Queens, NY— Alexander Zverev is one victory away from adding another Grand Slam championship to a breakthrough season.
The top-seeded German defeated Karen Khachanov 6-3, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (6) on Friday at the U.S. Open, securing his place in Sunday’s championship match against No. 8 seed Ben Shelton.
Zverev will be playing for his second major title of the year after finally breaking through at the French Open earlier in the season. He also reached the Wimbledon final before falling to Jannik Sinner and has been nearly unbeatable at the Grand Slam level in 2026, compiling a 24-2 record.
Now he has an opportunity to finish the season’s final major with another trophy.
“I feel like I’ve had a lot of struggles at the major level,” Zverev said. “I was so close so many times, and maybe this year God has said that this is going to be your year and just enjoy the time on the court.”
The 29-year-old is also chasing a rare accomplishment. A victory Sunday would make him only the fourth man in the Open Era to win his first two Grand Slam championships in the same calendar year, joining Jimmy Connors, Guillermo Vilas and Sinner.
Standing in his way is Shelton, who defeated fellow American Frances Tiafoe in the other semifinal to reach his first Grand Slam final.
With American men’s tennis still searching for its first major champion since Andy Roddick won the 2003 U.S. Open, Zverev is well aware of the pressure surrounding Sunday’s final.
“Hopefully I can not make the American dream come true on Sunday,” Zverev said with a laugh.
Zverev’s run in New York has also carried an element of redemption.
The U.S. Open remains the site of one of the most painful losses of his career. In the 2020 final, Zverev led Dominic Thiem by two sets before ultimately losing in a fifth-set tiebreaker.
This time, there was no collapse.
After taking the first two sets against Khachanov, Zverev maintained his composure and closed out the match in straight sets, extending his streak to 13 consecutive sets won.
The semifinal became particularly tense in the second-set tiebreak. Khachanov erased Zverev’s first two opportunities to close out the set, but Zverev eventually prevailed after winning a remarkable 34-shot rally.
Khachanov again pushed him in the third-set tiebreak, jumping ahead 3-0 and later 5-2. Zverev refused to panic, however, fighting his way back and eventually securing the match.
The victory was Zverev’s 52nd tour-level win of the season, the most on the men’s tour.
Khachanov’s unexpected run through the draw came to an end despite another impressive performance. The Russian entered the tournament with a losing record for the season but reached his third Grand Slam semifinal and his second at the U.S. Open.
His chances of reaching a first major final appeared slim after losing the opening set and falling behind 2-0 in the second. Khachanov responded by breaking Zverev and eventually forcing the set into a tiebreak, where he battled until the final points.
Zverev’s road to the final has been anything but easy.
After becoming the No. 1 seed at a Grand Slam for the first time following Sinner’s withdrawal because of a knee injury, he was forced into five-set battles against Lorenzo Sonego and Quentin Halys during the opening two rounds.
Those matches kept him on court for nearly nine and a half hours.
Zverev admitted that his early struggles became a source of humor within his team.
“We laughed about how poorly I was playing after the second match,” he said.
That ability to stay loose may have helped turn his tournament around.
“That kind of sense of humor, it helped me,” Zverev said. “Moving forward, I was playing much better tennis. Obviously I have improved a little bit. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be in the US Open final.”
Now, Zverev has one final test.
Shelton will bring the support of a home crowd and the weight of American tennis history into Sunday’s championship match. Zverev will bring experience, confidence and a chance to claim his second major championship of the season.
The U.S. Open final will determine whether Zverev’s breakthrough year ends with one more piece of history.
