When Karen Khachanov found out he had missed direct entry to the main draw at Wimbledon by one spot, he opted to prepare on the clay of his Barcelona training base.
But the 20-year-old Russian, seeded No.1 in the men’s qualifying draw, showed no signs of rust in his first grass court match of the season, dispatching China’s Yan Bai 6-3, 6-4 to book his place in the second round.
“It’s a pity that I didn’t get in, but anyway I’m the first seed here,” a philosophical Khachanov said. “I’m happy to be here – it’s a historic tournament, and to play on grass, I have very good feelings. If you didn’t get in, maybe it’s bad luck, but it also means if you pass through this, you deserve it.”
An imposing figure at 6ft 6ins, Khachanov is one of four players aged 20 or under in the ATP top 100, along with Alexander Zverev, Borna Coric and Taylor Fritz.
“It’s really good that there are so many guys of this new generation that are coming closer and closer,” Khachanov said. “I’ve been in the top 200, now top 100 – hopefully in the next few years we can compete against each other at the big tournaments.”
Up next for Khachanov is Spain’s Enrique Lopez-Perez, who beat compatriot David Perez Sanz 7-6, 6-4. The winner faces either Marcelo Arevalo or Matthew Barton – a 6-7, 6-4, 8-6 winner over Marco Trungelliti – for a place in the main draw.
With play starting half an hour early to make up for Monday’s rain-affected order of play, 48 men’s qualifying matches took to court on Tuesday. Darian King of Barbados came through the day’s marathon encounter, pushed into an extended third set before edging past Taipei’s Ti Chen 1-6, 6-4, 10-8 in two-and-a-half hours.
King’s reward is a showdown with No.2 seed Adam Pavlasek, who beat Switzerland’s Henri Laaksonen 7-5, 7-5.
It was a tough day for the young Americans in qualifying, with Tommy Paul, Stefan Kozlov and Frances Tiafoe falling to lower-ranked opposition, but 22-year-old No.6 seed Bjorn Fratangelo advanced with a 6-4, 7-5 win over compatriot Ryan Harrison, joining Daniel Nguyen, Austin Krajicek and Monday’s winners Tim Smyczek and Dennis Novikov in the second round.
No.3 seed Nikoloz Basilashvili made light work of Ukraine’s Denys Molchanov 6-2, 6-1, but No.4 seed Yuichi Sugita was the day’s top-ranking casualty, beaten 1-6, 6-4, 6-1 by British wild card Marcus Willis, while No.5 seed Konstantin Kravchuk was dispatched by Adrian Menendez-Maceiras 6-3, 7-6 and Andrej Martin, the No.7 seed, fell 7-6, 7-5 to Pere Riba.
Michael Berrer will face Great Britain’s Ed Corrie in the second round after the No.10 seed overcame fellow German Cedrik-Marcel Stebe in three sets 6-4, 2-6, 6-4. Also safely through are No.8 seed Thomas Fabbiano, a 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 winner over Blaz Kavcic, and Dutch No.9 seed Igor Sijsling, who faces Frenchman Calvin Hemery after beating Nils Langer 6-2, 6-4.