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ATP fans have been aware of powerful Karen Khachanov for a long time, so when he won his first title last autumn at Chengdu, China it wasn’t a huge surprise. As far as today’s straight-sets beatdown of Tomas Berdych at Roland Garros goes, even the die-hards have to be surprised.

Khachanov didn’t face a break point and won 88 percent of his first-serve points during his 7-5, 6-4, 6-4 win over the No.13-seeded Czech.

Berdych is a former Roland Garros semifinalist that has also reached the quarterfinals in Paris on two other occasions. But he did not have an answer for Khachanov on Thursday.

“It feels great for me,” Khachanov said. “It was a really good match on my side. I did everything we planned with my team and my coach, so I think that’s why the result came to me. I like the way I was playing and the way I’m practicing. I have to focus on what I do well and try to keep doing it in my next matches.”

21-year-old Khachanov reached the third round at a major for the first time, which is surprising, but the Moscow native had an even bigger surprise for his fans this week in Roland Garros.

He’s married (see above tweet to watch Khachanov surprise Eurosport reporters with the news). And based on the reaction, very few people knew. So we can add "secret keeper" alongside big serve and beastly forehand when enumerating the Russian's many skills.


Apparently the Russian likes to keep his personal life personal. Meanwhile, tennis Twitter showed it’s appreciation for the news as only it can.




Khachanov will face John Isner for a spot in the second week. It will be the pair’s first-ever meeting.

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