Following first-round byes, Karen Khachanov and Marco Cecchinato will kick off their Moscow campaigns on Wednesday. Khachanov is going up against Lukas Rosol, while Cecchinato is facing Adrian Mannarino.
(Q) Lukas Rosol vs. (3) Karen Khachanov
Rosol has disappeared off the main tour, to the extent that the Kremlin Cup marks just his second ATP-level appearance of the season. The 172nd-ranked Czech, who reached the Geneva second round as a qualifier back in May, qualified for the main draw and then defeated Matteo Berrettini 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 on Monday. He now has a chance to reach his first ATP quarterfinal in more than two years (dating back to a Geneva semifinal appearance in May of 2016).
Standing in Rosol’s way, however, is Khachanov. The head-to-head series heading into Wednesday sits at 1-1, with Rosol prevailing 6-4, 6-4 on the indoor hard courts of St. Petersburg in 2013 before Khachanov got the job done 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 three years later on the red clay of the Prostejov Challenger. Khachanov is obviously a massive favorite this time around as Moscow’s third seed and No. 26 player in the world. The 22-year-old Russian is 35-21 this season and he has won multiple matches in six of his last 10 tournaments. Even if Rosol serves well, a considerable edge in current form goes to Khachanov.
Pick: Khachanov in 2
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(1) Marco Cecchinato vs. Adrian Mannarino
Cecchinato has finally figured out how to win on hard courts. Of course, it only makes since because he rarely dabbled onto this surface in the past but now has such a high ranking that he can enter any tournament he chooses. The result is a lot more experience on the hard stuff–and the first four such wins of his career during this fall swing. Cecchinato won an ATP-level match on a hard court for the first time ever in St. Petersburg, also advanced one round in Beijing, and beat Gilles Simon and Hyeon Chung at the Shanghai Masters before falling to eventual champion Novak Djokovic.
Up first for the 19th-ranked Italian in Moscow on Wednesday is a second career contest against Mannarino, who won their only previous encounter 6-7(7), 6-2, 7-6(7) at the Cincinnati Masters this summer. Speaking of final-set tiebreakers, the 49th-ranked Frenchman needed one on Monday when he outlasted Russian wild card Evgeny Karlovskiy 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(4). Mannarino is a mere 22-27 for his 2018 campaign, but an indoor hard court should give him a good chance of winning another tough one against Cecchinato.
Pick: Mannarino in 3
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