Khachanov Passes Early Test In Dubai

Karen Khachanov was tested in the early stages of his Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships opener on Monday, before charging to a 7-6(2), 6-1 victory against Mikhail Kukushkin.

After recovering from a break down on two occasions in the first set, the 23-year-old dropped just one point behind his first serve in the second set (10/11) to complete the win after 90 minutes. Khachanov improves to 8-5 this season with his second victory in four appearances at the ATP 500 event.

“There were some difficult moments during the match,” said Khachanov. “I was a break down two times. That's really great to keep that first set. I think it was [an] important one.”

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The World No. 17 levels his ATP Head2Head series against Kukushkin at 1-1. The Kazakh beat Khachanov in the pair’s only previous tour-level ATP Head2Head clash at the 2014 VTB Kremlin Cup.

“It was not [an] easy opening match. Always first round is pretty tough… I'm really happy I could get the win,” said Khachanov. “I have another match, another opportunity to play better, like always, to improve.”

Khachanov advances to a second-round encounter against wild card Prajnesh Gunneswaran or Austrian qualifier Dennis Novak. The Russian is competing in the top quarter of the draw, which is headlined by World No. 1 and four-time champion Novak Djokovic.

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