Alexander Zverev powered into his third Grand Slam final of the season on Friday as he controlled Karen Khachanov 6-3, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (6) in a one-way semi-final at the US Open.
The German top seed won his first title at a major at Roland Garros in June, played the Wimbledon final in July against Jannik Sinner and will now play one of two Americans in the Sunday final here.
Zverev fought off accumulated fatigue in a battle lasting for three hours, running his total time on court over the past fortnight to more than 20 hours.
The German moved into his sixth Grand Slam final and his second here when he lost to Dominic Thiem in 2002 after holding a 2-0 lead on sets against the now-retired Austrian.
The top seed came from 2-5 down in the third-set tiebreaker, saving two Khachanov set points and wrapping up victory in his first match point as his opponent returned long.
“Sometimes things just go your way,” the 29-year-old winner said. “I’ve struggled a lot at the majors.
“I’ve been so close too may times. Maybe God said this year will be your year. I love playing these big finals and I can’t wait for Sunday.”
The second semi between Frances Tiafoe and Ben Shelton will throw up an opponent for the world No. 2.
“It will be an incredibly special final. Hopefully I can make the American dream not come true on Sunday,” Zverev said.
The winner said his attitude shifted after he got through an epic five-set struggle in the second round over Quentin Halys which set the record for the latest finish at 3:33 a.m.
“After the second rounf , I was sitting with my team in the locker room and we were laughing about how bad I was playing,” Zverev said.
“That sense of humour, it helped me. The next day on the practice court, I started feeling the ball a lot better. Moving forward, I was playing much better tennis.”
Zverev established early control over the 50th-ranked Khachanov as he ran out the opening set winning in barely half an hour.
But the contest tightened in the second set as Khachanov began to make an impression.
The 2022 semi-finalist recovered in the fourth set after going down a break in the opening game.
Khachanov put up a fight as the set went into a tiebreaker which lasted 13 minutes, Zverev took a two-set lead on his third set point as his opponent sent a forehand wide.
Zverev increased his leading total of 2026 match wins to 52 as he moved into his sixth Grand Slam final.
Main photo:- Alexander Zverev celebrates reaching US Open final – by ATPTour.com
