Karen Khachanov is through to his 10th ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final after defeating Casper Ruud at the Canadian Open.
The Russian star wobbled in the second set, surrendering a comfortable lead to trail 4-5. However, the 29-year-old held his nerve to claim victory, winning 6-4 7-5.
Khachanov has established himself as an elite player on the ATP Tour, reaching multiple Grand Slam quarter-finals and one ATP Masters 1000 title at the 2018 Paris Masters.
The 29-year-old is through to another Masters quarter-final in Toronto after defeating Ruud. He will face young American star Alex Michelsen, who defeated compatriot Learner Tien in the round of 16.
With victory over Ruud, Khachanov broke an undesired streak dating back to November 2024.
Karen Khachanov breaks 11-match streak held since 2024 Paris Masters
Despite being ranked 16 in the world, Karen Khachanov has struggled in recent times to defeat players in the upper echelons of the ATP Tour.
In fact, he had not beaten an ATP top 20 player in 11 matches, dating back to November 2023.
As per OptaAce, Khachanov’s victory over Ruud snapped an 11-match losing streak against ATP top 20 opponents, with the Russian’s last win coming against Grigor Dimitrov at the quarter-final stage of the 2024 Paris Masters.
In that tournament, Khachanov reached the semi-finals before losing to Frenchman Ugo Humbert in three sets.
After breaking the streak in Canada, Khachanov will be looking to claim his second ATP Masters 1000 title.
If he can beat the red-hot Michelsen, Khachanov will set up a tough match against either number one seed Alexander Zverev or defending Canadian Open champion Alexei Popyrin; who set a new Open Era record with his victory over Holger Rune.
Khachanov’s near-perfect serving
Karen Khachanov was simply unstoppable on his first serve-points against Casper Ruud.
Despite struggling to make his first serves, landing only 56 per cent, Khachanov only lost one point on his first serve during the entire match.
This means he won 97 per cent of his first serve points against Ruud.
Speaking to the Tennis Channel after the match, Khachanov discussed this particular statistic, agreeing with the host, who said it was ‘as good as a serving day as you can possibly have.’
He said: “That’s true. I think to be honest with you, maybe first time it happened in my career, that I lost only one point on the first serves.
“So, because the percentage of the first serves was not as high. That’s normally, we’re looking at to be 65, 68 [percent], maybe close to 70, that’s amazing. And today was like 56, 57 per cent.
“But points winning, in the end it matters a lot, so I can’t complain about that stat as well.”
