Karen Khachanov for the first time in his career managed to emerge victorious in the quarterfinal match of the Grand Slam tournament.
The Russian at the US Open in five sets defeated Nick Kiryos, who had left Daniil Medvedev out of work two days earlier.
Interestingly, after that failure, Medvedev praised the Australian's game, comparing him with Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, and also hinted that he would not be surprised if the opponent managed to win the tournament.
The last time the paths of Khachanov and Kiryos crossed two and a half years ago at the Australian Open, and then the Australian took over in five games.
From that moment on, Nick managed to make his way to 137th position in the ranking in two years, and then return to the elite in a matter of months, including thanks to reaching the Wimbledon final and winning the tournament in Washington before the “masters” in Montreal and Cincinnati.
According to experts, the Australian has always been dangerous and able to cope with any tennis player from the top 10, and over the summer he got in pretty good shape.
Which he actually proved by covering Medvedev twice in a month.
At the same time, it was difficult not to note the concentration of Khachanov.
In New York, he looked collected and extremely concentrated from the first match, although in the last two months he had only once managed to overcome the second-round barrier in tournaments - in Hamburg, after which he was humiliated by Carlos Alcaraz.
Both tennis players started the first set with confident actions on their serve.
One of the games Khachanov completely won at zero thanks to a series of aces.
Kiryos had no less of them.
Still, it was Nick who flinched first.
With the score 6:5 in favor of the Russian, he made several unforced errors and gave his opponent a chance to make a break, which he took advantage of.
The game ended with a beautiful prank by Karen.
The Australian went after filing to the net, and Khachanov threw him a candle, hitting almost the very corner of the court.
At the start of the second installment, it might have seemed that the fight was over.
Kyrgios asked for a medical timeout, complaining of pain in his knee.
"I can not walk.
I can't walk, it hurts too much!"
he said to the doctor.
However, this could also be a psychological technique to bring down the mood of the Russian.
If so, then the trick worked.
Since, after a pause, Khachanov stopped serving, and Nick was able to make a break on the second attempt and restore parity in the match - 6:4.
The third set of dynamics was very similar to the first.
The rivals exchanged aces and once took games on their pitch to zero.
However, it was felt as the nervous tension was growing on the court.
The Australian, in his usual manner, began to communicate more often with the judge, being dissatisfied with his decisions, and Khachanov began to make mistakes more often.
According to the logic of things, the game should have gone to a tie-break, but in the 12th game, Kyrgios did not work out.
He suddenly made a mistake on the back line at 15:30 and gave the Russian two set points, the first of which he used - 7:5.
Absolutely equal game was in the fourth set.
The opponents kept their concentration and eventually reached the tie-break, in which Khachanov suddenly fell apart.
He did not succeed, both at the reception and at the serve.
As a result, Kyrgios, who stopped making mistakes, effortlessly took the game, earning as many as five set points.
Fortunately, the failure of the Russian was temporary.
A short break helped Karen come to his senses and immediately take Kiryos' serve, and then his own.
The Australian was close to making a reverse break, but Khachanov performed the ace in time to the stormy applause of his team.
The created backlog determined the outcome of the meeting.
Nick tried to close the gap, but he did not succeed.
As the Russian later said, he saw that the opponent was a little annoyed and upset and tried to use it.
Karen played the last game on his pitch confidently, giving Nick only one draw - 6:4.
Emotions after the match, both hit over the edge.
Kiryos, like Khachanov, who made it to the quarterfinals of the US Open for the first time, first took out his anger on his rackets, and then admitted at a press conference that he was devastated after the defeat.
“Honestly, I feel disgusting.
I feel like I let a lot of people down.
I don't know... Now I will play in Tokyo and other tournaments, but it seems to me that only Grand Slams are the only tournaments that are generally important.
Basically, you have to start all over again.
We need to wait for the Australian Open.
I'm just devastated.
My heart is bleeding.
Not only for myself, but for everyone who, as I know, wants me to win, ”said the Australian.
At the same time, he highly appreciated the game of Khachanov, who coped with the pressure of the stands, who supported Kiryos throughout the match.
“You have to give credit to Karen.
He is a fighter, he is a warrior.
I think he played very well today.
To be honest, he's probably the best pitcher I've played with in this tournament.
The way he found his points under pressure was unreal,” Nick added.
Khachanov, on the other hand, glowed with happiness.
He was very pleased with his performance and did not hide it.
"Crazy match.
I expected this and was ready to run, fight, play five sets.
We spent almost four hours on the court.
And it seems to me that there is no other way to defeat Nick ... I am very proud of myself.
I was collected from the very beginning to the end.
I would like to win the next match.
The further you go, the more expectations.
I have nothing to lose,” said the Russian.
In the semi-finals, Khachanov will meet with the fifth seed, the Norwegian Kasper Ruud, who defeated the Italian Matteo Berrettini in three sets.