Zverev Advances to US Open Final with Dominant Victory
Alexander Zverev marched into the US Open final on Friday night, subduing Karen Khachanov 6-3, 7-6(7), 7-6(6) to move within one win of a second Grand Slam title.
The scoreline says straight sets. The match felt anything but simple.
Zverev finds his groove
For a man who had gone the distance in each of his first two rounds, Zverev now looks like he’s playing a different tournament. The French Open champion has reeled off four consecutive wins without losing a set, and this one carried him into a third straight major final and a second career title shot in New York, four years after his heartbreak against Dominic Thiem in 2020.
He started like a player who has rediscovered his authority. Zverev broke early, controlled the baseline exchanges and locked down his serve to pocket the opening set 6-3, never really offering Khachanov a glimpse of a comeback.
The German’s rhythm carried into the second. Another early break, another statement of intent. At that point, it looked like a long night for the unseeded Russian.
Khachanov bites back
Then the match changed.
Khachanov finally found his range, stepped inside the court and began to bully Zverev’s second serve. The reward came quickly: he snapped the German’s streak of 37 consecutive service games without being broken, a run that had underlined just how solid Zverev has been at this tournament.
Suddenly, the rallies lengthened, the crowd leaned in, and the second set turned into a test of nerve.
They arrived at a tiebreak that became a small war. Khachanov surged, Zverev steadied. The Russian had chances to tilt the night his way, but at the sharp end of a 14-minute breaker, his forehand faltered just as Zverev’s backhand grew bolder. The German clung on, then slammed the door, edging the tiebreak 9-7 and taking a two-set lead that felt far heavier than the scoreboard alone.
Another tiebreak, same result
The third set ran on the same script, only tighter.
Khachanov refused to go away. He matched Zverev stride for stride on serve, kept attacking with depth and height, and again forced the issue into a tiebreak. This time he grabbed a brief lead, hinting at a late twist.
Zverev didn’t blink.
Drawing on the confidence of six previous wins in nine meetings with Khachanov, he reeled the Russian back in, cut out the errors and turned the screw on return. When the final Khachanov mistake drifted long, Zverev had his seventh victory in 10 encounters between the pair and a straight-sets win that had been built on steel as much as shotmaking.
His Grand Slam record this season now stands at a remarkable 24-2. That’s not a hot streak. That’s dominance.
New York finale awaits
Next comes Sunday, and a different kind of challenge.
Zverev will face the winner of the all-American semi-final between Frances Tiafoe and Ben Shelton, a match he himself described as “epic” in the making. Both are crowd favourites, both feed off the noise at Flushing Meadows, and both would walk into the final with the stands roaring behind them.
“I can't wait for Sunday. It's going to be incredibly special, Francis and Ben are crowd favourites here in New York,” Zverev said. “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.”
Four years after letting a US Open title slip through his fingers, Zverev returns to the same stage, older, harder, and with a major already in his pocket. Now he steps into a final against not just an opponent, but an entire stadium.
This time, does he finish the job?
