Alexander Zverev Eyes US Open Glory After Semifinal Win
Alexander Zverev spent years as the poster boy for unfulfilled promise in men’s tennis. Now that the dam has finally burst, he looks intent on flooding the sport.
The German marched into another grand slam final with a 6-3, 7-6 (9-7), 7-6 (8-6) win over Karen Khachanov in the US Open semifinals, and he did it with the swagger of a man who has stopped asking if his time will come.
He knows exactly what he wants next: to keep the American drought going.
“Hopefully I can not make the American dream come true,” Zverev said, a grin cutting through the tension that still hangs over every US men’s campaign at Flushing Meadows.
Zverev’s year of reckoning
For years, Zverev carried the tag no player wants: best man without a major. That label died in Paris. He finally cracked the code at Roland Garros, then backed it up with a run to the Wimbledon final, where he fell to Jannik Sinner. His record in the majors this season now stands at a ruthless 24-2.
“Sometimes just things go your way and I feel like I've had a lot of struggles at the major level,” he said. “I was so close so many times and maybe this year God has said that this is going to be your year and just enjoy the time on the court.”
Enjoyment has come with a hard edge. Zverev has now won 13 consecutive sets in New York, a remarkable surge given how this tournament started for him. Elevated to the top seed at a major for the first time after Sinner withdrew with a knee injury, he promptly staggered through back-to-back five-setters against Lorenzo Sonego and Quentin Halys, burning nearly nine and a half hours of court time.
He admitted he and his team laughed at how badly he was playing after that second match. That gallows humour loosened something.
“That kind of sense of humour, it helped me,” Zverev said. “Moving forward, I was playing much better tennis. Obviously I have improved a little bit. Otherwise, I wouldn't be in the US Open final.”
Exorcising 2020
This is not just another final for him. It is a return to the scene of his most painful collapse.
In 2020, Zverev led Dominic Thiem by two sets in the US Open final, only to watch the title slip away in a fifth-set tiebreak. Thiem became the first man since 1949 to win the tournament from two sets down. Zverev walked away with a scar that lingered.
Now he comes back older, hardened, and armed with the experience of finally crossing the finish line at a major. This time, after taking a two-set lead, he didn’t blink.
He was solid, not spectacular, but utterly unyielding.
Khachanov’s surge, Zverev’s answer
Khachanov arrived in New York with a losing record for the season and little fanfare. He leaves it having reminded the sport that he can still punch his way deep into a slam. This was his third major semifinal, and his second at the US Open.
Early on, he looked outgunned. Zverev controlled the first set 6-3 and quickly jumped ahead 2-0 in the second. Only then did the Russian start swinging freely. He finally broke Zverev to level the set, and from there they traded blows until the tiebreak.
Khachanov saved Zverev’s first two set points in that breaker, refusing to go quietly. Then came the rally that broke him. Thirty-four shots, both men pinned to the baseline, angles explored, lungs burning. Zverev won it, and with it the set, snatching the air out of Khachanov’s comeback.
The Russian still wasn’t done. In the third-set tiebreak he surged to 3-0, then 5-2. The door creaked open.
Zverev slammed it shut.
Point by point, he reeled Khachanov back in, tightening the screws, cutting out the errors. The comeback in the breaker felt inevitable by the time match point arrived. The German’s composure under fire was exactly what deserted him here four years ago. This time, it held.
Khachanov’s level in those last two sets might have been enough to beat Zverev in week one. It just wasn’t enough against this version.
The American wait goes on
The story of the day in New York, at least in the stands, was supposed to be the all-American clash between Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe, two crowd favourites meeting on the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Their night-session duel was billed as the main event, the one that would decide which American would finally step up to play for a home slam.
The numbers told their own tale. Ticket prices for Zverev-Khachanov dipped to unexpectedly low levels, a quiet acknowledgment that this was the undercard. Khachanov, ranked outside the elite, was trying to become the lowest-ranked US Open finalist since the ATP rankings began in 1973. He fell short, but not by much.
Whoever emerges from Shelton and Tiafoe will carry the weight of a nation. The United States has not celebrated a men’s grand slam champion since Andy Roddick lifted the trophy here in 2003. Twenty-one years of waiting. Twenty-one years of near misses and false dawns.
Zverev knows all about waiting. His is over.
Now he wants to make sure America’s goes on a little longer.
