A Dangerous Opening Round?

Will Khachanov finally be able to break his losing streak?

Ever since that loss to Majchrzak in the USO, it's not been pretty for Khachanov. Losses to Muller and Shang in the Asian Swing and then to Struff and Griekspoor in Almaty and Vienna. Khachanov usually doesn't go on big losing streaks, since he is such a solid player that tends to take care of opponents that he should beat. Usually, this part of the season, European Indoor Hardcourt, is quite a good one for him. So, why is he struggling now? For me, the main reason is his forehand... and the data confirms it. In three of his last four losses, the forehand has been his worst-rated shot, averaging around a 6.5~ rating, which is very low. And then you look at his last two losses, Struff and Griekspoor... both of them are very good at rushing the opponent as well as coming to the net (his other big weakness). If you want to find some positives from the losses, it's that he at least kept the matches competitive despite not being able to rely on his forehand. However, he was a 1.40-1.50 favorite in both matches, so not sure how much you can see that as something good ;)

I've been quite hard on Quinn lately, but I will give him some credit here for his qualifying matches. Easy victories against Blanchet and Botic. As expected, it's his serve and forehand that are doing the majority of the damage... when he can dictate like that, his defending and backhand do not get exposed. Players with a good backhand, movement, and tennis IQ are a tough matchup for Quinn, as can be seen in his losses to Rune and Majchrzak recently. Does Khachanov fall within this category? Well, his backhand is not bad, but it excels more at absorbing and redirecting pace instead of generating. And while Khachanov is quite solid, his movement and tennis IQ are nothing special. I'm interested in how Quinn approaches this tactically. Normally, he is more of a ball-basher... but surely he or his coach must know Khachanov's weaknesses and try to exploit them (by really focusing on not letting Khachanov set up his FH and force him to hit passing shots by taking the net)...