Karen Khachanov routed Yoshihito Nishioka to reach the quarterfinals in Melbourne
Russia’s Karen Khachanov has booked his place in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open after a dominant victory against Japanese rival Yoshihito Nishioka on Sunday.
Khachanov hammered Nishioka 6-0 6-0 7-6 (7-4) in a one-sided match at John Cain Arena in Melbourne. Remarkably, the Russian won the first 14 games of the match before Nishioka put up some belated resistance to take the third set to a tiebreak.
The second set was particularly brutal for number 30 seed Nishioka as the big-hitting Khachanov, who is seeded 18th, conceded just two points to his opponent – a rare feat dubbed a ‘bronze set’ in tennis jargon.
Khachanov is now into the quarterfinals of the Australian Open for the first time in his career. The performance also means he has reached the last-eight stage at each of the four Grand Slams in his career, becoming the 50th male player in the Open Era to do so.
“[The] first two sets I didn’t know what was going on, but it’s never easy when you are going with the score too easy. You feel it,” Khachanov, 26, said after his resounding win.
“At one point Yoshi tried to turn it around, he pumped the crowd and it’s normal. I tried to stay focused all the match from the beginning until the end.
“But it’s not easy to win with this score, three sets, so the third set it was a really tough one and I’m playing well, so I’m really happy to go through.”