Alexander Zverev Advances to US Open Final
Alexander Zverev walked into Arthur Ashe Stadium on Friday night as the man to beat in New York. He walked out one step from history.
The top seed dismantled Karen Khachanov 6-3 7-6 (9-7) 7-6 (8-6) to reach a third consecutive Grand Slam final and keep alive his push for a second major title of the year. No drama on the scoreboard, plenty of steel in the details.
A favourite playing like one
Since lifting his first Grand Slam trophy at Roland Garros in June, Zverev has worn the label of favourite differently. Less burden, more purpose. With Jannik Sinner and defending US Open champion Carlos Alcaraz both hampered by injuries this season, the draw opened. Zverev has slammed the door behind him.
This is his sixth major final, his second in New York after that agonising five-set defeat to Dominic Thiem in 2020. He returns to the same stage now as a 29-year-old with scars, experience and, crucially, a Grand Slam title already in his pocket.
His route here has not been pristine. He scraped through five-set battles in each of his first two rounds and admitted those early performances were far from convincing.
“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,” he said on court. “That sense of humour helped me. I obviously have improved a bit otherwise I would not be in the US Open final.”
He has not dropped a set since.
Statement start
From the opening game, Zverev set a tone Khachanov never truly disrupted. The German’s first serve was a sledgehammer: he won 13 of 15 points behind it in the first set and cleaned up at the net, taking all nine points when he moved forward.
The break came at 4-3. Zverev pounced, broke for 5-3, then coolly served out the set. It was controlled, clinical tennis, the kind that drains belief from the other side of the net.
Khachanov, ranked 50 in the world but far better than that number on his best days, tried to drag the match into chaos. He succeeded, briefly, in the second set.
Khachanov pushes back, Zverev holds firm
When Zverev went up a break early in the second, the match looked ready to run away from Khachanov. The Russian refused to let it. He clawed back the break, began to unload off both wings and finally turned rallies into bruising, extended exchanges.
The set tightened. The stadium sensed a shift. A tie-break felt inevitable, and when it arrived, it delivered.
Zverev earned a set point. Khachanov erased it with a thunderous backhand to finish off a 22-shot rally that had the crowd roaring. For a moment, the Russian had momentum, the kind of surge that can flip a semi-final.
The pivotal point of the night came next. Zverev stepped in, took the initiative again, and forced another set point. This time he refused to blink. In a draining, lung-busting rally, he dug in from the baseline, defended with depth and eventually broke Khachanov down to seal the tie-break 9-7.
Two sets up, he had one hand on the final.
A tightrope third set
The third set turned into a serving contest. No breaks, not even a break point for either man. Both protected their deliveries with authority, Khachanov hanging on, Zverev refusing to give him a crack of daylight.
The tie-break arrived like a final test of nerve.
Khachanov settled first. He surged ahead and created two set points, a last chance to extend the night and test whether Zverev still carried any ghosts from past New York heartbreaks.
Zverev slammed that door shut. He saved both set points, tightened his patterns, and wrestled back control. Once he edged in front, he did not let Khachanov back. The Russian finally flinched, sending a forehand long to hand over the match.
Zverev’s reaction was brief but telling. Arms wide, he turned to his coaching team in the stands, soaking in the moment, then walked to the net to shake Khachanov’s hand. No wild celebration. Just a man who knows there is one more job to do.
One more step
On Sunday, Zverev will face an American – either eighth seed Ben Shelton or 11th seed Frances Tiafoe – in a final that will carry a very different energy. The two home favourites meet in the night session, and Zverev knows exactly what kind of atmosphere awaits him.
“I think it will be incredibly special, especially, 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.”
He has now reached all four Grand Slam semi-finals this season, a level of consistency that once eluded him. The French Open title broke the barrier. Wimbledon brought a four-set loss to Sinner in the final. New York offers another chance, on a court that once left him shattered.
This time, he returns as the top seed, the form player of the year, and the man standing between a homegrown champion and a partisan crowd’s dream ending.
