Barcelona Open: Khachanov toughs out against Davidovich Fokina to reach semi-finals
Karen Khachanov won against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-4, 7-5 on Friday and will play the winner of the match between Dane Holger Rune, the No 6 seed, and Norwegian Casper Ruud, the second seed, in the next round
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Russian Karen Khachanov defeated Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-4, 7-5 to move into the semi-finals of the Barcelona Open at Real Club de Tenis Barcelona on Friday.
Khachanov, ranked No 27, will face the winner of the match between Dane Holger Rune, the No 6 seed, and Norwegian Casper Ruud, the second seed, next.
After the victory, he stated:
“To be honest, like I said yesterday, I have been playing really well – finally, I have found rhythm of matches, winning those close ones. That has given me, firstly, extra confidence and, secondly, feeling a little bit [in] situations where I have to push more, where I have to be a little more calm.
Today it was the same. Alejandro, this year, has been playing tremendously well, I had to dig deep to win this one – especially in this set.”
The Russian won against qualifier Cameron Norrie (6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-3) and Spaniard Jaume Munar (7-5, 6-4) ahead of his victory.
In the previous rounds of the Barcelona tournament, Davidovich Fokina, ranked No 30, won against Swiss wildcard Stan Wawrinka (6-1, 6-4) and Russian Andrey Rublev, the No 4 seed (7-5, 6-4).
Barcelona ATP 500, other last 8 results (Real Club de Tenis Barcelona, clay, EUR 2.889.200, most recent results first):
- Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Arthur Fils
- Carlos Alcaraz vs. Alex De Minaur
- Holger Rune vs. Casper Ruud
