Zizou Bergs (Belgium), who was not only playing in Halle for the first time, but also came to the TERRA WORTMANN OPEN with the experience of having reached the final at the grass court tournament in s'Hertogenbosch last week. Waiting for him was eighth seed Karen Khachanov, who feels particularly at home in Halle, especially on the centre court, as he said after the match. And with a beaming expression on his face, as he had won the match against the Belgian 7:5, 6:3.
The battle to reach the second round was a tough affair. The serve was the big plus for both players. They were able to exert pressure and force their opponents to make mistakes. As a result, there were no break chances until the score was 5:5 in the first set. Then it was Zizou Bergs who started to wobble. And Karen Khachanov exploited this mercilessly. The second break point was converted, the next service game was a formality and so the favourite had won the first set 7:5 after 47 minutes.
The second set also lasted exactly 47 minutes and the Belgian got off to a better start despite losing the set. However, he was unable to capitalise on this. Karen Khachanov slipped heavily once on the grass, but did not injure himself and fended off two break points in his first service game. These were to remain the Belgian's only two break chances. From then on, the 24th-ranked player in the world served with total confidence again and, unlike his opponent, got the decisive break at 3:3. From then on, there was no stopping him and he deservedly progressed to the second round, where he will now face Felix Auger-Aliassime (Canada).
