Alexander Zverev reached the US Open semifinals with a 6-2, 7-5, 6-1 win over Botic van de Zandschulp on Wednesday night, putting himself in the final four of all four Grand Slam tournaments this season and arriving in excellent form after a chaotic start to the event.
The No. 1 seed became the first men’s top seed to play five-set matches in each of the first two rounds of a major in the Open era. After those two matches of more than four and a half hours each, he has won his last three in straight sets, has held serve in 31 consecutive games, and has spent 16 hours and 40 minutes on court in total, the most by any man reaching the US Open semifinals since the ATP began tracking match times in 1991.
He said in other tournaments he would have been out in the first round, but that at a best-of-five major he can fight back and win a four-and-a-half-hour match and somehow get into the tournament. He said he has been playing better as the event has progressed and that he wants to go further than the semifinals.
Zverev will face Karen Khachanov on Friday. Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe meet in the other semifinal.
The season and the head-to-head
Zverev is 23-2 in Grand Slam matches this year, having won the French Open and reached the Wimbledon final. He went to the 2020 US Open final but blew a two-set lead against Dominic Thiem. That was the closest he had come to a major title until Roland Garros this year.
Khachanov said Zverev has been in the top five for so many years and that this year he stepped forward further, winning his first Grand Slam and reaching the Wimbledon final. He described Zverev as coming in hot form.
He leads their head-to-head 6-3. Their only meeting at a major was the 2018 French Open round of 16, where Zverev won in five sets. They also met in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics gold medal match, with Zverev winning in straight sets.
The Khachanov path
Khachanov advanced to the semifinal after his opponent, Alexander Blockx, retired while trailing two sets to none. Khachanov enters the semifinal unseeded. No. 1 seeds are 22-1 historically against unseeded opponents in major semifinals or finals, a statistical backdrop that heavily favors the top seed.
The broader picture
He is the only player, men’s or women’s, to reach the semifinals of all four majors in 2026. The French Open champion and Wimbledon runner-up arriving in the US Open semifinals as the top seed and in his best form of the tournament is about as favorable a position as a player can occupy in the final week of a Grand Slam.
The American half of the draw, Shelton against Tiafoe, guarantees the United States will have a representative in Sunday’s final for the first time since Andy Roddick won the title in 2003. His opponent in Sunday’s final, if he reaches it, will be the first American man in a US Open final since that same year.
