WHAT HAPPENED: Kamil Majchrzak secured the biggest win of his career on Thursday against a familiar opponent, No. 9 seed Karen Khachanov. In their fifth career meeting–their second this year, after Khachanov beat the Pole in Round 4 at Wimbledon–the Pole was able to stifle his in-form opponent coming back from two sets to love, and saving five match points to earn the gritty four plus hour win 2-6, 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-5, 7-6(5).
In the first set, it was all Khachanov. He quickly established his dominance, breaking his Polish opponent in his opening service game. Seeing the court incredibly well, the No. 9 seed continued to hit winners off his racquet, frustrating his opponent. Towards the end of the first set, Khachanov successfully broke the Majchrzak serve again to take a commanding 5-2 lead and would quickly seal the first set.
The second set would become a lot more competitive as Majchrzak looked to dig into this match. He would get his dream start by breaking the No. 9 seed’s serve and would go up the early break. Both players would start to raise their levels as the set wore on. Khachanov would later break to go back on serve at 4-4. The two would continue to duel forcing a second set tiebreak.
The No. 9 seed would take control early jumping out to a 3-0 lead, but the Pole would continue to battle and stay close, but Khachanov went into lockdown mode and would pull ahead and close out the second set.
Despite losing the second set, Majchrzak would start to mount his comeback in the match in the third set. The Pole would take an early lead, and would not look back as he continued to frustrate the No. 9 seed. The errors also started to creep in for Khachanov, particularly towards the end of the set. Majchrzak had two set points on the Khachanov serve and wasn’t able to convert, but he was able to serve out the set on his fourth set point.
Majchrzak would continue his strong form heading into the fourth set, not letting the No. 9 seed garner any sense of momentum. Khachanov would earn some break point opportunities throughout the set, but was unable to capitalize as both men continued to stay consistent on serve. It would be the Majchrzak who would grab the late break and seal the set to force a deciding set.
Despite the two set-slide, Khachanov would yet again find his best tennis and dig deep in order to slow down his opponent. Although more unforced errors creeped into the No. 9 seed’s game, he would continue to grind out each point.
Khachanov’s efforts would be rewarded when he converted his sixth break point on the Majchrzak serve to take a crucial 3-1 lead in the final set. When the Pole was serving to stay in the match down 3-5, he was able to fend off three match points in the process. Majchrzak would then manage to break the No. 9 seeds serve when he served out for the match and pushed the match to 5-5. Khachanov would earn two more match points on the Majchrzak serve, but the Pole managed to fend them off, and held serve to force a match tiebreak.
Majchrzak jumped out to an early 3-1 lead in the tiebreak as frustration continued to mount for the No. 9 seed. Despite being down a mini-break, Khachanov continued to battle hard to garner any bits of momentum. The Pole would continue his offensive and would take out the No. 9 seed 10-5 in the match tiebreak, in a grueling four-and-a-half hour battle.
WHAT IT MEANS: This is Majchrzak’s first win over a seeded player at the US Open and the biggest win of his career, where he notched his first Top 10 win. With Thursday’s result, he also matches his best result here in Flushing Meadows (Round 3) and will look to make the fourth round here for the first time. Majchrzak will take on Swiss qualifier Leandro Riedi for a coveted Round 4 spot. Riedi, also upset a seed to head into Round 3, beating No. 19 seed Francisco Cerundolo in a thrilling five set win.
MATCH POINT: This was Majchrzak’s first ever win over Khachanov, improving to 1-4 in their head-to-head.
