Wild-card Michael Mmoh 'upsets' No. 11 Karen Khachanov in opening round of US Open, will play John Isner next
Michael Mmoh reacts after defeating Karen Khachanov during the first round of the U.S. Open on Tuesday. Credit: AP/John Minchillo
Michael Mmoh, a wild-card entry into the U.S. Open, scored what one tennis website called a “shocking upset" of 11th seed Karen Khachanov on Tuesday. Mmoh beat the 2022 Open semifinalist, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2.
But it shouldn’t have been that much of a shock.
Khachanov was playing his first match since the French Open. The Russian suffered a stress fracture and a partial fracture in his hip and groin at the French.
Also, Mmoh beat a seeded player in the first round at Wimbledon this year. In that tournament, the Saudi Arabian-born American wasn’t even a wild card. He was a "lucky loser" -- a player who is added to the main draw after losing in qualifying after another player withdraws — and he defeated world No. 12 Felix Auger-Aliassime in a four-set match that included three tiebreakers.
In January, Mmoh made it to the round of 32 at the Australian Open, again as a lucky loser. He bowed out in the third round in straight sets to American J.J. Wolf.
Mmoh, 25, had 33 winners to Khachanov’s 26. But Khachanov had 46 unforced errors compared to 21 for Mmoh.
Mmoh will next face another wild card in 38-year-old John Isner. The 6-10 veteran, who has announced that he will retire after this Open (his 17th), beat Argentina’s Facundo Diaz Acosta at Louis Armstrong Stadium, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (7-1).
“Very happy it didn't go into a fourth set,” Isner said. “Three-set match, two and a half hours, that's pretty long. Sneaky kind of hot and humid here this week so far. Just sweating a lot . . . As big as I am, you sweat a lot.”
American Taylor Fritz, the 25-year-old No. 9 seed, said Isner is a big guy to the younger players in more ways than one.
“When I was a junior, then for a long time when I first started playing [professionally], he was the guy,” Fritz said. “He's been on top of American tennis for a really long time. He was always super nice, welcoming to all of the new younger guys. He was always really welcoming to us as someone we looked up to.”
Andy Murray became the eighth man to reach 200 Grand Slam victories with a 6-2, 7-5, 6-3 win over Corentin Moutet. It was Murray’s 49th U.S. Open win.
No. 3 seed and 2021 Open champion Daniil Medvedev needed only 1:14 to beat Attila Balazs, 6-1, 6-1, 6-0.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
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