Khachanov holds his nerve to sink wily American

Another balloon burst. On that cool night in New York, Khachanov blunted the Kyrgios serve and defused a title threat.

Against Tiafoe, he weathered the ferocity of his forehand and silenced the chanting crowd.

Khachanov, who conceded he was preparing for a fifth set when trailing 1-6 in the tiebreaker, said he did not mind the support the crowd provided for Tiafoe.

But he did have an issue with some elements of the behaviour, saying that cheering after double-faults was not necessarily fair.

“The other day, I beat a player from Australia. The crowd were not really pleased. I don’t know. But hopefully I can just keep on winning,” he said.

“To be honest with you, I like the atmosphere here … and every other crowd. But I just ask to show some respect for the crowd. To cheer after a double-fault … I don’t know.

“I know you are for the other guy. I am used to playing with atmosphere and energy. At the end of the day, even if it is atmosphere and energy against me, I still like it.”

The 18th seed broke Tiafoe’s serve at the start of the match in an early battle of wills.

His brilliance shone through at 4-3 in the second during a stunning exchange, ended with a backhand winner with both men at the net, that gave him the chance to break.

Frances Tiafoe plays a backhand.Credit:AP

Tiafoe fought back in the third. That fired the crowd up again. But Khachanov held his nerve.

In setting up a last-16 clash against Yoshihito Nishioka, he has broken new ground in Melbourne after reaching the third round in the past four editions of the tournament.

The 26-year-old has won two of his three outings against the Japanese left-hander, though Nishioka did claim their last outing in Washington last year.

Khachanov has reached at least the quarter-finals of the other three grand slams and possesses a powerful serve, lively forehand, strong backhand and good movement.

But to establish himself as a legitimate grand slam contender, either in Melbourne or at the other majors in the future, there is another significant hoodoo he must overcome.

The top seeds have tumbled at this Australian Open but champions Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray and the highly talented Holger Rune and Andrey Rublev remain alive.

Loading

Three of them are ranked in the top 10. That is the problem for Khachanov, whose last win over a rival ranked in the elite subset came against Alexander Zverev in Montreal in 2019.

Since then he has lost 22 matches straight against top-10 players, which leaves his career head-to-head against the best of the best at 10 wins from 50 outings.

Elsewhere on Friday night, dual-Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka rebounded from a tardy start to beat former US Open finalist Madison Keys 1-6, 6-2, 6-1.

But 11th seed Cameron Norrie was ousted from the men’s tournament by Czech Jiri Lehecka 6-7 (8-10), 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in 3 hours, 12 minutes.

For daily updates of all the tennis action during the Australian Open, sign up for our Sport newsletter here.