And on top of that, he’s already pissed off old man De Jong!

Those were the words of our pro gambler Marcos as soon as De Jong beat Cina in R2...

Indeed, it was in Rotterdam this year, for Khachanov’s first match after the Australian Open. The quality of the match was pretty mediocre, and Jesper managed to do what he needed to to bother the Russian.

At Roland, and in this heat, Khacha’s game looks better. The Russian is lacking a bit of power to really make the difference from the baseline, so the liveliness of the court helps his topspin and his ball goes through the air a bit faster. On the other hand, 90% of his matches this season have been labored. And that was again the case against Trungelliti. The Argentine played it well in the sense that he mixed things up nicely and fought like crazy. As a result, we had a Khacha who really had to dig deep to win the match, and who surely paid a price for it.

So I’m expecting a more balanced match than it looks on paper. And also, against Jesper, playing aggressively isn’t necessarily a good thing. He’s exactly the kind of guy who’s going to defend, counter, and vary. I often mention his match against Jodar in Madrid where, right off the return, he was putting insane pressure on the Spaniard.

In a best‑of‑three, I wouldn’t have said so, but in a best‑of‑five, I think he’s going to be a nightmare to beat.