First, shortly after the final point of his 7-5, 4-6, 7-5, 6-7 (3), 6-4 loss to Khachanov, Kyrgios broke his gear on the ground — one, two times, three, four times. Then, for good measure, Kyrgios grabbed another racquet from his bag, reached back and hit it on the side as well. Kyrgios could not build on his victory over defending champion Daniil Medvedev at Flushing Meadows, bowing out in a high-quality quarterfinal that began on Tuesday night and ended more than 3½ hours later, at about 1am. ET Wednesday at Arthur Ashe Stadium. “It’s just devastating. Like, it’s heartbreaking,” said Kyrgios, a 27-year-old Australian who was runner-up at Wimbledon in July. “Pretty much every other tournament during the year is a waste of time, really. You just have to run and show up at a Grand Slam. That’s what you’re remembered for.” Asked about Kyrgios’ display of frustration, Khachanov said he saw “rackets being thrown” and added: “I feel the pain for him.” 2 Related Early in the match, two spectators were ejected after one mowed the other in the stands. By the end, the belated spectators were pulling hard for Kyrgios. At one point in the fourth set, chair umpire James Keothavong implored: “Once again, ladies and gentlemen: Respect both players.” “I was prepared. I expected the crowd to be more for him, that he was the favorite in their eyes,” said No. 27-seeded Khachanov, who was 0-2 in major quarterfinals before this one against him. No. 23 Kyrgios. Khachanov will face No. 5 Casper Ruud on Friday for a spot in the championship game. “I’m really proud of myself,” Khachanov said. “I was really focused from start to finish.” Both he and Kyrgios are equipped with powerful serves and combined for 61 aces (31 from Kyrgios). Since aces were first tracked in 1991, it marked the second US Open men’s match with players with 30-plus aces. The other came in the 2004 quarterfinals between Joachim Johansson (30) and Andy Roddick (34). Kyrgios and Khachanov also combined for 138 total winners (75 by Kyrgios). Two statistics that made the difference: Kyrgios committed 58 unforced errors, Khachanov 31. And Khachanov saved 7 of the 9 break points he faced. The breakthrough at Wimbledon and two recent wins over No. 1 Medvedev — including a fourth-round upset that ended his title defense — made Kyrgios a popular choice to claim his first Grand Slam title at Flushing Meadows. Khachanov was not allowed to play at Wimbledon this year after the All England Club banned all players from his country, Russia and Belarus over the invasion of Ukraine. He was 150-1 to win the US Open at the start of the tournament, according to Caesars Sportsbook. Against Kyrgios, Khachanov got 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 trainer. It didn’t seem to show any negative effects once play resumed, and he broke early in the second. Kyrgios had a chance to break again at 4-all in the third, but he couldn’t make the turn, hit the forehand, then hit his racket. Two games later, he put a backhand into the net to drop that set, then sat in the changing chair, dropped his racket and threw down a drink, warning of unsportsmanlike conduct from Keothavong. Khachanov came within two points of victory while leading 6-5 as Kyrgios served out in the fourth set. Kyrgios held there and dominated the ensuing tiebreak to push for a fifth. Khachanov then broke to start the final set, soon leading 3-1 and on his way. “The deeper you go, the higher the expectations,” he said. “I took a step forward.” This report used information from the Associated Press and ESPN Stats & Information.
