Sousa To Face Khachanov

St. Petersburg Open 2015 finalist Joao Sousa sailed into R2 of St. Petersburg’s tournament thanks to a confident victory over Joseph Kovalik (6/2, 6/3). The Portuguese made 1 ace (Kovalik fired 2) and didn’t make double faults (his opponent from Slovakia double-faulted twice). “I know this stadium very well, I’m used to play here, so I was very confident in this match and sealed a great victory,” Souza noted after the game. “At the end I wasn’t as focused, but still I’m happy with the result.” Answering the question about his next rival – Karen Khachanov, the Portuguese said: “I know Karen very well, we practice with him in Barcelona, and in general he is a great guy off court. I think we will have an interesting match.”