St. Petersburg, Jan 20, Taras Barabash. TV commentator, Soviet tennis player Anna Dmitrieva said that Russian Karen Khachanov can create difficulties for Spaniard Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open match due to speed and power of blows. Khachanov defeated Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi in the 2nd round on Wednesday (6:4 , 6:0, 7:5) and will now meet with Nadal in the third round of the Grand Slam tournament, which takes place in Melbourne. «I really love Karen as a boy who grew up before my eyes. He is wonderful: open, friendly, he is a good and likeable person. But this hinders him. It is because of this that he fails to reach his full potential. You can remember the matches of Karen against Nadal, when we were still a little under illusions about the prospects of our tennis player. One such amazing match was at the US Open in 2018, then everything was hanging in the balance,” said Dmitrieva. “We have not yet seen Rafael in a difficult situation at this tournament in Melbourne, whether Karen will be able to create them is a question. if he can, then the game will be interesting. I will root for Karen, but my sympathy belongs to Nadal. The only recipe for Karen is to play attack all the time, create the pace. Young people can beat Nadal due to speed, Rafael lacks it. At first, he holds it, but in the course of the meeting he begins to give up, this is striking and affects Nadal's technique. Karen can keep up the pace and make things difficult for Rafael. Due to the delivery, speed and power of the blows,» the speaker noted.
