Karen Khachanov soared to victory against
Yoshihito Nishioka in the final of the
Zhuhai Championships to win the
ATP 250 title in straight sets, 7-6 (2), 6-1.
World No. 15 Khachanov proved why he was the top seed at the tournament with a strong showing at the Zhuhai Hengqin International Tennis Center. The Russian only dropped one set on his way to the final, defeating Australian qualifier Alex Bolt, sixth seed Mackenzie McDonald, and fourth seed Sebastian Korda to get there.
Meanwhile, eighth seed Nishioka came back from 0-6 down in his opening match against Terence Atmane to defeat Lloyd Harris, Jan-Lennard Struff, and Aslan Karatsev in straight sets.
Close-knit first set but Khachanov dominates second
Both players held their serve in the opening set to force a tiebreak. Khachanov won their last tiebreak in the final set of their match at the 2023 Australian Open and was able to replicate that success here, dominating it to to win the set.
Following this, Nishioka was unable to get back in the game and Khachanov had a much easier time in the second set. The Russian secured a double break and held his serve while the Japanese player got only one game on the board.
This was an impressive feat for Khachanov, who has been struggling with a back injury as of late and has only played one match since this year's French Open. This was also his first ATP title in five years, showing the tennis world that he is back in the game.
This victory means that Khachanov has extended his head-to-head lead over Nishioka to 4-1. After the match, the 27-year-old had kind words for his opponent, praising him on his ability to make him run across the court.
"Every time I play against you I'm like 'Wow, I have to run a lot. Left, right, left, right'... I wish you all the best. You are one of the most polite, nicest guys on Tour," he said.
