YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. Karen Khachanov won through to the semi-finals of the Australian Open for the first time in his career after Sebastian Korda was forced to retire with a wrist injury, Eurosport reports.

The Russian tennis star was leading 7-6(5) 6-3 3-0 before Korda made the decision to leave the court.

Korda was hampered by a right wrist injury picked up in the middle of the second set and it restricted his movement, enabling Khachanov to dominate the match from then on.

For Khachanov, it is back-to-back Grand Slam semi-finals after reaching the same stage at the 2022 US Open. The big-serving Russian will play either Stefanos Tsitsipas or Jiri Lehecka in the last four.

"Back-to-back semi-finals in a Grand Slam, it feels great," Khachanov said in his on-court interview after the match.

"Not the way you want to finish the match. I think until a certain point it was very competitive. A very good battle. Sebastian beat one of my friends Daniil [Medvedev] and five sets against Hubert Hurkacz - he's been playing great tennis. Big applause to him.

"I'm feeling good, to be honest. Really happy about my level and the way I compete, and looking forward to the semi-finals here in Australia for the first time."