Karen Khachanov cruised past Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 6-2 6-2 in just 54 minutes to clinch the third ATP title of his career and the second of his season in front of his home fans. With this title the Moscow native has broken the top 20 in the ATP Ranking for the first time in his career. Mannarino was still seeking his first title.
Khachanov served at 78 percent and he dropped 11 points in 8 service games, fending off the only break point he faced in the match. Mannarino dropped his serve four times from the six break point chances he faced.
The 22-year-old Russian player earned his first break of the match in the third game, when he forced an error from Mannarino. He hit a return winner to get the double break for 5-2 in the seventh game earning a chance to serve for the set. He closed out the set with a service winner in the next game after 24 minutes.
Khachanov went up an early break at the start of the second set after Mannarino made a double fault. Khachanov earned a double break in the third game with a net cord winner. Mannarino created a break point in the fourth game, but Khachanov held on his serve with a service winner. He served out the match 6-2 with a forehand winner to clinch his 39th win of the season.
With this win Khachanov put an end to the nine-year title drought in the Kremlin Cup in Moscow. The last Russian player to win in the Russian capital was Mikhail Youzhny.
“Winning in Russia was one of the dreams I had when I was a kid. Coming here as a kid, I was asking top Russian players for autographs and dreaming one day to become a champion one day. Today I am very happy. These are memories I will always keep in my head. I started really well. I was very aggressive and I didn’t give any chances for Mannarino to step in to the match and get some rhythm. That was one of the keys”, said Khachanov.
