Alexander Zverev powers into the US Open final with a commanding victory over Karen Khachanov, marking his second appearance in the Flushing Meadows Championship match, where he will take on Ben Shelton of the United States.
Key Points
- Alexander Zverev defeated Karen Khachanov 6-3, 7-6(7), 7-6(6) in the first US Open semi-final.
- Zverev secured his spot in his sixth major final, and second at the US Open.
- Ben Shelton defeated Frances Tiafoe 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 in the second semi-final.
- The German world No. 2 has not dropped a set since the second round of the tournament.
- Zverev joins an elite group of players to reach a major final on three different surfaces in a single season.
Alexander Zverev and Ben Shelton will clash in the US Open men's singles final. The German defeated Russia's Karen Khachanov 6-3, 7-6(7), 7-6(6) while Shelton got the better of Frances Tiafoe 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 in an all-American second semi-final on Friday.
Zverev moved a step closer to a second Grand Slam title. The French Open champion had been pushed to five sets in each of his opening two rounds but has now won four straight matches without dropping a set, as he reached his third consecutive major final.
On the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, Tiafoe powered ahead 5-4 when Shelton produced a double-fault, before raising the roof on the main showcourt with a hold to bag the first set.
He continued to target his opponent's relatively weaker backhand in the second set but Shelton dialled up the intensity to draw level and broke in the fifth game of the third set to take a commanding lead in the match.
With his booming left-handed serve and his defence proving impenetrable in the high-octane fourth set, eighth seed Shelton heaped the pressure on late and moved into his maiden major title clash.
The big-hitting 23-year-old now stands one victory away from becoming the first American man to capture a major singles title since Andy Roddick hoisted the trophy at Flushing Meadows in 2003.
With the semi-final line-up having already ensured a Black American man would reach the final, Shelton's win made him the first to do so in New York since Arthur Ashe in 1972, and at any of the majors since MaliVai Washington at Wimbledon in 1996.
"I'm going for it," Shelton said on court. "I'm going to leave it all on the court. I hope you guys come back me, let's do this for the US.
"It's a lot of emotion. My dad, my mom have sacrificed a lot for me to be in this position today.
"My dad lost his mom earlier this year and she's the reason he was able to play tennis.
"Without her there's no Ben Shelton standing here today. This one is for her."
Earlier, Zverev made his second title decider at Flushing Meadows, after finishing runner-up in 2020 to Dominic Thiem.
"After the second round at 3am, me and my team were in the dressing room actually laughing at how bad I was playing. That sense of humour helped me," the 29-year-old Zverev said on court.
"I have improved a little bit, otherwise I wouldn’t be in the US Open final."
Khachanov Halts Zverev's Run
Zverev struck first to take the opening set before carrying that momentum into the second with an early break.
Khachanov, however, found his range and broke back, ending Zverev's run of 37 consecutive service games without being broken. The unseeded Russian then threatened to swing the match in a gripping tiebreak.
The German held his nerve to close it out after a 14-minute breaker, aided by Khachanov's errors at the crucial moments.
The third set followed a similar pattern, with Khachanov taking a brief lead in the tie-break before Zverev again fought back to seal his seventh win in 10 meetings against the Russian.
Zverev's 24-2 record
"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."
