MELBOURNE: Karen Khachanov reached his second consecutive Grand Slam semi-final on Tuesday when Sebastian Korda retired hurt at the Australian Open, ending the young American’s dream of emulating his father Petr’s 1998 title run.
Korda needed treatment on a wrist injury in the second set of their quarter-final before calling it quits when trailing 7-6 (7/5), 6-3, 3-0 to the Russian 18th seed on Rod Laver Arena.
Khachanov’s reward is a clash with either Greek third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas or unseeded Czech Jiri Lehecka, who play later, for a spot in Sunday’s final.
Victory equals the 26-year-old’s best performance at a major after his semi-final run during last September’s US Open, where he lost to Norway’s Casper Ruud.
The Olympic silver medallist, who has won four Tour-level titles, came into the match with far greater experience at this stage of a Grand Slam than Korda, having reached the last eight at all four majors.
In contrast, the 22-year-old Korda was in his first quarter-final.
Khachanov also had a far easier ride in the fourth round, routing Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka in straight sets while Korda slogged through a five-set thriller against Hubert Hurkacz.
“I think until a certain point it was very competitive, a very good battle,” said Khachanov.
