H2H: Diego Schwartzman vs. Karen Khachanov - Prediction (ATP

Preview and players comparison.

Diego Schwartzman edges the H2H series 2-1 (including exhibitions), and notably, all those three matches went to the distance. While Karen Khachanov is the better player in these conditions, Diego Schwartzman has performed (comparatively) better in recent months, which makes it difficult to pick a winner here.

Karen Khachanov hasn’t played his best tennis so far this week in Vienna, but he still managed to get the job done against two tough opponents — 6-4 7-6 against Hubert Hurkacz and 6-3 4-6 6-1 against Marton Fucsovics. World #9 will now look to make his first semifinal appearance on indoor hardcourt this year. After failing to win a match in Sofia, Rotterdam, and St.Petersburg, Karen Khachanov reached the quarterfinal of his title-defense campaign in Moscow last week but lost to Andreas Seppi in three sets. In fact, Karen Khachanov hasn’t been entirely convincing all year, and he only made his first semifinal appearance of the season in Montreal a few weeks ago. However, he still managed to make his top 10 debut recently, thanks to winning the biggest title of his career in Paris Masters at the tail-end of 2018. Karen Khachanov has never progressed beyond the quarterfinal of ATP Vienna in three appearances, and bagging a few more wins this week could take a lot of pressure off him, especially considering he’s got the title to defend in Paris and an early exit there could do serious damage to his ranking.

Diego Schwartzman was winless in three matches before this week, but he is now in the quarterfinal of ATP Vienna after defeating Pierre Hugues Herbert and Sam Querrey. The match against Querrey was particularly difficult as the Argentinian had to fight back from a set deficit and later needed a tiebreaker in the deciding set, 6-7 6-4 7-6. The top-ranked Argentinian struggled for a few months earlier this year with injuries but seemed to have recovered and delivered some excellent results in recent months, which earned him the first non-clay title in Los Cabos and also helped him attain his career-high ranking of #11.