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via Reuters

via Reuters

Stefanos Tsitsipas’ road to lifting his first Tour title of the year seems to be getting tougher with every hurdle that he crosses.

After fighting past a doughty challenger in Egor Gerasimov of Kazakhstan in his campaign opener at the ongoing ATP Rotterdam Open, the Greek World Number 3 set up a rematch with rising Pole Hubert Hurkacz.

The two had met in the fourth round of the event last year, with the long-haired Greek prevailing in three sets.

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Khachanov won’t be a pushover for Tsitsipas as he upset Stan Wawrinka in the opening round

This year saw an encore in terms of how the match panned out as Tsitsipas, after suffering a mid-match slump and dropping the second set, picked up his game to reach the quarters with a 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 win.

Now, between the Greek and a place in the tournament’s last-four stands a certain Karen Khachanov, the Russian World Number 21, who he will play later on Thursday.

An accomplished hard-court player, Khachanov reached the third round of this year’s Australian Open before going down to rising Italian star Matteo Berrettini in three fiercely-contested sets.

via Reuters

Having scored an upset win over three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka, the Russian will be no pushover for the World Number 6 in the quarters clash.

Khachanov followed up the Wawrinka upset with a facile 6-2, 6-2 win over young Brit Cameron Norrie to seal his passage to the last-eight.

Stefanos Tsitsipas holds 2-0 lead over Karen Khachanov in head-to-head meetings

However, the head-to-head record will give the Greek a measure of confidence and belief going into the showdown later on Thursday.

Tsitsipas currently holds a comfortable 2-0 lead over the 6’6” Russian in head-to-head meetings.

Their last showdown happened at the 2018 ATP Masters 1000 in Shanghai, with a Greek coming out a 6-4, 7-6 winner in the fourth-round clash.

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While the World Number 6 would be hoping to extend his lead over the 21st-ranked Russian to 3-0, Khachanov would be similarly determined to set the record straight against the Greek.

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Read More: “Have Been Putting a Lot of Effort”: Stefanos Tsitsipas Opens Up on His New Digital Video Series

And, going by the form he has shown so far in the tournament, another upset could well be on the cards for the Russian.