David Goffin exacted revenge on Karen Khachanov in the first round of the Mutua Madrid Open on Sunday. Less than two weeks after falling to the #NextGenATP Russian in Barcelona, the ninth seed notched a 6-2, 7-6(8) victory at the Caja Magica.
Khachanov survived two match points while serving to stay in the match at 6-5, but was unable to deny a third in the ensuing tie-break, falling after one hour and 42 minutes. He was making his Madrid debut.
Goffin, who reached the semi-finals at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters last month, is looking continue his strong run of form in the Spanish capital. He will face either Marcel Granollers or Florian Mayer next, with Istanbul finalist Milos Raonic and four-time champion Rafael Nadal also in his quarter of the draw.
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Earlier in the day, Italy's Fabio Fognini set a second-round encounter with Nadal, dispatching Joao Sousa 6-4, 6-4. The rivals will meet for the 12th time, with the Spaniard leading the FedEx ATP Head2Head series 8-3. Nadal most recently prevailed in the Miami semi-finals.
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#NextGenATP American Ernesto Escobedo was one of seven players to qualify for the main draw on Sunday. He will open against Spanish veteran Feliciano Lopez. Mikhail Kukushkin, Adrian Mannarino, Denis Istomin, Pierre-Hugues Herbert, Andrey Kuznetsov and Thomaz Bellucci also qualified, with Borna Coric and Jared Donaldson earning Lucky Loser berths.
Kyrgios/Sock, Haas/Mirnyi Move Into Doubles 2R
In doubles action, Nick Kyrgios and Jack Sock upset defending champions Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau 6-4, 7-6(6). They will face another test in fifth seeds Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram in the second round. Also, the 39-year-old duo of Tommy Haas and Max Mirnyi rallied past Fernando Verdasco and Nenad Zimonjic 4-6, 6-4, 10-5.