Karen Khachanov was absolutely thrilled with the performance he delivered versus Nick Kyrgios as he felt he deservedly won the match.
On Tuesday night in New York, 31st-ranked Khachanov upset Kyrgios 7-5 4-6 7-5 6-7 (3) 6-4 to progress into the US Open semifinal.
At the age of 26, Khachanov has been through to his first Grand Slam semifinal.
“I did it! I did it!,” Khachanov said after his win, per the ATP website. “I’m really proud of myself, I was focused from the beginning to the end. It was a crazy match but I came ready to fight and to play five sets.”
Khachanov on his victory over Kyrgios
āFrom the beginning until the end, great performance – at least I will talk about myself, from my side,ā Khachanov reflected. āI stayed there. I waited for my chances. I created them as well. I’m super happy, super proud that I could finish the match, I could take it. Serving for the match [is] never easy. [I am] just super happy to do this step forward to make my first semi-final.ā
The first break of the match was seen in the 12th game, when Khachanov broke Kyrgios to win the first set.
Kyrgios bounced back in the second set as he broke Khachanov in the third game and then held on to his serve the rest of the set to tie the match to one set apiece.
In the third set, Khachanov missed out on two set points in the 10th game, but still won the set after breaking Kyrgios in the 12th game.
In the fourth set, Kyrgios blew an early break as the winner of the set had to be resolved in a tie-break, which the Australian dominated to send the match into a fifth set.
After winning the fourth set, Kyrgios made a slow start to the decider as he got broken in the very first game of the set.
Khachanov then held on to his serve the rest of the match to clinch a five-set victory and a meeting versus Casper Ruud.