Dimitrov, Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev, Milos Raonic, Andrey Rublev, David Goffin, Taylor Fritz, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alex de Minaur on that list.
Khachanov came to Cincinnati after reaching the Canada Masters final. He had to dig deep against Royer before sealing the deal in straight sets and earning a milestone.
Barely 24 hours after their final in Toronto, Karen Khachanov and Ben Shelton meet again in Cincinnati 🫂
The work pace is intense.pic.twitter.com/a7rRfXS8rG
— We Are Tennis (@WeAreTennis) August 9, 2025
The favorite claimed nine points more than his rival. He fired seven aces and played against three break points, dropping serve two times. Valentin struggled behind the second serve and played against 11 break points.
He lost serve three times and ended his campaign in the second round despite a solid effort. Both players tamed their strokes nicely. They stayed neck and neck in the shortest exchanges, and Karen built a slim lead in the mid-range ones.
Karen Khachanov, Cincinnati 2025© Stream screenshot
The Frenchman survived two challenging service games in the opener and stayed in touch for 4-4. Khachanov finally grabbed a break in the ninth game and held in the next one for 6-4.
The lower-ranked player hit well at the beginning of the second set and provided a break in game six for a 4-2 advantage. However, he lost serve in the next one and lost the edge.
The Russian provided a break at 5-5 and served for the win in game 12. However, he lost serve at love and kept his rival in contention. Valentin missed a set point at 6-5 and dropped three straight points to push Khachanov through.
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