A blockbuster second-round matchup in Cincinnati on Wednesday pits Karen Khachanov against Nick Kyrgios. Fresh off another win over Grigor Dimitrov, Stan Wawrinka will continue his campaign against Andrey Rublev.
Nick Kyrgios vs. (8) Karen Khachanov
Khachanov and Kyrgios will be going head-to-head for the first time in their careers when they clash in round two of the Western & Southern Open on Wednesday. With Novak Djokovic looming as a potential quarterfinal opponent for one of these two, Kyrgios could be especially motivated in Cincinnati. The 27th-ranked Australian was certainly inspired two weeks ago in Washington, D.C., where he captured his sixth ATP title. Following a loss right away in Montreal to Kyle Edmund, Kyrgios took down Lorenzo Sonego 7-5, 6-4 on Monday night.
As the No. 8 seed this week, Khachanov was the last to earn a first-round bye. The ninth-ranked Russian will be playing his first match since reaching the semifinals in Montreal, where he defeated Stan Wawrinka, Felix Auger-Aliassime, and Alexander Zverev before falling to Daniil Medvedev. As talented as Khachanov is, this is a contest Kyrgios should win if he remains focused–or close to focused–from start to finish.
Pick: Kyrgios in 3
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Stan Wawrinka vs. (Q) Andrey Rublev
Wawrinka vs. Dimitrov is a tough first-round draw for both players, but it is especially tough for Dimitrov. With Tuesday’s 5-7, 6-4, 7-6(4) victory, Wawrinka improved to 5-0 in that head-to-head series dating back to Wimbledon last summer–including four in opening rounds (also last week in Montreal). The 34-year-old Swiss is a decent 23-15 this season with a quarterfinal performance at the French Open.
Up next for Wawrinka on Wednesday is a second career meeting with Rublev. Their only previous encounter came three years ago in Chennai, where Wawrinka cruised 6-3, 6-2. Rublev is much different player now at 21 years old and he is back in the top 70 after missing a lot of time over the past year due to injuries. The Russian finished runner-up to Nikoloz Basilashvili on the red clay of Hamburg earlier this summer and avenged that loss by prevailing 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-2 on Tuesday. This will be a difficult one for Wawrinka, but the veteran played well enough against Dimitrov–other than his failed attempts to serve out the match–and should improve with one round under his belt.
Pick: Rublev in 3
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WWW?
Rublev in three, Kyrgios same
Wawrinka cannot beat Fed and Rublev will wave the white flag to Fed.
The paragraph makes it seem like you’re gonna pick Wawrinka, lol!
Stan and Nick in three
Rublev and Kyrgios to win But over is the real winner!
Wawrinka in 3, Kyrgios in 3
Knov in 2; Rublev in 2 ( and that Wka-Dtrov match yesterday was one of the best of the summer!)
Well I was happy enough with Rublev making through qualifying and then to my surprise, he got a win over Basilashvili! So, I don’t know – didn’t see the matches yesterday and my guess would be Wawrinka in 2.
Kyrgios over Khachanov in 3
Here’s the deal with Nick Kyrgios. He has incredible physical talent but just about zero mental talent. He will never win a 5 set major tournament acting like that.
Tonight he hit a ball out of the stadium in the 3rd of 4th game and completely lost his head about the fucking serve clock. Why does he care? He’s one of the fastest servers on tour! Dude why are you fucking complaining about something that meaningless for HOURS??? He cannot let shit go.
Do you like to live bet on tennis? Just watch Kyrgios and as soon as he starts bitching about something for 3 games and can’t let it go – he’s toast. EASY MONEY. I’m sure that kid you handed your broken racquet to after the match would have appreciated a fully functional racquet. I’m getting tired of defending this guy – he’s an undisciplined dickhead.
Kyrgios’s behaviour towards the umpire was atrocious; he’s lucky he wasnt given more stern warnings or penalties from the umpire. I don’t see why the umpire has to tolerate all these nonsense from him.
Khachanov, despite a year younger, behaved very professionally and concentrated on the job at hand. Well done to him for the deserved win, he didn’t want to have anything to do with all the nonsenses coming from Kyrgios.
When oh when oh when will the ATP intervene and provide Kyrios with the mental help that he needs?!! He is a classic case of bipolar, and i really do feel sorry for him. It is so obvious that this is a mental issue, y is no one seeing this? No amount of fines is going to make a difference, sigh!! People find it funny but its not, and i don’t think its his fault, its just simply sad. Very sad!