Khachanov wins hard-fought opening match

Karen Khachanov is lucky his Libéma Open is not over yet. The seeded number three found himself in a tense situation several times in the third set, but was still able to win from Mackenzie McDonald: 6-3 5-7 7-6(4).

The US qualifier was ahead by an early break in the deciding set and was also the first to grab a mini-break in the tiebreak. Khachanov was still able to answer in both instances.

Khachanov will play Gabriel Diallo in the quarterfinals, who in turn even survived two match points before surprising two-time finalist Jordan Thompson.

Mark Lajal, after his two qualification victories, also won his first round in the main tournament. The 22-year-old Estonian did so against Laslo Djere, the Serbian who is some 130 places higher in the world rankings.

World number 191 Lajal is the next opponent of fifth seeded Hubert Hurkacz.