US OPEN – Men’s singles – Quarter-final – Karen Khachanov knocks out Nick Kyrgios after a thriller in 5 sets

A little stronger, a little more consistent and even a little more powerful. By putting these ingredients together for five sets and 3h39 of a huge tussle throughout which he never wavered from his seriousness and his line of conduct, Karen Khachanov ended up making the difference against a Nick Kyrgios who fought superbly until the end but ended up folding, 7-5, 4-6, 7-5, 6-7(3), 6-4, this Wednesday morning in New York. The Russian thus qualifies for his first Grand Slam semi-final, a stage at which he will join Casper Ruud, winner for his part earlier (and more easily) of Matteo Berrettini.

After his victory against world number one and defending champion Daniil Medvedev in the previous round, and seeing his level of play displayed more widely since the beginning of the summer, the Australian was however beginning to have a good head of favorite in this US Open. Or not far. But, perhaps a little blunted precisely by the influx left in recent weeks, even seeming a little physically affected at the start of the match – we saw him having his thigh massaged at the end of the 1st set -, the Australian took a little too long to get going and overall was a little too much on alternating current to deserve victory over his opponent who was right in his boots from the first to the last point.

Khachanov, who had lost his first two Grand Slam quarter-finals (Roland-Garros 2019, Wimbledon 2021) and who had lost to the same Kyrgios another huge fight in five sets in the 3rd round of the Australian Open 2020, went for this one by sheer force. He competed in the service battle (30 aces to 31, 77% of points won behind his first ball against 79%), mainly because he knew how to return better than the Australian. And he made the difference by being more solid (31 unforced errors against 58) and able to seize the right opportunities at the right time.

He thus broke twice at the best of times: at 6-5 for him in the 1st set as in the 3rd set, which was perhaps the turning point of this match. A little earlier, at 4-4 in this 3rd set, Kyrgios had indeed had two break points which seemed crucial. He missed one by releasing a very “playable” forehand attack. And he exploded his racket on the ground, proof of the extreme nervousness that inhabited him at that time. Khachanov never got angry, even after missing two first set points at 5-4. Two games later, he took the bet and took the lead.

Nick Kyrgios did not abdicate, far from it. It’s just that he wasn’t always easy to follow in this game. When we thought he was in big trouble, he broke at 2-2 in the 4th set, lost his advantage in the process but was finally going to win this 4th set after a beautiful decisive game. The “momentum”, therefore, seemed to have swung to his side, especially as he seemed physically more in canes than at the start of the match, multiplying his prowess in defense.

Khachanov lowest ranked since Anderson

But it was to better lose his 5th set entry service, a nest egg that the “Pelican” was going to keep preciously in his beak. However, irreproachable, the Australian fought to the end and put a lot of pressure to catch up, getting three break points in total in this 5th set. The former Khachanov, reputed to be mentally fragile, might have yielded to so much pressure.

But not this time. On the contrary, the Russian was particularly strong when serving for the match, obtaining two match points with the help of the net band and concluding as if on parade from the first. At 26, he will be the “lowest” seed (No. 27) to qualify for the US Open semi-finals since Kevin Anderson (No. 28) in 2017. It will face Casper Ruud . And it was not necessarily the expected half.