Alexander Blockx tried to go for it, but the 28th-seeded Belgian was too close at the end on Wednesday with a trip to the semifinals of the Arthur Ashe Stadium open to the U.S. stake.
Blockx retired in the third set against unseeded Russian Karen Khachanov, trailing 6-2, 7-5, 3-2, unable to continue with a rib injury that sidelined him since the round of 16. An injury plagued Blockx during the match.
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he visibly struggled with his servers in the first set, where he was broken twice. It took the doctor time to work on his left leg, not on his ribs.
He stayed in the match and held serve for the second set until Khachanov broke him late to serve for the set, 7-5. Blockx then received another therapeutic mesh, this time to work on his torso.
In pain, he opted to retire in the third set when Khachanov broke him again to take a 3-2 lead. He informed the chair referee of his plan, then shared a hug with Khachanov.
Blockx outlined the severity of the injuries to reporters after the match;
“I think today my body simply said enough. As I said two days ago, I was already really struggling physically. Against Francis, I almost retired, and today it only got worse. I still felt a lot of pain in my ribs and also in my leg. Then, in the second set, I had a nerve stuck in my back, which was even more difficult to move.”
Khachanov, 30, advanced to the winner of Wednesday’s first round between No. 1 seed Alexander Zverev and the winner of the unseeded Van De Zandschulp.
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Khachanov is back in the semis despite his coaching woes
The trip to the semifinals marks the second time for Khachanov at the US Open. A seed in the semifinals in 2022 at No. He lost to 5th seed Casper Ruud, who went on to lose to Carlos Alcaraz in the championship match. It is his third trip to a Grand Slam semifinal and his first since advancing to the Australian Open semifinals in 2023.
Khachanov will be ranked 50th in the world in the semifinals, his lowest ranking since 2017. He spoke about the conflicting emotions of defeating an injured opponent in his post-match interview.
“It’s a mixed feeling,” Khachanov said. “On the one hand, I felt that I was dominated from the beginning. Then I began to feel that it was working more and more.…
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“I’m sorry, I don’t want to shout ‘come on’ or anything like that. I wanted to keep the energy still there. I want him to recover quickly, definitely. … I’m super happy. I’m in the semifinals, go ahead.”
Blockx played 2 matches through pain
Blockx’s run to the quarterfinals was the highest ever at a Grand Slam and the highest ever by a Belgian at the US Open. He got there by upsetting No. 5 seed Flavio Cobolli in the third round, then No. 24 seed Francis Cerundolo on Monday in Round 16.
He plays Cerundolo in pain. He told reporters afterward that the drug reportedly did little to relieve his pain during the game.
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“It’s already hanging there,” he said. “If I had lost a third, the chances of me passing away would have been really high.”
On Wednesday, the pain from the side’s lack of momentum proved too much for Khachanov to play on.