Khachanov, Krejcikova win opening matches in Hamburg

HAMBURG: Karen Khachanov saved two match points as he won his first-round match at the Hamburg European Open on Monday, while Botic van de Zandschulp had a surprise loss and Barbora Krejcikova won her opener in the women’s draw.

The seventh-seeded Khachanov won against Jan-Lennard Struff 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (2) after twice saving match point at 6-5 down in the decider before forcing a tiebreak.

Van de Zandschulp, seeded fifth, was beaten 6-4, 6-4 by Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who goes on to play Slovakian qualifier Jozef Kovalik.

In the women’s draw of the clay-court event, last year’s French Open champion Krejcikova, seeded third, broke Suzan Lamens’ serve four times in a 6-2, 6-4 win to set up a second-round match with Magdalena Frech.

Fourth-seeded Aliaksandra Sasnovich won against Nastasja Schunk 6-1, 6-4, while Anastasia Potapova upset sixth-seeded Varvara Gracheva 7-5, 6-3.

Andrea Petkovic won an all-German match with Tamara Korpatsch 6-3, 6-3.