Alexander Zverev Reaches US Open Final After Challenging Path
Alexander Zverev is back on the biggest stage in tennis, and this time he’s arriving with the look of a man who expects to stay there.
The top seed powered past Karen Khachanov 6-3, 7-6 (9/7), 7-6 (8/6) on Friday to reach a third consecutive Grand Slam final, booking his place in Sunday’s US Open title match and extending a summer of relentless, heavyweight tennis.
Zverev’s hard way to cruise control
This US Open didn’t begin like a procession for the German. He staggered through the first week, grinding out back-to-back five-setters and spending nine hours and 26 minutes on court in the opening two rounds. It looked like the draw might swallow him before the second week even started.
Since then, he has looked like a different player.
Against Khachanov, Zverev needed just two hours and 57 minutes to shut the door on a dangerous opponent and deny the Russian a shot at becoming the lowest-ranked Grand Slam finalist since Marcos Baghdatis in 2006.
The scoreline reads straight sets. The match did not.
“Straight-set win, but anything but straightforward in a way,” Zverev said. “He played incredibly well, fought incredibly well.”
He wasn’t being polite. Khachanov, ranked 50 and with nothing to protect, threw himself into the fight after a flat opening set.
Khachanov fights back, Zverev holds his nerve
The first set slipped from Khachanov quickly. Zverev served with authority, broke once, and kept the Russian at arm’s length. No drama, no fuss, 6-3.
The tone changed in the second.
Khachanov, who lost to Zverev in the Tokyo Olympic gold medal match in 2021, finally found a foothold. Down a break early, he grinned when he threaded a passing shot past Zverev to open the fourth game, then whipped the crowd and himself into life. Three points later he punched a forehand winner for his first break point of the match, and when Zverev double-faulted, the contest cracked open.
From there, the rallies grew heavier, the tension sharper. Neither man blinked on serve again, and the set surged into a tiebreak.
Khachanov swung freely, but Zverev, who has made a habit this season of playing his best tennis in the tightest corners, kept finding answers. The Russian saved two set points with a brutal forehand and a clean backhand down the line, threatening to turn the night, but Zverev tightened the screws, edged the breaker 9/7 and walked off with a two-set lead that felt far more fragile than it looked on the scoreboard.
The third set became a test of nerve. No breaks, no daylight. Just service holds and mounting pressure.
In the tiebreak, Khachanov finally looked ready to flip the script. He surged ahead 6-4, two set points in hand, the possibility of a long night suddenly very real. Then his forehand deserted him. Two errors wiped away both chances.
Zverev didn’t hesitate. He fired his 15th ace to earn match point, then watched Khachanov send another forehand long. A clenched fist, a brief look to his box, and it was done.
“Second and third set I think it’s more than obvious that they could have gone both ways,” Zverev said. “I just played a few points better here and there, and I'm happy with the win.”
Chasing redemption in New York
This is not just another final for Zverev. New York carries a scar.
In 2020, he stood on this court and led Dominic Thiem by two sets in the US Open final, only to see the title slip through his fingers in five. That loss has hovered over his relationship with this tournament ever since.
Now he returns with a French Open title in his pocket, a Wimbledon runner-up finish behind him, and the chance to close out a remarkable three-major run with the trophy that once eluded him by inches.
Waiting for him will be an American.
Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe, seeded eight and 11 respectively, collide in an all-American semi-final that will decide who stands across the net from Zverev on Sunday. The stakes for the winner are enormous: the chance to become the first American man in 23 years to lift a Grand Slam trophy, since Andy Roddick’s 2003 triumph at this very tournament.
Zverev knows exactly what that means for the home crowd, and he’s not shy about his intentions.
He predicted an “absolutely epic” showdown between Shelton and Tiafoe, then added, with a wry smile: “Hopefully I can not make the American dream come true on Sunday.”
American hopes and a long drought
The weight of that drought has hung over US men’s tennis for two decades. This fortnight, it has felt lighter.
Shelton arrives on the back of the biggest win of his career, having toppled defending champion and seven-time Grand Slam winner Carlos Alcaraz in a wild, five-set quarter-final that finished at 3:34 am – the latest finish in US Open history. It was the kind of night that can turn a rising talent into a star.
Tiafoe has been circling this stage for a while, a showman with the game to match the New York energy. Both men are chasing their first major final, both know this is an opening that may not come around often.
Their head-to-head tilts slightly toward Shelton, who leads overall, but their history in New York is split. Shelton won their quarter-final here in 2023; Tiafoe struck back in the third round a year later. This time, the prize is much bigger.
On a day when the tournament paused to remember the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, with somber national anthem ceremonies in both the day and night sessions, the tennis carried an extra layer of reflection. The city remembered, the stadiums stood still for a moment, then the sport roared back into motion.
Rybakina, Sabalenka and a different kind of battle
The women’s final will set the stage on Saturday. Elena Rybakina, representing Kazakhstan, stands one win from a statement title and arrives with fresh momentum after ending Aryna Sabalenka’s near two-year reign as world number one by reaching the semi-finals.
Sabalenka, though, is chasing history of her own, hunting a third straight US Open crown. Rybakina will try to halt that charge, just as Zverev plans to stop an American coronation 24 hours later.
Two finals. Two long-running storylines. One city that rarely forgives hesitation.
Zverev has already learned what it feels like to let this trophy slip away. On Sunday, with an American crowd desperate for its first homegrown men’s champion in a generation, he’ll walk into Arthur Ashe Stadium knowing exactly what he wants to take from them.
