DOHA/RIO DE JANEIRO – No. 2 seed Karen Chacanov beat Czech teenager Jakub Menšík 7-6 (12), 6-4 on Saturday to claim her sixth career title at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha.
The 27-year-old Russian didn’t lose a set all week, a record he kept intact by winning four set points in the opening set tiebreak.
Chačanov prevailed on the 26th point of the tiebreak with a crushing forehand return on a big serve from Menšík, then collected the only break of the match in the opening game of the second set.
“I stayed strong, I’m extremely happy to win the first set. It lifted me up a lot and gave me a lot of confidence going into the second,” said Khachanov, whose victory in one hour and 49 minutes gave him his first title since Zhuhai in September.
Menšík, competing in only his third tour-level tournament, was the youngest finalist in Doha history. He hammered 16 aces and finished with 33 winners and 10 unforced errors.
NAVONE DOWNS NORRIE
Defending champion Cameron Norrie collapsed at the ATP Rio Open clay court on Saturday, slumping to a straight-sets semi-final defeat against Argentinian qualifier Mariano Navone.
British No.1 Norrie – seeking back-to-back titles in Rio after beating Carlos Alcaraz in last year’s final – struggled in hot and humid conditions before slipping to a 6-4, 6-2 defeat.
The 22-year-old Navone, currently ranked 113 in the world, earned three match points when Norrie broke a long forehand in the eighth game of the second set.
Another failed comeback from the second-seeded British world number 23 sealed victory for the Argentinian youngster, who will advance to the first ATP final of his career, where he will face compatriot Sebastien Baez.
“It’s unbelievable, my first final,” Navone said after the win. “I’ve been playing so well all week. Today was very hot and humid, it’s hard to play in those conditions.”
“But I’ve played six games in a row so I feel pretty good.
Navone’s victory set up an all-Argentine clash in Sunday’s Quadra Guga Kuerten court after Sebastian Baez beat compatriot Francisco Cerundolo in Saturday’s other semi-final.
Baez saved three set points in the first set of his clash with Cerundol before winning 7-5, 6-0.
“We know each other too much, I think, more than I want to,” Baez said after the semifinal win. “Every match is different, today it’s going my way.
“I gave him a lot of break points in the first set. I had to take it because it’s so hard for both of them.”
