By Chris Oddo | Saturday October 20, 2018
Russia's Karen Khachanov defeated his friend and compatriot Daniil Medvedev to reach the Kremlin Cup final for the first time.
Photo: Kremlin Cup
Karen Khachanov came through a battle of rising Russians to reach his first Kremlin Cup final in Moscow.
The 22-year-old ousted his friend and compatriot Daniil Medvedev, 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-3 to reach his third career final and his second of the season.
He’ll attempt to cap his run on Sunday when he meets France’s Adrian Mannarino in the title match. The Frenchman eased past Italy’s Andreas Seppi 7-5, 7-5 earlier on Saturday to reach his sixth career ATP final.
Mannarino (0-5) has never won an ATP title.
Khachanov (2-0) has never lost an ATP final.
The World No.26 improved to 38-21 on the season and 1-1 lifetime against Medvedev by playing a near perfect third set that saw him break for 2-0 and never face a break point.
After dominating the opener, Khachanov faced a significant test from Medvedev in sets two and three. The pair played crisp, serve-centric tennis on the fast surface in Moscow, with neither player surrendering a break in the second.
Medvedev took the initiative in the second-set breaker and ran off to a 6-2 lead before Khachanov nearly reeled him back win, winning three points on the trot to close to 5-6. But Medevev took the set on the next point to force the decider.
It would prove to be Khachanov’s day in the third.
He blasted a giant forehand return on break point with Medvedev serving at 0-1, 30-40 and took the point to claim the only break he would need.
Medvedev kept it within a break but Khachanov held to love when serving out the match to clinch his victory in one hour and 46 minutes.
Khachanov, who finished with 24 winners against 38 unforced on the evening, leads the head-to-head with Mannarino 2-0 at ATP level, but Mannarino did defeat Khachanov at a Challenger in 2015.