Khachanov saves five match points in Almaty to set up Bublik clash

Karen Khachanov stood one point from defeat five times on Thursday. Each time he found an answer. The fifth seed saved five match points to beat Tomáš Macháč 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(7) in the second round in Almaty on Thursday, after 2 hours and 32 minutes.

"He pushed me to the limits. I stayed there; I survived," Khachanov said afterwards, according to Tennis Majors.

Four match points in one game

Khachanov had dominated the first set 6-2, but Macháč levelled by taking the second 6-4, and the decider went with serve deep into the set. Serving at 5-6, Khachanov faced four match points in a single game.

He escaped the first when Macháč missed a backhand at the end of a long rally, then served his way out of the next two with big first serves. On the fourth, a Macháč forehand flew wide, as Tennis Now described it. Khachanov held to force a tie-break.

The drama did not stop there. Khachanov earned a match point of his own at 6-5, which Macháč saved, and then had to save a fifth against him at 6-7. He did so after being pushed from corner to corner, before Macháč again made the error. Khachanov then won the next two points to take the tie-break 9-7 and the match.

Serve carried him through: he finished with 14 aces. Khachanov also credited the support of the crowd in Almaty, where he won the title in 2024.

Form and a big quarter-final

The win improves Khachanov to 2-0 against Macháč and continues a strong autumn. According to Tennis Majors, he has won 11 of his last 14 matches since early September.

His reward is a quarter-final against third seed Alexander Bublik, the leading home player at the Almaty Arena. Bublik beat Hungary's Fábián Marozsán in his second-round match to set up the meeting.

For Khachanov, a deep run in Kazakhstan comes at a useful moment, with the indoor swing moving on to Basel and Vienna next week. Having survived Thursday, he goes into the Bublik match with little left to fear from tight finishes: he won the deciding tie-break 9-7 after facing the last of his five match points at 6-7.

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Medvedev rolls on, Atmane wins another epic

Top seed and defending champion Daniil Medvedev had a far easier day. He beat Japan's Sho Shimabukuro 6-2, 6-1 and remains on course for a second straight Almaty title.

His next opponent is Terence Atmane, who came through another match decided by tie-breaks. The Frenchman beat Mattia Bellucci 6-7(4), 7-6(2), 7-6(5) to reach the last eight.

Almaty was already an upset-heavy week. Earlier in the tournament, Adrian Mannarino knocked out Andrey Rublev and James Duckworth beat second seed Luciano Darderi. Medvedev, Bublik and Khachanov all survived that round, and the two former champions in the draw, Medvedev and Khachanov, are now both in the last eight.