China Open 2023: Karen Khachanov vs. Lorenzo Musetti Live Stream, Match Timings, Prediction, and Preview

Khachanov would hope to build on an impressive 2023 season.

China Open 2023: Karen Khachanov vs. Lorenzo Musetti Live Stream, Match Timings, Prediction, and Preview

(L) Karen Khachanov; (R) Lorenzo Musetti (Via Open Source/Independent)

Fresh after winning his first ATP title since 2018 in Zhuhai, Karen Khachanov has got a tough first-round draw in the upcoming China Open. The World No.14 will face the Italian pro Lorenzo Musetti in the round of 32 encounter on Thursday. Khachanov has won 5 ATP tour titles, including the ATP 1000 title in the Paris Masters in 2018. Interestingly, all 5 have been hard-court titles. Meanwhile, Musetti has won 2 ATP tour titles, both of them coming last year.

Tennis returns to the China Open in Beijing for the first time since the pandemic struck the world. Dominic Thiem was the winner of the last version of the ATP 500 event in 2019.

Karen Khachanov vs. Lorenzo Musetti: Match Details

  • Tournament: China Open 2023
  • Match: Karen Khachanov vs Lorenzo Musetti
  • Date: 28th September, 2023
  • Time: 12:30 AM (ET)
  • Venue: Beijing, China
  • Round: First round (Round of 32)
  • Surface: Hard Court
  • Prize Money: $28,345

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Karen Khachanov vs. Lorenzo Musetti: Match Preview

Karen Khachanov arrives in the tournament on the back of winning his first ATP singles title in 5 years. Khachanov, 1st seed, defeated the 8th seeded Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka in straight sets (7-6(2),6-1) to seal the ATP 250 Zhuhai Championship. The big-serving Russian found success with his serve, hitting 9 aces and losing just 1 breakpoint.

Lorenzo Musetti
Lorenzo Musetti (Via Open Source)

This was Khachanov’s second tour-level appearance since recovering from a stress fracture injury in June. At the US Open, he lost in the first round to Michael Mmoh. Prior to the back injury, the 27-year-old Russian was enjoying the form of his life. He had a great start to the year, reaching the semi finals of the Australian Open. At the 2023 Miami Open, he reached the quarterfinals with his first top-5 win for the season and first-ever win against second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas. Following a quarterfinal showing at the 2023 French Open, he returned to the top 10 in the singles rankings.

On the other hand, Lorenzo Musetti’s Asia swing started on a rather underwhelming note at the Chengdu Open. The 21-year-old suffered a straight sets semi-final defeat at the hands of Roman Safiullin. Before that, Musetti helped Italy clean sweep Team Chile 3-0 in Group A of the Davis Cup, held in Bologna. The Italian pulled off the trending ‘dialed-in‘ celebration after his win in the doubles encounter against Chile.

This will be the first encounter between the pair. Khachanov boasts a better win/loss record for the year – 27/12, compared to Musetti’s 31/23.

Karen Khachanov vs. Lorenzo Musetti: Match Prediction

Khachanov arrives into the game as a heavy favorite, playing on his favored surface. Buoyed by his recent title win, Khachanov would hope to build on an impressive 2023 season. If Musetti has to stand any chance of winning the match, he’d have to improve on his serve.

Karen Khachanov
Karen Khachanov (Via The Independent)

In his semi-final defeat on Monday, the Italian served 4 double faults. On the other hand, Khachanov is firing all cylinders on his serve and would hope that it comes good on Thursday too. Anything other than a Khachanov win would be a huge upset.

Match Prediction: Karen Khachanov to win in straight sets.

Karen Khachanov vs. Lorenzo Musetti: Live Stream Details

  • USA – Tennis Channel
  • UK – Amazon Prime
  • Canada – TSN
  • Australia – beIN Sports
  • Belgium – Telenet, BeTV
  • Brazil – ESPN Brazil

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