Roland-Garros: Khachanov avoids the fifth set and defeats Kokkinakis

Russian Karen Khachanov, the No 11 seed, edged out Australian wildcard Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-4, 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (5) to move into the last 16 of Roland-Garros in Paris on Friday.

Khachanov, ranked No 11, will play the winner of the match between Italian Lorenzo Sonego and Russian Andrey Rublev, the No 7 seed, next. He is the first man of the day qualified for the round of 16.

Respect 🤝#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/AVN3eK9pKL

— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 2, 2023

The Russian is gunning for this third consecutive Grand Slam semi-final. He reached his first at the US Open last September and followed it up with a second at the Australian Open January.

The Russian overhauled Frenchman Constant Lestienne (3-6, 1-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-3) and won against qualifier Radu Albot (6-3, 6-4, 6-2) earlier in the tournament.

Kokkinakis, ranked No 108, was close to a fifth set but had a great journey in Paris. He defeated No 20 seed Daniel Evans (6-4, 6-4, 6-4) and Swiss Stan Wawrinka (3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-3).

Other third-round matches (Stade Roland-Garros, clay, EUR 49.600.000):

• Alexander Zverev vs. Frances Tiafoe
• Daniel Altmaier vs. Grigor Dimitrov
• Francisco Cerundolo vs. Taylor Fritz
• Holger Rune vs. Genaro Alberto Olivieri
• Borna Coric vs. Tomas Martin Etcheverry
• Nicolas Jarry vs. Marcos Giron
• Yoshihito Nishioka vs. Thiago Seyboth Wild
• Zhizhen Zhang vs. Casper Ruud
• Carlos Alcaraz vs. Denis Shapovalov
• Lorenzo Musetti vs. Cameron Norrie
• Diego Schwartzman vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas
• Juan Pablo Varillas vs. Hubert Hurkacz
• Novak Djokovic vs. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina
• Fabio Fognini vs. Sebastian Ofner
• Lorenzo Sonego vs. Andrey Rublev

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