How labored this is!

Victory for Khacha, but he sure likes to make things difficult for himself!

Not far from losing to Mochizuki, Khacha once again had to tighten up his game with his back against the wall, a habit this season for the Russian, who is far from his best level at the moment. You don’t feel any real momentum building either, he’s struggling. Tomorrow is another potential trap waiting for him, even if Fucsovics isn’t doing much right at the start of this season either.

The Hungarian is losing to guys he should be beating and isn’t causing any upsets, so you don’t really feel like backing him either, but he does have a great track record at this tournament, much better than his usual standards! He comes in as a complete underdog and could very well produce a big match to give Khacha a hard time, who in any case is holding himself back on his own.

They’ve played twice in the past, but there was a retirement and then a win in 2017 for Fucso, too far back to really use. I still think that given Khacha’s issues and Fucso’s good record here, the value will be on the Hungarian’s side.