Khachanov beats Kyrgios to make US Open semis

New York, United States, Sep 6 (EFE).- Russia’s Karen Khachanov defeated the Australian Nick Kyrgios Tuesday after three hours and 40 minutes to qualify for the semifinals of the United States Open, in which he will meet world No. 5 Casper Ruud.

Khachanov, ranked No. 31 beat Kyrgios 7-5, 4-6, 7-5, 6-7(3), 6-4 and eliminated the No. 23 seed, who defeated defending Champion Daniil Medvedev in the previous round.

The semi-finalist, winner of the Masters 1,000 in Paris in 2018, hit 30 aces against Kyrgios, who entered the event as the player with the most victories since June.

“I have nothing to lose,” Khachanov said at the end of his match in the interview at the foot of the field, without hiding his dream of leaving New York as champion.

It was a match between two serving specialists, with very fast games and few exchanges, in which small details made the difference.

Both players hit nine service winners in the first set, but the difference was made by the unforced ones, with Khachanov having just two to Kyrgios’ 13.

One of them was a double fault from 5-6 that allowed Khachanov to get the only break and take a 7-5 lead.

Kyrgios, who had great support from the public, increased his pace on serve in the second set and made a good break in the third game to tie the duel, but in the third set the script of the first set was repeated, with a break at 5-6.

Kyrgios wasted four breakpoints, while Khachanov seized one of the three.

The Aussie broke his racket in frustration and received a warning from the judge for throwing a bottle onto the court during the break before the start of the fourth set.

Pushed by the Arthur Ashe crowd, Kyrgios won the fourth set 7-6 after winning the tiebreaker 7-3 and forced the fifth set.

The Australian regained momentum, but a break by Khachanov at the opening of the fifth and decisive set put an end to his ambitions. The Russian saved two break points with great effort, and at two minutes past 1am, celebrated reaching the semifinals.

He will face Casper Ruud in the semifinals, who beat Italy’s Matteo Berrettini 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (4) to reach his second Grand Slam semifinals, after doing the same at Roland Garros this year.

The other quarterfinal matches will see Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz face Italy’s Jannik Sinner and America’s Frances Tiafoe meet Russia’s Andrey Rublev. EFE

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