When Ruud took home the first set in the tiebreak with 7-5, the final ball duel was 55 strokes long.
Ruud finally got in a rock-hard straight backhand that Khachanov couldn't lift but hit the net.
The crowd that included Stan Smith, Jon Bon Jovi and Henrik Lundqvist at the Arthur Ashe stadium gave a long standing ovation and Ruud cheered as if he had won the match after the duel that took one minute and 16 seconds to play - an unimaginable amount of time hard court.
- It's fantastic, wonderful offensive play but also phenomenal defensive play from both, said Eurosport's expert Jonas Björkman, who was taken by the duel:
- But what kind of game is it?
he exclaimed during the duel as it was pounced on from the baselines.
It was Livin' on a Prayer for Khachanov after that.
After that, Ruud took the second set off just the momentum before Khachanov came alive and made it a match when he won the third 7–5.
But he never got closer than that, Ruud shifted into a higher gear and won the fourth set with a clear 6–2 after breaking the 31-year-old Russian's serve twice.
- I'm just so happy.
It feels surreal to be back in this position just a few months after my first grand slam final, says the Norwegian to Eurosport.
In the final, the 19-year-old super talent Carlos Alcaraz is now waiting, who defeated home hope Frances Tiafoe 3–2 in a set.
Neither has won a grand slam before.