Alexander Zverev has moved into his second US Open final, continuing his pursuit of a second Grand Slam title this season. The top seed delivered a commanding performance to defeat Russian opponent Karen Khachanov 6-3, 7-6 (9-7), 7-6 (8-6) in New York.
The 29-year-old German, who secured his maiden Grand Slam victory at the French Open in June and reached the Wimbledon final in July, now awaits his opponent for Sunday’s championship match. He will face either eighth seed Ben Shelton or 11th seed Frances Tiafoe, who are scheduled to meet in Friday’s night session.
Reflecting on the upcoming final, Zverev noted the special atmosphere expected at the showpiece event. “I think it will be incredibly special, especially because these two guys are crowd favourites and everyone loves them,” he said. “Tonight will be an epic semi-final and I am looking forward to watching it. Hopefully, I can not make their American dream come true.”
Zverev’s path to the final has been marked by remarkable consistency, as he has now reached the semi-finals of all four Grand Slams this year, aided by the injury-related absences of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. Despite a slow start to the tournament that saw him pushed to five sets in his opening two matches, he has not dropped a set since.
The top seed admitted that his form was not always this sharp. “After the second round, at about 3am I was sitting with my team in the locker room and we were laughing at how bad I was playing,” Zverev recalled. “That sense of humour helped me. I obviously have improved a bit, otherwise I would not be in the US Open final.”
During the opening set, Zverev dominated, winning 13 of 15 points on his first serve and securing every point at the net before breaking Khachanov to lead 5-3. Khachanov mounted a challenge in the second, forcing a tie-break after a 22-shot rally, but Zverev ultimately claimed the set with resilient baseline defense.
The third set remained tight as both players held serve throughout, leading to another tie-break. Although world number 50 Khachanov gained an early advantage and earned two set points, Zverev saved both and clinched the match when his opponent sent a forehand long.
This victory marks Zverev’s sixth major final appearance. He is now looking to move past the disappointment of his 2020 US Open campaign, where he suffered a narrow five-set defeat to Dominic Thiem in the final. The report also notes that saving set point with a magnificent backhand to polish off a 22-shot rally, khachanov fought back after going a break down early in the second set and forced a tie-break. The report also notes that live scores, results and order of play.
