Nick Kyrgios ‘devastated’ after quarterfinal defeat to Karen Khachanov as he destroys two rackets on court
Kyrgios, who beat No. 3 seed Juan Martin del Potro for the No. 2 seed at Wimbledon last July, lost 6-3 6-4, 8-6 to the Russian in a stunning quarterfinal at the US Open. It was the worst US Open defeat of his career.
Kyrgios has struggled all year to overcome top-ranked men on the Slam surface, dropping only a single set against No. 10 seed John Isner in the last two Grand Slams.
“Of course I’m devastated. Obviously everything went wrong on many levels,” he said in an interview. “I was just trying to keep up and I wasn’t good enough on the court. I didn’t serve well. Not even in some of the matches I did well.
“I’m just really sad, just mentally drained. I’m just going to try to get some rest and then I’ll be back on the court and work hard.”
Kyrgios, who reached the fourth round at the Australian Open and Wimbledon as a qualifier last year, had an up-and-down 2017, but seemed to be on the upward trend throughout the Grand Slams, beating No. 5 seed and No. 7 seed David Ferrer last week at the Cincinnati Open before losing to No. 18 seed Roger Federer in a gut-wrenching quarterfinal.
He will face Australian wildcard Alexander Zverev, who beat Kei Nishikori 6-3 6-4 in a quarterfinal last week at the Abu Dhabi Tennis Championships. Kyrgios will meet his seventh-seed in either semifinal.
On Saturday, Kyrgios also lost in the quarterfinals at the Paris Masters to No. 8 seed Kei Nishikori, who defeated American
