A Third Meeting

First in Australia, then in Canada, and now back to Australia...

I remember doing a preview for this match in Toronto last year. I liked Michelsen back then, but ultimately Khachanov was a deserved winner with a 6-4, 7-6 scoreline. However, that was a week where Khachanov was "on fire", losing to Shelton in a deciding set tiebreaker in the final. So, let's figure out what we can take from that (and any previous) meeting, and also their current form heading into this one. Khachanov had a huge week in Toronto back then, and he has not been able to achieve anything noteworthy since then; on the contrary, a lot of early round losses. In the off-season, he explained that he had been dealing with an injury. His first match of the year was a disappointing 7-6, 7-6 loss to Mmoh in Hong Kong. Michelsen is entering this match with some good form, having had a nice run in Brisbane before a second-round fatigue-looking exit in Auckland.

Similar to my Toronto preview, I will plead my case for Michelsen a bit more in this matchup. He has great tools to disrupt someone like Khachanov, who thrives on using his physicality and power in rhythm-based baseline exchanges. Michelsen is great at changing the tempo and breaking crosscourt patterns by his excellent ability to go up/down-the-line from both wings (especially backhand). Combine that with pretty good net-rushing skills and solid returning, and you have a good profile to face Khachanov! Now, it would be unfair to only mention the positive for Michelsen here, wouldn't it? In Toronto, Khachanov was able to prevent Michelsen from implementing his game just due to the quality of his serve and initial shots. Michelsen is not the most athletic guy, so if you get him moving and defending, he has a hard time turning the rally around. However, it's harder to play that way when you are coming in a bit more "cold", he already had a few impressive matches in Toronto before they played. Can you see where I'm heading here? ;)