Number 11 seed Karen Khachanov of Russia faces off against Roberto Bautista Agut in the second round of the Italian Open on Tuesday, May 14. The match will start at 12:15pm local time (11:15 BST). You can find the Karen Khachanov v Roberto Bautista Agut live streaming options, preview and predictions here.
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Karen Khachanov v Roberto Bautista Agut Head to Head
Khachanov and Bautista Agut have met on four occasions previously. The Russian won their first encounter on the clay courts of Barcelona in 2016 (their only clay-court meeting). Since then, the Spaniard has dominated the rivalry winning the next three matches – dropping just one set – including their recent tussle at the Australian Open earlier this year.
Russian Needs To Turn Around Dire Form
Karen Khachanov is slowly coming to terms that tennis at the very top can be extremely exhilarating but also frustrating. To achieve a balance between the two, is remarkable consistency, and which is something only the Big Three have sustained for the whole of their careers.
The Russian claimed his breakthrough title at the Paris Masters when he beat World No.1 Novak Djokovic at the tail end of last year and he came mighty close to qualify for the ATP Finals in 2018. That win was expected to serve as platform for a big 2019 season, but he has been embarrassingly uninspiring.
His best result this year is a quarterfinal which he achieved at BNP Paribas Open where he lost to an injured Rafael Nadal. He has suffered a whopping eight first round defeats, and it is only a minor miracle that those below him have failed to capitalise on his form and pass him in the rankings.
Illness played a part on his slow start to 2019, but he is struggling for form badly. With numerous points to defend during the second half of the season, Khachanov needs to improve and fast if he is to retain his status as a top-20 player.
Bautista Agut Lost To Ferrer In Madrid
Roberto Bautista Agut’s form is a complete contrast to his second round opponent in Rome. He started his 2019 season with a bang by beating Novak Djokovic in Doha en route to his 9th career ATP title. He soared to 9 successive victories (including his run to the title in Qatar) until he fell to Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. In that run, he beat Andy Murray, Karen Khachanov and Marin Cilic as well.
However, nothing has quite lived up to that mark since. The Spaniard failed to win back-to-back matches in the February events (Sofia and Dubai) and the Indian Wells Masters. Although he registered his second win over Djokovic in Miami, he lost to John Isner in the next round.
His clay season has been a disappointment. He won only two games in a rout against Nadal at the Monte Carlo Masters, and lost to Matteo Berrettini at BMW Open. He was expected to be the man to make David Ferrer put his headband down one last time, but fell to the now-retired 37-year-old in three sets in opening round in Madrid.
Khachanov v Bautista Agut Predictions & Tips
There is real value in backing Khachanov to pick up only his second win over the Spaniard. Clay is not Agut’s best surface with 8 of his 9 titles won on hard courts. The Spaniard’s form on clay has been terrible off late and Khachanov will be buoyed by the fact that his sole win in their series was on the dirt.
Tip: Khachanov to win: 10/11 (888Sport)
The Khachanov v Bautista Agut match can be watched live with Unibet here on May 14, 2019. Also get the latest tennis tips and predictions here.
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