Pablo Carreno Busta meets Karen Khachanov in the semi final of Tokyo 2020 on Friday, July 30th, 2021.
Which of these two players who most people did not expect to come this far in Tokyo will make it to the Final as they aim to bring either Spain or Russia some hope for a medal, hopefully Gold, but most likely silver if they meet Novak Djokovic.
Karen Khachanov had to fight through a very entertaining and tight match against the up and comer, Ugo Humbert, in 3 sets 7-6/4-6/6-3. Karen Khachanov is now the last Russian left in the Mens draw, something that no one would have predicted when there were others like Medvedev, Rublev, and Karatsev. Karen Khachanov will come out in this semi final knowing that he has come far by improving his level this week, but he needs to continue showing this because if this is just a one-week level, then the tennis world is deprived of his amazing game.
Pablo Carreno Busta dominated in his match against the much higher ranked and the heavy favourite coming into the match, Daniil Medvedev, beating him in 2 sets 6-2/7-6. Pablo came into the match as if he had nothing to lose so he was going for everything and he was getting rewarded for doing so. Pablo has so much experience and is so good at playing on all surfaces that this upset is not even that shocking. Now, he meets another Russian who is less tough than Medvedev, but he will need to come out and play as well as he did in the quarters to ensure he gets into the Final.
This is going to be the 6th meeting between both players, with Pablo Carreno Busta having won 3 of their 5 prior encounters. Karen has won a bigger title than Pablo in the best and he has been higher ranked, but Pablo has been so good over the last year or two, consistently going deep into tournaments, whilst Karen has lost earlier rather than later most times. I expect a tight match because at this level no one wins easily (unless you’re Novak Djokovic), but Pablo will get himself in the Final.