World number 11 Karen Khachanov will face the 108th-ranked Thanasi Kokkinakis in the third round of the 2023 French Open on Friday, June 2. Get the predictions and odds of this Karen Khachanov v Thanasi Kokkinakis match along with its preview, head to head, and tips here.
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Karen Khachanov v Thanasi Kokkinakis Head to Head
Their only previous meeting came at the 2018 Monte-Carlo Masters and Khachanov had won that in straight sets.
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Khachanov Makes Short Work of Albot
It didn’t take too much time for Khachanov to defeat Radu Albot in the second round of the competition to get a step closer to his previous performance in this tournament.
Having made it to the fourth round last year, Khachanov has a golden chance of emulating that after having edged out Constant Lestienne in his opener from being two sets down and overcome Albot in straight sets in the second.
Khachanov was on court for two hours and 19 minutes in his 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win over Albot as he got his serve going very nicely in the encounter. The Russian faced just one break-point in the contest and saved it while breaking his opponent on four occasions.
Where Khachanov scored over Albot was his 39 winners and 22 unforced errors, compared to 25 and 34 respectively for his opponent. And with Khachanov now facing another player ranked outside the top 100, a fourth round berth looks a good possibility for the Madrid Masters quarterfinalist.
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Kokkinakis Involved in a Thriller with Wawrinka
In a match that lasted five sets, it was the young legs of Kokkinakis which had the last laugh over the ageing experience of Stan Wawrinka.
Kokkinakis clinched a place in the third round with a 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-3 win over Wawrinka in a match lasting four hours and 41 minutes.
Having already sent Dan Evans packing in straight sets in the first round, Kokkinakis was broken late in the first set to concede the lead. And he looked to be staring at the wrong end of the barrel when he fell 4-2 behind in the second before mounting a comeback.
The Aussie broke right back and then again in the 12th game of the set as Wawrinka served to stay in the set.
A quick 3-0 lead followed in the third set before he wrapped it up but Wawrinka stormed back in the fourth. He managed to hold on to his serve quite easily and then grabbed the equaliser in the following tie-breaker.
The match fluctuated again in the decider when Kokkinakis racked up a 4-0 lead but Wawrinka wasn’t done. He pulled it back to 4-2, and as Kokkinakis served for the match at 5-3, he saved four match-points as well.
Off the fifth though, Kokkinakis converted it and sealed his third round berth.
Khachanov v Kokkinakis Prediction and Tip
Khachanov starts off a favourite here and we will be backing him to win this but there’s every chance that Kokkinakis could snatch a set.
Tips:
- Low Risk Tip: Khachanov to win: 11/20
- Moderate Risk Tip: Over 36.5 games in the match: 5/6
The 2023 French Open will be played from May 28 to June 11. You can get all the tennis betting news with our tennis betting blog here. Also get rest of the tennis match previews here.
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