Khachanov Stuns Auger-Aliassime in US Open Upset

Karen Khachanov walked off court grinning, racket aloft, while Felix Auger-Aliassime trudged to his chair, shoulders heavy and eyes distant. On a turbulent week in New York, another seed had fallen.

The Russian, unseeded and unfazed, sent the third seed out of the US Open in four sets, winning 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 6-2 6-2 in the second round to rip open a section of the draw already shaken by Novak Djokovic’s early exit.

For a set, Auger-Aliassime looked like the player his seeding promised. The Canadian, twice a finalist at this tournament, absorbed Khachanov’s weight of shot, held firm on serve and edged a tight tie-break 7-5. He defended smartly, picked his moments to attack, and seemed to have the match in his hands.

Then it unraveled.

The pressure from Khachanov’s baseline game began to bite. The Russian stepped inside the court, hammered heavy forehands and found the lines with a series of bold, flat winners. Auger-Aliassime’s response grew ragged. Unforced errors crept in, then multiplied. Rallies he had controlled in the first set now ended with balls sailing long or thudding into the net.

The shift was brutal on the scoreboard. Khachanov raced through the second set 6-3, then tightened his grip. He broke early in the third, again in the fourth, and never loosened his hold. The final two sets, both 6-2, told the story of a match that had flipped completely.

Auger-Aliassime, who reached the quarter-finals at both Wimbledon and Roland Garros this year, arrived in New York with questions over his body after withdrawing from the Rogers Cup in Montreal in August with a back injury. As the match wore on, his movement dulled and his serve lost bite, leaving him increasingly vulnerable to Khachanov’s clean, aggressive striking.

“Maybe he had some physical issues,” Khachanov said. “It’s part of our sport, it’s part of tennis. I’m super happy to get this win.”

Happy, and deservedly so. He had weathered the early storm, then seized control with a mix of patience and firepower, drilling winners down the line and forcing the third seed into riskier, lower-percentage tennis.

Auger-Aliassime’s departure, coming hot on the heels of 24-time Grand Slam champion and fourth seed Djokovic’s first-round loss, strips yet more star power from the men’s draw and leaves a gaping opportunity for those willing to grasp it.

Khachanov has already made his move. The question now is who will follow.