Two days after pulling off the biggest win of his career against Roberto Bautista Agut, teenager Karen Khachanov will face Alexandr Dolgopolov in the Barcelona third round. Feliciano Lopez and Philipp Kohlschreiber are also in action.
(Q) Karen Khachanov vs. (11) Alexandr Dolgopolov
Dolgopolov and Khachanov will be going head-to-head for the first time in their careers when they battle for a quarterfinal spot at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell on Thursday. It has already been the best week of Khachanov’s career. The 19-year-old Russian had to qualify just to get in the main draw and he has since parlayed that success into three-set victories over Aljaz Bedene and Roberto Bautista Agut. Previously owning just four ATP-level match wins, the world No. 138 outlasted Bedene in a third-set tiebreaker before upsetting Bautista Agut 6-2, 6-7(4), 6-3.
Following a first-round bye as the No. 11 seed, Dolgopolov defeated Evgeny Donskoy 4-6, 7-6(9), 6-4 on Tuesday. The 30th-ranked Ukrainian is 11-6 for the season, which includes a semifinal performance in Acapulco. Dolgopolov has now won his opening match in seven of eight tournaments. The big-hitting Khachanov will present plenty of problems, but it will be a tough task to reproduce such power and consistency for a second consecutive outing.
Pick: Dolgopolov in 3
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(10) Philipp Kohlschreiber vs. (7) Feliciano Lopez
Lopez and Kohlschreiber will be facing each other for the seventh time in their careers and for the first time in four years on Thursday. The head-to-head series stands at 4-2 in favor of Lopez, but it is all tied up at one win apiece on clay. The Spaniard prevailed 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 at the 2011 Rome Masters before Kohlschreiber got the job done 6-2, 6-7(4), 6-4 one season later in Munich. They have not squared off since 2012, when Lopez scored a 6-3, 6-4 victory on the hard courts of Shanghai.
In his opener on Wednesday, Lopez avenged two previous Barcelona losses by beating Ivan Dodig 7-6(5), 6-4. It was also a much-needed win because the world No. 23 had lost two straight matches at the hands of Juan Monaco in the Houston semifinals and David Goffin in the Monte-Carlo first round. Kohlschreiber has won his opening match at seven of eight tournaments in 2016 after crushing Pablo Carreno Busta 6-2, 6-1 on Wednesday. The 27th-ranked German is 13-7 for the season with quarterfinal performances in Sofia and Dubai plus a semifinal finish in Rotterdam. Clay should favor a relatively in-form Kohlschreiber, as Lopez would probably prefer to contest this one on either grass or a fast hard court.
Pick: Kohlschreiber in 3
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