Alexander Zverev Advances to US Open Final with Victory Over Khachanov

Alexander Zverev marched into the US Open final on Friday night, turning back Karen Khachanov 6-3, 7-6(7), 7-6(6) and edging closer to a second Grand Slam title.

The French Open champion arrived in New York looking vulnerable after being dragged to five sets in each of his opening two rounds. That feels like a different tournament now. Four straight matches, four straight wins in straight sets, and a third consecutive major final underline a player who has found his ruthless gear at exactly the right time.

This will be his second shot at the title at Flushing Meadows, four years after the heartbreak of 2020, when Dominic Thiem clawed back from two sets down to deny him. The scars of that night have not faded, but Zverev is using them.

He started like a man intent on settling this semi-final on his terms. The first set was clean and controlled, Zverev striking first with an early break and locking down his serve behind that heavy, accurate first delivery. Khachanov struggled to make any real impression on return, and the German closed out the opener without drama.

The match sharpened in the second. Zverev surged again with an early break, threatening to run away with it. Khachanov, unseeded but never timid, finally cracked the code on return, stepping in, taking bigger cuts, and snapping Zverev’s streak of 37 consecutive service games without being broken in the tournament. Suddenly, the rallies lengthened, the Russian’s forehand started to bite, and the contest turned into the bruising baseline battle many had expected.

The pressure built into a tense, seesaw tiebreak. Khachanov pushed, then pushed again, but when the points grew tight, his forehand blinked. Zverev stood firm. After 14 draining minutes, the German wrestled the breaker from him, helped along by a cluster of untimely errors from across the net. What had looked like a possible turning point instead became a hammer blow.

Khachanov refused to go quietly. The third set mirrored the second, both men holding firm on serve, the margins thinning to almost nothing. Once more, it came down to a tiebreak, and once more the Russian jumped ahead, hinting at a late twist. Zverev shut the door.

He reeled him back in, point by point, tightening his patterns, leaning on his serve and backhand, and eventually sealing his seventh win in 10 meetings against Khachanov. No roar, no wild celebration, just a clenched fist and a nod — a man who knows there is still one more mountain to climb.

Zverev’s record at the majors this season now stands at a staggering 24-2. On Sunday, he will walk into his third straight Grand Slam final to face the winner of the all-American semi-final between Frances Tiafoe and Ben Shelton, a match he admitted he was eager to watch.

"I can't wait for Sunday. It's going to be incredibly special, Francis and Ben are crowd favourites here in New York," he said on court. "Tonight is going to be an epic semi-final, I’m looking forward to watching it. Hopefully I can (stop) the American dream coming true."

New York loves a homegrown story. Zverev is intent on writing a different ending.