TennisSection previews the 2021 Marseille Open as Karen Khachanov (3) meets Mackenzie McDonald in the second round on Wednesday, March 10 2021.
Will Karen Khachanov continue to play with great form as we saw him do just last week at the 2021 Rotterdam Open, or will Mackenzie McDonald come out here and spoil the party for the No.3 seed to book his spot in the Quarter-Finals on Thursday which are highly winnable for each player? This is going to be a very tight encounter, but only one player can win.
Mackenzie McDonald came through a very tight two set match in the first round in Marseille. McDonald met the hard-playing Italian Stefano Travaglia, and beat him 7-6(2)/7-6(1). McDonald has a lot of experience in the tennis world, but he has not been able to live up the the hype which had been built around him when he was younger. Mackenzie was labelled as America’s next big thing in the world of tennis at a young age, but he has not been able to live up to this due to both inconsistency in his game, and injuries which have kept him out of form. McDonald, however, is definitely putting on some solid performances here in 2021, as we saw at the Australian Open when he beat Borna Coric as the underdog. Can McDonald come out here now and cause an upset against a very in form player in Karen Khachanov?
Karen Khachanov has been playing some great tennis recently, and it is great to see this after a few seasons of not living up to his peak. Khachanov peaked in 2018, winning the Paris Masters 1000 title, beating Novak Djokovic in straight sets in the Final. Since then, his career has been up and down, but recently, he has shown some positive signs. Just last week, at the 2021 Rotterdam Open, Khachanov made the Quarter-Finals, and was in a great position to win that match against Stefanos Tsitsipas to make the Semi-Finals. However, a few lucky points from Stefanos’ side allowed the momentum to shift in the important moments. Khachanov showed great signs even though he lost, and I am sure he will be looking back at that in a positive manner. How far can Khachanov go here in Marseille?
This is going to be the first encounter between Karen Khachanov and Mackenzie McDonald, and we are in for a very exciting match on Wednesday. Both players, when on top of their game can win this match. However, going off of recent performances, it is hard to go against the Russian Karen Khachanov. Khachanov has so much power in his shots on the tennis court, and I believe that the reason he has not lived up to his peak has been a mental issue. When he backs himself and goes for his shots, Khachanov, more often than not, comes out on top. However, when things are tight, he just backs off a little, and allows his opponents to dictate play. Khachanov needs to change that in 2021 if he wants to reach his best tennis, and we have been seeing glimpses of this recently.
This might be a 3-setter just due to the fact that McDonald has already gotten used to the speed of the court having played a match here already. However, at the end of the day, the big swinging Russian, Karen Khachanov, will come out on top here and book his spot into the Quarter-Finals of the 2021 Marseille Open.
Free Tennis Preview and Prediction: Karen Khachanov to win.
