A dominant Karen Khachanov won the first 14 games before surging into his maiden Australian Open quarter-final on Sunday in a straight sets romp over Japan’s outclassed Yoshihito Nishioka.
The Russian 18th seed swept past his racquet-smashing opponent 6-0 6-0 7-6 on John Cain Arena.
Nishioka, seeded 31, was so out of touch in the opening two sets that he won just 13 points.
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In set two, he managed only two points across six games in an embarrassing annihilation.
It’s called a “bronze set” and the tennis world was floored.
Khachanov appeared on track to become only the sixth player in Grand Slam history, and the first since 1993, to record a triple bagel win – 6-0 6-0 6-0 – before Nishioka finally won the 15th game to huge cheers from the crowd.
The victory put him into the last eight at a Grand Slam for the fifth time. His best result was reaching the semi-finals at the US Open last year, where he lost to Casper Ruud.
He will next face American 29th seed Sebastian Korda.
“First two sets, I didn’t know what was going on,” he said. “You’re going with the score, let’s say, too easy. Then Yoshi turned it around, pumped the crowd and I tried to stay focused from beginning to end.
“It’s not easy to win with this score, three sets, but I’m playing well and really happy to go through.”
The Russian, a former world number eight, has won four career titles, all on hard courts, and was simply too good for Nishioka.
