![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/14766d99-a2ff-49a0-84f6-ad85f9e00397-Karen-Khachanov.jpg\"\/)
Karen Khachanov took full advantage of 47 unforced errors in the 6-7 (5\/7), 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 win over Felix Auger-Aliassime. (EPA Images pic)
\nNEW YORK: Karen Khachanov knocked ailing third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime out of the US Open on Thursday as former champions Iga Swiatek and Naomi Osaka booked third-round berths.<\/p>\n
Khachanov, ranked 50th in the world, downed Auger-Aliassime 6-7 (5\/7), 6-3, 6-2, 6-2, pulling away relentlessly as the Canadian struggled with \u201cabnormal\u201d physical issues.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s tough to talk about anything other than how I felt physically,\u201d a dejected Auger-Aliassime said, adding that he was \u201cdizzy and seeing spots and couldn\u2019t recover.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought maybe it would pass, but it didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
Khachanov took full advantage of 47 unforced errors, with eight double faults, from Auger-Aliassime, who struggled particularly on serve.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought maybe he had some physical issues, it\u2019s part of our sport,\u201d Khachanov said. \u201cFrom my side I tried to give my best performance, fighting, fighting.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m super happy to get this win,\u201d added the 2022 semi-finalist after posting his first top-10 win of the year.<\/p>\n
It was the second big upset on the men\u2019s side, after an ailing Novak Djokovic was ousted in the first round, and further opened up a men\u2019s field headed by world No 2 Alexander Zverev.<\/p>\n
French Open champion Zverev, who battled through five sets to beat Lorenzo Sonego in the first round, anchors the night session on Arthur Ashe Stadium, taking on 52nd-ranked Frenchman Quentin Halys for a place in the third round.<\/p>\n
Two former champions booked their third-round berths, Iga Swiatek marching through with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Nadia Podroska while Naomi Osaka survived a second-set swoon to beat Katerina Siniakova 6-2, 5-7, 6-1.<\/p>\n
Swiatek, whose six Grand Slam titles include the 2022 US Open, had things mostly her own way against the former top-40 player now sunk to 449th in the world.<\/p>\n
She fought off four break points at 5-3 in the first set then pulled away with two breaks for a 5-1 lead in the second, polishing off the win in an hour and 11 minutes.<\/p>\n
It was another encouraging performance for the former world number one, who hadn\u2019t reached a final in 2026 until her run to the title at Toronto in August.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m here with better feeling than any other Grand Slam this year,\u201d Swiatek said. \u201cJust trying to enjoy every day and improve the game every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Osaka fights <\/p>\n
Japan\u2019s Osaka, who counts two US Open titles among her four major trophies, looked in total control against Siniakova as she raced through the first set and to a 4-2 lead in the second without facing a break point.<\/p>\n
But the Japanese star\u2019s unforced errors began to pile up \u2013 20 in the second set compared to four in the first \u2013 and doubles world No 1 Siniakova pounced to climb from 5-3 down and take the set.<\/p>\n
Osaka gave herself a talking to during a bathroom break and regrouped in the decider, riding a quick break to a 3-0 lead and fending off a pair of break points in the fifth game on the way to the win.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just felt like I had to fight,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
So did former Australian Open champion Madison Keys, who saved five match points as she rallied from 5-2 down in the third set to beat Anna Bondar 4-7, 6-4, 7-6 (10\/5).<\/p>\n
In other early matches, 2025 runner-up Amanda Anisimova advanced with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 victory over Austrian Lilli Tagger, and rising Philippines star Alexandra Eala beat Oleksandra Oliynykova 6-1, 6-4.<\/p>\n
Coco Gauff, another former US Open champion, opens the night session on Ashe against former world No 2 Paula Badosa.<\/p>\n
The Spaniard leads their head-to-head, including a victory over Gauff in Berlin this year.<\/p>\n
Generations collide on Louis Armstrong Stadium when 40-year-old Gael Monfils takes on 20-year old American Learner Tien.<\/p>\n
Monfils, trying to extend the final Grand Slam of his career before he heads into retirement, fell to Tien at Cincinnati in August in their only meeting to date.<\/p>\n
In other marquee matches, reigning Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina takes on Spain\u2019s Jessica Bouzas and French Open winner Mirra Andreeva plays Eva Lys.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Karen Khachanov took full advantage of 47 unforced errors in the 6-7 (5\/7), 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 win over…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":65030,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[244,247,1742,270,463],"class_list":["post-65029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-iga-swiatek","tag-felix-auger-aliassime","tag-iga-swiatek","tag-karen-khachanov","tag-naomi-osaka","tag-us-open"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65029","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65029"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65029\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65030"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65029"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}