Nick Kyrgios ‘devastated’ after quarterfinal defeat to Karen Khachanov as he destroys two rackets on court after match
Top seed Kyrgios lost to 14-time Grand Slam champion Khachanov 6-2 3-6 7-5 but his downfall was partly because of two rackets smashing at court.
Kyrgios, who is world number 29 in men’s tennis, beat Russia’s Alexey Kuznetsov 7-6 (5) 6-3 3-6 6-1.
In the process he broke his racket and hit it into the stands where he said he saw it smashed.
Kyrgios, who is in a run to become the world number 1, said after the match: “I was devastated. I was devastated.
“I had a couple of rackets. When I was trying to hit one back, I dropped the first one and hit it into the stands.
“I saw the racket lying on the ground. I was thinking, ‘Oh my God, something bad is going to happen.'”
Serena Williams beats Ana Ivanovic in three sets
Williams said: “I’ve got to be smart.
“I’ve got to play smart. I’ve got to be smart about that shot. I’ve got to be smart about it because if I keep thinking and worrying about it, I’m a liability to myself. I have to relax and allow myself to play my game and be aggressive.
“I just had to relax, and, luckily, in the second set, my back just broke down and I had a really good match. I played great. I gave my all. The first set could have gone either way, the second set obviously was a little bit of a different story but I think we were able to come back in the third set and have a great match.”
“I’m not the biggest fan of rackets, but he’s pretty tough,” said Kyrgios.
“He’s very, very tough to play against from a distance. He hit some really nice, good shots. I hit some really good shots. I hit the ball well. I think he played better. He played a little bit better than he did before.”
Kyrgios became the first player from a country outside Europe to
