18-year-old Kazakhstani Damir Zhalgasbay, paired with 16-year-old Safir Azam of the United States, lost in the semifinal of the junior US Open-2026 to Americans Tanishka Konduri and Marcel Latak – 3:6, 7:6 (8:6), 5:10. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
After losing three games in a row in the first set (the score went from 2:1 to 2:4), Damir and Safir were unable to break back for the rest of the set – 3:6.
In the second set, the Kazakhstani and his partner led 3:1 but let the advantage slip. However, they edged their opponents in the tiebreak – 8:6.
Ultimately, everything was decided in the super tiebreak. It was the third of the tournament for the Kazakhstani and the American. They won the first two: against Japanese players Hugh Kawanashi and Kanta Watanabe – 10:4, and against Puerto Rican Yannick Alvarez and USA's Ryan Kosada – 10:6.
The third super tiebreak went wrong from the very start: 1:3, 2:5, 4:7 and 5:10. The hard-fought match lasted 1 hour 27 minutes. Konduri and Latak won by just three more points – 80:77.
In singles, Zhalgasbay put his racket away after his first match against American Jack Secord.
Elena Rybakina continues her run at US Open-2026. Kazakhstan's No. 1, who will top the world tennis ranking on Monday, will play Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka in the final overnight from Saturday to Sunday.
The US Open tennis championship is an annual Grand Slam hard-court tournament. The last of the four majors in the calendar year. The total prize fund is $108 million – a record for the majors.