Rogers Cup 2018: Rafael Nada Will Face Stefanos Tsitsipas In The Final After Knocking Out Karen Khachanov

Rogers Cup will see world number 1 Rafael Nadal slog it out with Greek number 1 Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final on Sunday, as three-time champion bits for his first hard-court title since Cincinnati 2013.
In the semi-final, Karen Khachanov managed to put the Spaniard to test holding him down to a tie-break at the opener but was brutally knocked out eventually in straight sets 7-6(3) 6-4 after nearly two hours of play under flood lights. The 22-year-old Russian has never won a match against Nadal in all four ATP FedEx encounters.
Karen threatened Nadal with his forehand shots, refuting his dominance at the opener by successfully dragging it through to tie-break until the world number 1 won. He could not maintain his aggressiveness at the second set when he was overpowered conceding to defeat as he wane in his fight to stay in the match.
The Spaniard, 31, acknowledged his Russian opponent Karen was very good at serving and his forehand shots can be very strong but he had in control in spite of that.
"He's a great server. Hits big shot from the baseline. He has an [outstanding shot] especially great backhand and he can hit the forehand very strong too," said Nadal.
"He plays very aggressive and he hits the ball very strong. I needed to resist and play aggressive...But it's difficult to make that happen because he hits the ball very strong," he said.
Stefanos, 19, will be playing his career second Masters 1000 with Nadal who defeated him in first at Barcelona Open to claim his 11th title at the tournament.