Karen Khachanov officially looks like a Top 10 player again. Just a few weeks ago, the Russian won a title in Almaty. That said, it was a 250 event, and the best player Khachanov played was Aleksandar Vukic. But Khachanov then made a run to the final in Vienna, beating Brandon Nakashima, Matteo Berrettini and Alex de Minaur along the way. He also put up a good fight against Jack Draper in the final. Now, Khachanov is playing more good tennis in Paris, where he has wins over Christopher O’Connell and a red-hot Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.
This has been a down year for Khachanov, and it definitely took him some time to find his form after a strange run of injuries last year. But he’s back to being a force, and I like him to take care of business against Alexei Popyrin in the Round of 16 at the Rolex Paris Masters.
The only thing I’m really worried about with Khachanov is fatigue—he has played 11 matches over the past 14 days. But he looked up for it against Mpetshi Perricard, outlasting the surging Frenchman in three sets. Khachanov was also able to figure out Mpetshi Perricard’s serve, which has been an impossible task this season. Mpetshi Perricard had gone seven straight matches without being broken, but Khachanov broke him three times. That says a lot about how well he’s seeing the ball right now, and that match should have him up for this meeting with Popyrin, another massive server.
