Jannik Sinner will search for a quarter-final spot at the 2024 Madrid Open, but so will his opponent in the fourth round - Karen Khachanov.
The Italian continued his good performance in the Spanish capital by beating Pavel Kotov in two sets. It was a solid win for him, although not perfect, as he trailed for much of the second set.
He also experienced some hip pain, complaining to his box, but was able to escape in two sets. We'll have to take the hip pain into account because it clearly bothered him against the Russian, and it remains to be seen what the nature of it is.
Khachanov, to his credit, has plays another solid ATP Masters 1000 event, similar to how he's been playing for a while now.
Sinner and Khachanov have played a few times so far, and the Italian has dominated most of these matches. Khachavno can be solid, but the 22-year-old's overwhelming talent is just a bit too much for him.
The most recent meeting happened at this year's Australian Open, and it was a pretty simple straight-sets win for the Italian. Madrid will give Khachanov a chance to rely on his serve if he finds it, but for the most part, he'll struggle with the Italian's consistently precise baseline play.
| Jannik Sinner | Karen Khachanov | |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | H2H | 1 |
| 2 | Rank | 17 |
| 22 | Age | 27 |
| 27-2 | 2024 W/L | 17-7 |
| 217-76 | Career W/L | 261-186 |
One thing to keep an eye on is Sinner's hip and how much it affects him. We don't really know what happened in the last match, but he didn't look too severely limited moving-wise.
He did feel pain, apparently, but he can play through that. Ultimately, if he can play through it, then he should win comfortably because he's the better player in this matchup.
Prediction: Jannik Sinner to win in two sets.