Nadal ensured Federer never won against him in Roland Garros. But, slowly but surely, Nadal was in a league of his own as the years progressed. Nadal would dominate on Clay while Federer dominated on other surfaces. There was a clear trend in the dominance. If there was one contest that redefined rivalry and dominance, it was the clashes between Federer and Nadal. But, when it came to contests between Nadal, Federer, and Djokovic, it was simply sublime to watch. All the other rivalries that he had have seen total dominance by the Spaniard. It then evolved into the Nadal and Djokovic encounter. If one has to go for the starting point of the rivalry, it has to be the contests between Nadal and Federer. The trio’s rivalry against each other is legendary. The likes of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, in addition to Rafael Nadal, have given Tennis fans plenty of cheer and excitement. Expect Khachanov to reach the second round a straight-sets winner.In Rafael Nadal’s times, the Tennis world has been elevated to a whole new different level. The Russian, in contrast, has more than enough firepower to make things uncomfortable for Griekspoor. He is not without quality, but he does not have the sort of consistent power and depth required to seriously trouble Khachanov.
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Though Griekspoor scored a big win over Wawrinka in Rotterdam last year and though he will have the backing of the crowd, it is hard to see him getting anything from this match. By playing bravely, however, he might just score another memorable win.
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Both are risky shots for the world #211, but he will not be able to upset Khachanov by playing within himself. Griekspoor is able to pull it short cross court and flatten it out down the line. His backhand is the sturdier of his two groundstrokes, but it is likely to be his forehand that does the majority of the damage to Khachanov. Griekspoor cannot match Khachanov for power from the baseline, but the Dutchman does move well. His first serve is also a very effective weapon. Khachanov’s backhand is not quite such a useful offensive shot, but Khachanov is comfortable trading with his two-hander and has the confidence to step in and hit shorter balls. His forehand is his best shot, with the Russian capable of summoning a venomous combination of pace and spin from that wing. Khachanov has established himself as one of the foremost attacking baseliners on the ATP Tour. He was most recently in action at the Budapest Challenger where he lost in the first round to Slovakia’s Norbert Gombos, 6-4, 6-7, 6-7. He then returned to Europe, putting in some fine performances at the Koblenz Challenger in Germany to reach the semifinals, where he lost in three sets to Gianluca Mager of Italy in three sets.
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Griekspoor opened his 2019 season with a defeat to Bjorn Fratangelo of the United States in the first round of qualifying at Melbourne Park.
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However, he suffered another early loss, falling in the second round to Matteo Berrettini of Italy. He was next in action in Sofia, where he was the top seed. Despite being seeded 10th, the Russian was unable to advance beyond the third round, losing there in straight sets to Roberto Bautista Agut. Khachanov, after beginning his season with a narrow loss in the first round at the Qatar Open at the hands of Stan Wawrinka, traveled to Melbourne Park for the Australian Open. Griekspoor, in contrast, has just one match win to his name on the main tour and has never won a title and has earned just under $200,000 in prize money. The Russian has a career-record of 93-71 and has won four titles at tour-level and earned over $5.4 million in prize money. But in terms of experience, despite the two men being separated by just two months in age, Khachanov has a significant advantage. This will be the first meeting between Khachanov and Griekspoor. Will he be able to pull off another memorable win or will Khachanov’s quality tell? History Standing between him and a place in the second round is Dutch wildcard Tallon Griekspoor, who upset Stan Wawrinka in the first round at the Rotterdam Open last year. But opportunity is in the air in Rotterdam, and the Russian will be hoping to put together a deep run at the first ATP 500 event of the year. Second seed and 2018 Paris Masters champion Karen Khachanov has endured an indifferent start to this season.