Does the ‘Bad Boy’ hold his nerve in the quarter-finals?
At the start of the second week of the tournament, the recent curse of the defending champions continued in the 142nd men’s singles of the US Open. With Daniil Medvedev, the top favourite, who recorded the overall victory at Flushing Meadows last autumn, failed to reach the last 16 against Nick Kyrgios. It is thus already clear that Roger Federer (2008) remains the last man to triumph twice in a row in New York City.
Nick Kyrgios can now dream of the big time. The Australian, who has already reached the final at Wimbledon, will now face a Russian opponent again. In the run-up to the duel between Nick Kyrgios and Karen Khachanov, the odds are clearly in favour of the Australian.
Things haven’t gone too well for Karen Khachanov in 2022, who won just 26 of his 46 singles in the run-up to the US Open 2022. Nevertheless, the Russian’s run to the quarter-finals was impressive. A correspondingly hot fight is to be expected, which is why we find plenty of value in Nick Kyrgios vs. Karen Khachanov in the tip that at least 36 games are needed before the winner is decided.
Nick Kyrgios – Statistics & current form
Current world ranking: 25
Position in the seedings: 23
The 27-year-old Australian Nick Kyrgios, who almost played professional basketball, was considered an exceptional tennis talent in his younger years.
The expectation that the player would one day win a Grand Slam was correspondingly high. However, with his reputation as the “enfant terrible” of the ATP Tour, the “bad boy” stood in his own way many times during his career.
First time in US Open quarter-finals
Lately, Nick Kyrgios underlined once again how close genius and madness are in his case in the last 16 of the US Open.
First he defeated defending champion Daniil Medvedev spectacularly in the first set, holding his nerve in the tiebreak. Then, however, his second set was characterised by erratic “laissez-faire” tennis.
Among other things, the Australian caused a frown when Medvedev deflected a ball high up in distress. Instead of letting the ball come up in the Russian’s half and bagging the point, Kyrgios ran to his opponent’s side and played a volley to deliberately give away the point. In the end, however, the number 25 in the ATP world rankings secured the match for himself.
35 of 44 singles won in 2022
Clearly, a Kyrgios who plays this US Open quarter-final with the seriousness it deserves is the favourite.
It is also clear, however, that the “enfant terrible” will not be immune to lapses of concentration in this important match of his career, which could cost him the match.
Karen Khachanov – Statistics & current form
Current world ranking: 31
Position in the seedings: 27
The 26-year-old Russian Karen Khachanov also started on the ATP Tour with great promise. However, the silver medallist at the 2021 Olympic Games was not able to record any real resounding successes.
Khachanov has only won a total of four singles titles on the ATP Tour. The only major tournament he has won is the 2018 Indoor Masters in Paris, and it has been almost four years since he has won another title.
A strong run thanks to first-class service
All the more surprising given that the Russian has won just 26 of his 46 singles matches in the run-up to this year’s US Open, is his strong run in the men’s singles.
After three matches against nominally weaker opponents, Khachanov had to work hard in the last 16.
After almost three and a half hours, however, the world No. 31 won 3-2 against Pablo Carreno Busta, in which the Russian was once again carried by his strong service. Khachanov scored on his first serve in 78% of all cases.
Only two break points allowed in the round of 16
Also because the Russian allowed just two break points in the last 16, both of which his Spanish opponent took, his service game is likely to give him plenty of free points again in this quarter-final.
Against this background, we expect a rather long match, which is why we favour a bet of more than 35.5 games for Nick Kyrgios against Karen Khachanov. After all, the last Grand Slam duel between the two players was a thriller over five sets with two tiebreaks in total.
Nick Kyrgios – Karen Khachanov Direct comparison / H2H record
Head to head: 1:1
There have been two meetings between the two athletes so far and the match has always gone the full distance. While Karen Khachanov won 2-1 at the Western & Southern Open 2019, Nick Kyrgios returned the favour at the Australian Open 2020 with a 3-2 victory.
Nick Kyrgios – Karen Khachanov Tip
The prediction for Nick Kyrgios against Karen Khachanov goes in the direction of the eccentric Australian. However, this match will not be a foregone conclusion for the “enfant terrible” of the ATP Tour. Rather, the supposed favourite will need a lot of patience to take a service game from the Russian for the first time. If his nerves fail him once again, it could well be the great day of Karen Khachanov.
With six of the eight sets played between the two athletes going to a tiebreak, it makes a lot of sense to bet on a long quarter-final. We are betting that at least 36 games will be needed to determine a winner.
