Tonight for the first time ever at the Montreal Masters 1000 Event we will see two Russians battle it out for a spot to likely face Rafa Nadal in the final. Which ever player wins more history will be made as it will be the first time a Russian has reached the final since Marat Safin made it in 2000 - a 20 year drought. Both Medvedev and Khachanov are two of the better younger players on tour right now and there's more similarities between the two than differences.
Both are 23 years of age, stand 6ft 6 inches tall, come from Moscow and finally both have won 4 titles each on the pro tour. So what exactly separates these two? Perhaps a couple of key points that I believe will see Khachanov prevail tonight...
- Khachanov is the only one to ever win a Masters 1000 event and he had to beat the best player in the world at the time - Novak Djokovic. Medvedev has only ever won a 500 event and has yet to prove himself by needing to beat the best in an ATP final.
- Khachanov plays with more power and matches are won off his racket where as Medvedev prefers to play defensively and out rally players
Khachanov is 2.50 to win tonight so bookies have him as the underdog. Most likely this is due to the fact that Medvedev has won an ATP 250 title this year and has made three finals including in the Barcelona and Washington 500 events. Khachanov is yet to win an event and hasn't made a final in 2019. Still he has done the better of the two in the Grand Slam events as he made the French Quarter Finals where as Medvedev's best effort was the Australian Open Round 16.
While getting to the final of some 500 events is a sign of consistency it's also a sign of falling at the last hurdle which has been the story of Medvedev's year. His only title was in a weak Sofia 250 event. Khachanov I believe can expose Medvedev's style of play today the way that Kyrgios did in the Washington final. While Medvedev only dropped one point on serve in the Washington final first set, he choked in two tie breaks, most likely due to his lack of conviction with his play. While his defensive style does prove successful, it's not quiet to the standard of players like Nadal and Djokovic who have a better balance between defense and attack. I believe with Khachanov's power from his serve and forehand he could well make Medvedev choke again today.
Here are highlights of when these two last met last year of the Moscow 250 Event in the Semi Finals, where Khachanov dominated the majority of the match. He went on to win the title.
Prediction Khachanov at 2.50