Isner and Khachanov are amongst the most powerful players on tour. Khachanov backed that up with a 7-5, 6-3 win over his good friend and compatriot Andrey Rublev to claim back-to-back wins for the first time since the Australian Open. However, he managed to edge the decider to claim a 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 win. Khachanov made the better start, winning the first set, but was pegged back in the second. Khachanov, who also received a first-round bye, opened his tournament against Feliciano Lopez of Spain, who had beaten Tomas Berdych 7-6, 7-6 in the first round. But he was overpowered by Isner, who was largely untroubled in securing a 6-3, 6-4 win. Pella recently won the first title of his career at the Sao Paolo Open and had scored a good 7-6, 2-6, 6-3 win over Australia’s Alex Bolt in the previous round. That set up a second-round clash with Argentina’s Guido Pella, the 32nd seed.
Isner began his campaign with a crushing 6-0, 6-2 win over Australia’s Alexei Popyrin, the most one-sided tour-level win of his career. Khachanov then beat Isner again, 7-6, 7-6 in the third round at the Canadian Open last season, before scoring his third win over the American with a 6-4, 6-7, 7-6 victory in the third round at the Paris Masters that November. Their first clash came at Roland Garros in 2017 in the third round with Khachanov claiming a 7-6, 6-3, 6-7, 7-6. This will be the fourth meeting between Isner and Khachanov in a head-to-head the Russian, perhaps surprisingly, leads 3-0. Khachanov, meanwhile, arrived in desperate need of wins, but now looks to have rediscovered his confidence. Isner, who reached the final in the Californian desert in 2012 (lost to Roger Federer), had not quite hit the heights coming into Indian Wells this season but has looked mightily impressive so far this week. In a battle of the big hitters, eighth seed John Isner will take on 12th seed Karen Khachanov for a place in the quarterfinals at the Indian Wells Masters.
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