Alejandro Davidovich Fokina vs Karen Khachanov Prediction & Betting Tips - ATP Monte Carlo Masters

Prediction published on 11/04/2023, 01:35  by Daniel Ngulu | Modified on 11/04/2023 at 04:55 in Tennis Predictions

Unseeded Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and ninth seed Karen Khachanov are lined to face off in the first round of the Monte-Carlo Open on Tuesday. He was a losing finalist here in last year’s edition and will hope to go one better this time round. The Spaniard is having a decent season despite with being a bit inconsistent; he has won 12 of the 21 matches he has played. He arrives in Monte-Carlo after his quarterfinal elimination at the Estoril Open where he was making his season debut on clay. Fokina has this season risen to a career high 24th in the ATP world rankings but is now down to 37th in the live rank following his subpar performance in Estoril. This will be the first match between them played on clay but theyve had two previous meetings, both won by Fokina but on hard courts. 

Karen Khachanov has never gone past the third round in Monte-Carlo and has lost twice in the first round including in last year’s edition. The Russian, ranked 12th in the live ranking, is preparing to make his season debut on clay after spending all season playing on hard courts. He is not a strong performer on the surface as he is on hard courts and could find the going tough here against a player who has gotten the better of him every time they have met. Khachanov will however hope the momentum gained from reaching the semifinals at the Miami Open propels him to another deep run here. Despite going for large spells without taking to the court, Khachanov has been superb this season and has won 13 of the 19 matches he has played. Before his success in Miami, he had also made it through to the last four at the Australian Open for the first time in his career. Advancing from this round will set up a second round clash with either the qualifier Ilya Ivashka or unseeded Daniel Evans.