He was most recently in action at the Budapest Challenger where he lost in the first round to Slovakia’s Norbert Gombos, 6-4, 6-7, 6-7. He then returned to Europe, putting in some fine performances at the Koblenz Challenger in Germany to reach the semifinals, where he lost in three sets to Gianluca Mager of Italy in three sets. Griekspoor opened his 2019 season with a defeat to Bjorn Fratangelo of the United States in the first round of qualifying at Melbourne Park. However, he suffered another early loss, falling in the second round to Matteo Berrettini of Italy. He was next in action in Sofia, where he was the top seed. Despite being seeded 10th, the Russian was unable to advance beyond the third round, losing there in straight sets to Roberto Bautista Agut. Khachanov, after beginning his season with a narrow loss in the first round at the Qatar Open at the hands of Stan Wawrinka, traveled to Melbourne Park for the Australian Open. Griekspoor, in contrast, has just one match win to his name on the main tour and has never won a title and has earned just under $200,000 in prize money. The Russian has a career-record of 93-71 and has won four titles at tour-level and earned over $5.4 million in prize money. But in terms of experience, despite the two men being separated by just two months in age, Khachanov has a significant advantage. This will be the first meeting between Khachanov and Griekspoor. Will he be able to pull off another memorable win or will Khachanov’s quality tell? History Standing between him and a place in the second round is Dutch wildcard Tallon Griekspoor, who upset Stan Wawrinka in the first round at the Rotterdam Open last year. But opportunity is in the air in Rotterdam, and the Russian will be hoping to put together a deep run at the first ATP 500 event of the year. Expect a straight sets win for a Khachanov backed by his home crowd.Second seed and 2018 Paris Masters champion Karen Khachanov has endured an indifferent start to this season. Wawrinka, at long last, looks to be on the mend, but even were he at his best Khachanov would provide a stern test. He reached the fourth round at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon and has delivered very creditable performances even when up against the game’s very best.
Khachanov has gone slightly under the radar so far in 2018, but he is having a superb year. Thus maintaining a high first serve percentage could well prove crucial. Both men are equipped with powerful first serves and neither are at their best returning. He is also comfortable stepping in to his backhand, but it is not as reliable a weapon as his forehand. It is a bruising shot, hit with a potent mixture of pace and spin and Khachanov will look to use it to keep Wawrinka moving. Khachanov, in contrast, favours his forehand. His forehand is also powerful, but it is less technically sound than his backhand and as a result he tends to give up more errors from that wing. When he has time to unload on that shot it is amongst the most formidable weapons in the sport and one Khachanov will need to be wary of. Wawrinka has the power to trouble opponents from any position, but his offensive hallmark is his one-handed backhand. This should be an entertaining clash between two big shot makers. He then beat Albert Ramos Vinolas and Lorenzo Sonego to reach the third round at the US Open where he lost a four-set thriller to Rafael Nadal 7-5 5-7 6-7 6-7. He played some fine tennis to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon, though he was well-beaten there by Djokovic, before reaching the semifinals in Toronto and the third round in Cincinnati. But he has been in impressive form of late. Khachanov, as the fourth seed, received a first-round bye and thus has not yet taken to the court. The second set was another close affair, but Wawrinka hung tough to take it in a tiebreak and reach the second round a 7-5 7-6 winner. But he did so and managed to stay with Wawrinka only for the Swiss to break late to take the opener 7-5. Wawrinka put Bedene under heavy pressure early in the match, with the Slovenian forced to save a number of break points in his first service game.
Wawrinka began his St Petersburg campaign against Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia.
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