Aleksandar Kovacevic vs Karen Khachanov Prediction: Bookmakers are on the side of the Russian

In the the Australian Open, American Alexandar Kovacevic, the 101st ranked player in the world, will face Russian Karen Khachanov, currently No. 15 in the world rankings. The guys have not crossed paths on tour before, and bookmakers are on the side of the Russian in the pairing, believing that Karen will be closer to victory.

Kovacevic AO started with qualification, where he knocked out three players: Belgian Onclin, Ukrainian Sachko, and Japanese Mochizuki, losing two sets in these meetings. Kovacevic's opponent in the first round of the Melbourne Majors was Chile's Tabilo, No. 49 in the world rankings. The match against the South American was a long one, lasting three hours and 25 minutes, and Krvacevic won it with the scores 6:7, 7:6,7:6,1:6, 6:1, 6:3. During the game, the American made 23 aces and eight doubles faults, won 75% of points on first serve and 56% on second serve.

As we expected, Karen had problems with German Altmaier in the first round of the AO. The match against the Germans lasted more than 4 hours; Khachanov lost the first set 5:7 but won the next three sets, including two tie-breaks. During the game, Karen made 15 aces with four double faults and won 76% of points on the first serve and 53% on the second.

Karen got important match practice, and we expect more quality tennis from Khachanov in the second round. If Khachanov wants to make it to the deciding stages of the tournament, the Russian should stop practicing long matches and start saving his energy. For Kovacevic, the second round is already a great success, but we must admit that the American was lucky to fall in the first round to the far from top-ranked Tabilo. We believe that Kovacevic will not go further than the second round; moreover, Karen will have a confident victory over the Americans on Wednesday.