US Open 2022: Karen Khachanov beats Nick Kyrgios to progress to semi-finals

Karen Khachanov stood on court arms raised basking in a rowdy crowds cheers after reaching his first Grand Slam semifinal at the US Open Not far away Nick Kyrgios took out some of his frustration at the socloseyetsofar result on a pair of racketsFirst shortly after the last point of his 75 46 75 67 3 64 loss to Khachanov Kyrgios cracked his piece of equipment against the ground once twice three four times Then for good measure Kyrgios grabbed yet another racket out of his bag reared back and hit that one on the sideline tooKyrgios could not quite follow up his victory over defending champion Daniil Medvedev at Flushing Meadows bowing out in a highquality topsyturvy quarterfinal that began Tuesday night and concluded more than 3 12 hours later at about 1 am Wednesday in Arthur Ashe StadiumIts just devastating Like its heartbreaking said Kyrgios a 27yearold from Australia who was the runnerup at Wimbledon in July Pretty much every other tournament during the year is a waste of time really You should just run up and show up at a Grand Slam Thats what youre remembered byAsked about Kyrgios display of disappointment Khachanov said he saw rackets were flying and added I feel the pain for himEarly in the match two spectators were kicked out after one gave the other a haircut in the stands By the end the latestaying spectators were pulling for Kyrgios loudly At one point in the fourth set chair umpire James Keothavong pleaded Once again ladies and gentlemen Respect both the playersI was prepared I was expecting that the crowd would be more for him that he was the favorite in their eyes said the No 27seeded Khachanov had been 02 in major quarterfinals before this one against No 23 KyrgiosKhachanov will face No 5 Casper Ruud on Friday for a berth in the championship matchIm really proud of myself Khachanov said I was really focused from the beginning to the endBoth he and Kyrgios are equipped with booming serves and they combined for 61 aces 31 by Kyrgios They combined for 138 total winners 75 by KyrgiosTwo stats that were real differencemakers Kyrgios made 58 unforced errors Khachanov 31 And Khachanov saved 7 of 9 break points he facedThe breakthrough at Wimbledon and two recent victories over No 1 Medvedev including in the fourth round ending his title defense made Kyrgios a popular pick to claim his first Grand Slam title at Flushing MeadowsAlso Read Gen Next all set to take over Frances TiafoeKhachanov was not allowed to play at Wimbledon this year after the All England Club banned all players from his country Russia and Belarus because of the invasion of UkraineAgainst Kyrgios he picked up key breaks of serve in the last game of the first and third sets After the opener Kyrgios complained of a sore knee and was visited by a trainerHe did not appear to show any ill effects once play resumed and broke early in the secondKyrgios had a chance to break again at 4all in the third but couldnt convert flubbing a forehand then spiked his racket Two games later he put a backhand into the net to drop that set then sat in his changeover chair dumped his racket and threw a drink drawing a warning for unsportsmanlike conduct from KeothavongKhachanov came within two points of victory while ahead 65 as Kyrgios served in the fourth set Kyrgios held on there and dominated the ensuing tiebreaker to force a fifthThen Khachanov broke to begin the last set soon was up 31 and was on his wayThe deeper you go the expectations rise up he said I did a step forwardIn Wednesdays quarterfinals itll be No 3 Carlos Alcaraz vs No 11 Jannik Sinner and No 9 Andrey Rublev vs No 22 Frances TiafoeNone of the last eight men in the bracket has won a major titleRuud headed into the 2022 season with just one Grand Slam appearance that lasted as far as the fourth round anywhere and was determined to improve his record at the four most important events in tennisThen a day before the Australian Open began in January he twisted his ankle in practice and needed to withdraw Hardly ideal Just look at him now Ruud is into the semifinals at the US Open and has a shot at moving up to No 1 in the ATP rankings following a run to the final at the French OpenThe 23yearold from Norway who is coached by his father former professional player Christian parlayed what he called a better start than I ever had before in a match to a 61 64 76 4 victory over 2021 Wimbledon runnerup Matteo Berrettini on MondayDuring Paris something clicked and I feel like I this year have sort of figured out the better way how to play five sets and knowing that its very different from playing bestofthree sets Sometimes realizing or knowing that you can sort of let one set go every once in a while to save some energy for the rest of the sets said Ruud 122 in Grand Slam play in 2022 So I think I maturedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text 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