Kyrgios battles past Khachanov in thriller match to reach Australian Open round 4

The hometown hero was on the courts today as well. Nick Kyrgios has been a much more relaxed person and this year's slam. He is focused, he is playing well and he is determined to make a good effort. Speaking to the media he reflected on how it hasn't been easy. And his 3rd round matchup Khachanov is certainly the opposite of easy.

The Russian had a tough previous round where he played against Ymer where he was down late and somehow rallied back. It didn't start out good for the Russian as he allowed Kyrgios and early break and while being 5-2 down he requested a medical timeout. It didn't seem like an injury and the match continued. Kyrgios kept his lead and won the first set 6-3.

The 2nd set was a tight one as we needed a tiebreak to settle it. In it, it was the Australian who jumped out to an early lead allowing him to finish it 7-5. The 3rd set was much of the same with both players pretty dominant on their serve. Kyrgios managed to break his opponent but Karen fought back. The winner had to be determined in a tiebreak. It was the Russian who managed this one 8-6.

The 4th set was a tough one as neither player allowed the other to jump out to an early lead. Both players held their serve convincingly. At 5-5 Khachanov again called a medical timeout but it was quickly over. Against it didn't seem like he was injured but most likely feeling the effects of the long match he played in the previous round.

Again we ended up in yet another tiebreak and it was a matter of composure in this one. It was the Russian once again who prevailed after playing a masterfull tiebreak. The end result was 9-7 and we were headed for a 5th set. And in it, more of the same. Both players played exceptionally well on their own serve. When they were receiving they couldn't string more than 2 points together.

It was the 4th tiebreak in the match but this one was the decider one. The first one to get to 10 points wins. Kyrgios was better early jumping out to a 3-0 lead. Khachanov fought back to take a 4-3 lead. From then one it was a tradeoff of many points before Kyrgios arrive on a match point at 9-8. He converted it to win after a gruesome 4 hours and 24 minutes played. Hats off to both of them!

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