Khachanov, Pouille Earn Confidence-Boosting Wins In Paris

Back on Parisian soil, a little more than eight miles from the scenes of his first ATP Masters 1000 title at the Rolex Paris Masters in November 2018, Karen Khachanov is rebuilding his confidence.

In his 22 matches since beating three Top 10 opponents en route to the trophy, Khachanov has suffered eight opening-round exits, but at Roland Garros on Tuesday, the 10th-seeded Russian powered his way past Cedrik-Marcel Steeb of Germany 6-1, 6-1, 6-4 in one hour and 37 minutes.

The 23-year-old Khachanov was always in control against Steeb, breaking serve five times in the first two sets, which included 12 winners from the Russian’s racquet, then winning 16 of the first 20 points in the third set. He will now prepare to face French wild card Gregoire Barrere or Matthew Ebden of Australia in the second round.

Elsewhere, French No. 22 seed Lucas Pouille will be aiming to reach the Roland Garros third round for the third consecutive year following a 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 victory over Italian qualifier Simone Bolelli in just under two hours.

Since reaching the Australian Open semi-finals in January, Pouille has struggled for tour-level consistency – recording only one victory over Borna Coric at the Mutua Madrid Open in seven ATP Tour events. He will play Slovakian Martin Klizan or Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan next in south-west Paris.

from Tennis - ATP World Tour http://bit.ly/2X6ZBOM