World No. 38 Alexandre Muller upset No. 5 seed Karen Khachanov 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 on Thursday, Sept. 25, in the first round of the 2025 China Open.
Muller, who lost 10 of his previous 13 singles matches this season, earned his first Top 10 win on hard courts and his second win of the year over a Top 10 player. His first was in May at the Bitpanda Hamburg Open, where he beat Alexander Zverev in three sets.
For Khachanov, it marked the end of an 11-match win streak in opening rounds and his second straight loss as the favorite. He fell to World No. 65 Kamil Majchrzak in the second round of the U.S. Open after a two-set lead. The results have come after an outstanding run at the National Bank Open in Toronto, Canada this summer, where he notched two Top 10 wins over Zverev and Casper Ruud to make the final.
Khachanov appeared poised to rebound as he broke serve in the fifth game of the first set to pull ahead 3-2 on the Diamond Court. He rode that momentum to win the first set 6-4. Khachanov’s dominant first serve fueled his first-set success, topping out at 214 km/h (133 mph).
Muller opened the second set by holding serve through two returns to deuce. In the sixth game, Muller jumped to a 0-40 lead to earn three break points, but Khachanov rallied to win six of the next seven points and level the set at 3-3. With the count tied at 4-4, Khachanov switched rackets mid-game in an effort to spark his returns. It didn’t work. Muller won two quick points to hold serve.
Khachanov seized the early advantage in the second-set tiebreak, converting a mini-break on the way to a 4-2 lead. He came within two points of winning the match, but Muller won three consecutive points to win the tiebreak 7-5 and go to a third set, punctuated by Khachanov angrily sending a ball into the upper deck.
Muller and Khachanov exchanged breaks to start the decisive set. The players held serve until Muller broke Khachanov’s serve in the ninth game to seize a 5-4 advantage. Trailing 15-30, Muller produced a deft dropshot that double-bounced in front of Khachanov, and punctuated it with a fist pump and shout of “Let’s go!” He then won the next two points to complete the comeback and win the match in 2 hours and 50 minutes.
Competing in his first China Open, Muller advances to face World No. 57 Fabian Marozsan in the second round.
— Reporting by Coby Spratte
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Douyin@ChinaOpen
