The American Dream will have to settle for six representatives in the U.S. Open quarterfinals.
While Learner Tien fell just short of joining the Party in the USA after Russia’s Karen Khachanov beat him 7-5, 4-6, 6-7 (6), 6-1, 6-4 inside Louis Armstrong Stadium on Monday night, the three men and three women who advanced to the second week in Flushing count as the most Americans to reach this stage of the singles main draws since 2002.
The three U.S. men — Ben Shelton, Frances Tiafoe and Alex Michelsen — tied the most to have reached the U.S. Open quarterfinals since five represented in 1995.
The three U.S. women — Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula and Emma Navarro — are the most since they had four in 2017, when all went on to the semifinals.
It was evident just how heart-wrenching this defeat was for the 20-year-old Tien, who could be seen fighting back tears after the match.
“It was a really crazy match,” Khachanov said during his on-court interview. “We played for the first time against each other. I knew what to expect: One extra ball coming back, one extra ball. So many close rallies. He loves to play that defense outside the court, that’s why it makes it extremely tough, this match, because you have to stay always in the match with great intensity, hitting, hitting, pushing. In the end, I’m super happy that I could pull through.”
The first set truly could’ve gone either way, but Tien blew a 30-0 lead in the 12th game and double-faulted to make it 30-all. They played through three deuces before Tien overshot his backhand to hand over the set.
Tien managed to break Khachanov early in the second set, emerging victorious from a 16-point game to take a 2-1 lead. It allowed Tien to keep Khachanov at an arm’s distance for the remainder of the set and even the match at 1-1.
A tiebreak was required to settle the third set, in which Khachanov was able to jump out to a 4-1 lead. With the crowd behind him, Tien showed some aggression at the net and eventually tied it 5-5.
The No. 14 seed finally converted on his second set point when Khachanov blasted the ball into the net. For the rest of the match, Khachanov was largely in control. Tien was only able to win five more games over the final two sets.
The 30-year-old Khachanov, who reached the U.S. Open semifinals in 2022, will face the No. 28 seed Alexander Blockx.
Blockx is the only seeded player left in the top half of the draw for No. 1 Alexander Zverev to face before the final after Zverev defeated No. 21 Luciano Darderi 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (4) late Monday night.
