While U.S. fans have been sleeping, their tennis players have come out of the gates fast in Australia

On Tuesday in Zhuhai, Karen Khachanov celebrated his first ATP singles title in nearly five years. The top seed eased past Yoshihito Nishioka, 7-6 (2), 6-1, to lift the trophy.

Khachanov initially saw his break lead erased by the left-hander and was two points from dropping the opening set when serving at 4-5, 15-30. Down an early mini break in the tie-break, Khachanov reeled off six successive points—clinching the set when Nishioka pushed a backhand long.

The world No. 15 soon took over the contest, claiming the final five games. He capped off the victory after one hour and 44 minutes with a forehand winner up the line.

“I didn’t know that you had {a] birthday tomorrow, otherwise maybe I would have played different,” joke Khachanov to Nishioka during the trophy presentation. “When I play against you, I’m like, ‘wow, I have to run a lot. Left, right, left, right, left, right, left, right, left, right. Like table tennis.’”

Khachanov finished with nine aces versus three double faults on the day.

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Khachanov improved to 4-1 against Nishioka, adding to an earlier season win in the fourth round of the Australian Open. He last stood in the winner’s circle at the 2018 Paris Masters when he defeated four Top 10 players, including Novak Djokovic in the final, to win the biggest crown of his career. Khachanov's maiden triumph on tour came in China when he won Chengdu's 250-level event in 2016.

The 27-year-old suffered a stress fracture in his back during his Roland Garros quarterfinal run and did not play another singles match until the US Open, where he lost in the first round to Michael Mmoh. In July, Khachanov became a father for the second time when wife Veronika gave birth to the couple’s second son, Mikael. The Moscow native dedicated today’s victory to his loved ones.

“I’m coming back from an injury. When coming here, I was hoping to get matches to start playing again,” Khachanov told the crowd. “I was very hungry to come back and to win the title after quite a few years again, here in China especially, it’s really special. It’s for my family.”

Khachanov will head to Beijing at No. 14 in the race to Turin. The top eight finishers qualify to compete at the ATP Finals.

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