Kyrgios struggles with an injury, out of US Open in 5-set thriller
ATP
Nick Kyrgios won't play back-to-back Grand Slam semi-finals after he lost to the 27th-seeded Karen Khachanov at the 2022 US Open.
The last time the two met, fans saw a thriller that lasted four hours and 24 minutes. This time, the match had to be decided in the fifth set again.
Nick Kyrgios and Karen Khachanov spent three hours and 41 minutes inside the Arthur Ashe Stadium battling for the semi-final spot against the fifth-seeded Casper Ruud.
In the first set of the match, both players served really well, and it seemed that the tie-break would have to decide it. However, in the twelfth game, the Russian broke his opponent and got an early lead in the match after winning the first set 7-5.
The 27-year-old Australian, who had played and won more matches than anyone else on the ATP Tour since June, started complaining about an injury early in the second set when he was also heard communicating with his box, stating: "I don't wanna play like this..."
Despite that, he still managed to break his opponent and eventually win the second set 6-4. However, Khachanov stayed calm also in the third set and did the same thing as in the first to win it 7-5.
But Kyrgios fought back once more. After trading a couple of breaks in the fourth, it reached a tie-break, where the Australian was more successful, and the match went to a decider.
In the first six games, Kyrgios couldn't use his two break points, while his opponent used the only one that he had, and that was enough for him to win the match 7-5, 4-6, 7-5, 6-7(3), 6-4. After the match, Khachanov was very proud of the win.
"I did it! I did it! 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."
