Tennis player Nick Kyrgios from Australia was unable to contain his frustration after his U.S. Open quarterfinal match against Russia’s Karen Khachanov, which began Tuesday, ended on Wednesday with his defeat.
The grueling match lasted three hours and 39 minutes and was a back-and-forth affair, after which Kyrgios dramatically smashed two rackets on the court surface prior to leaving the stadium. According to the New York Post, he destroyed a racket during the match as well.
A meltdown from Nick Kyrgios after losing in the US Open quarterfinal! pic.twitter.com/hUTaihlTBF
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“It was a crazy match. I was expecting it to be like this,” Khachanov said. “We played almost four hours. That’s the only way to beat Nick, I think.”
After Kyrgios had composed himself, he praised his opponent.
“I’m obviously devastated,” he said during a news conference. “But all credit to Karen. He’s a fighter. He’s a warrior. I thought he served really good today. Honestly, probably the best server I played this tournament, to be honest, the way he was hitting his spots under pressure.”
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Khachanov played a tighter game with only 31 errors. Kyrgios had 58 across the five-set loss.
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“He just played the big points well,” Kyrgios said. “Wasn’t really anything in it. I’m just devastated, obviously. … I feel like I’ve just failed at this event right now. That’s what it feels like.”
Kyrgios was reportedly having problems with his left leg throughout the match. He was seen grimacing in the first set and reaching toward his left knee.
“I can’t walk,” Kyrgios reportedly told his trainer. “I can’t walk without pain. It’s too much.”
According to the Post, “the trainer rubbed cream on his calf, massaged extensively just under his knee and Kyrgios returned for the second set. During his first service game, however, Kyrgios turned to his box and expressed with some strong expletives that he didn’t want to play through the injury.”
However, Kyrgios later played the injury down. “I just split-stepped and just tweaked it a little bit. Ended up feeling fine,” he said after the match. “Nothing major.”
“I honestly feel like s***,” the Australian athlete added. “I feel like I’ve let so many people down.”
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