Khachanov sends third seed Auger-Aliassime crashing out

Karen Khachanov turned the US Open draw upside down by eliminating Canada’s third seed, Félix Auger-Aliassime, in the second round. The Russian won 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 in three hours and 17 minutes in New York.

Ranked 50th in the world, Khachanov took advantage of a sharp decline in Auger-Aliassime’s serving. The Canadian landed only 40% of his first serves in the third set and 56% in the fourth, allowing Khachanov to seize control.

Auger-Aliassime had taken the opening set in a tiebreak after both players lost serve twice. From there, however, the match moved decisively in Khachanov’s direction. Auger-Aliassime dropped his opening service game in each of the next three sets and could not recover.

The Russian’s stronger adjustment to the conditions, on a day when heat replaced the disruption caused by rain, left Auger-Aliassime unable to find his rhythm. The result also leveled up Khachanov’s advantage in their head-to-head record, which had stood at 2-2 before the match.

Khachanov will face the winner of the third-round match between Peru’s 30th seed Ignacio Buse and France’s Benjamin Bonzi, ranked 97th. Auger-Aliassime’s departure follows the previous day’s elimination of Spain’s 13th seed Rafael Jódar, leaving Germany’s Alexander Zverev as the highest-ranked player in the upper section of the draw.