Zverev Powers into US Open Semi-Finals Against Khachanov
Alexander Zverev ground his way into yet another New York semi-final on Tuesday, then walked off court looking like a man who has no intention of stopping there.
The German dismantled Botic van de Zandschulp 6-2, 7-5, 6-1 at the US Open, booking a last-four showdown with Karen Khachanov and writing another line into an already weighty Grand Slam résumé.
Zverev’s New York habit
This is Zverev’s third US Open semi-final and his 13th at a major. The 2020 finalist knows this court, this city, this stage. It shows.
It did not look that way in the opening exchanges. He sprayed five double faults early, his serve misfiring under the New York lights. Yet he still broke in the fifth game, wrestled control of the set and never handed it back. From 2-2, he rattled through four straight games to take the opener 6-2, shutting down the Dutchman’s rhythm with heavy first strikes and suffocating depth.
The second set told a different story. Van de Zandschulp dug in, pushed harder, and for a spell threatened to drag Zverev into another long night. The Dutchman edged closer to levelling, asking questions with more aggressive returning and cleaner hitting.
The response was ruthless. At the business end of the set, Zverev snapped, tightened the screws and reeled off three games in a row. Set two, 7-5. Match control, firmly restored.
Once the door was open, he walked straight through it. An early break in the third set killed any lingering suspense. Zverev accelerated, van de Zandschulp faded, and the scoreboard raced to 6-1. Three sets, no drama in the end, and a place in the semi-finals sealed with clinical efficiency.
A marathon man in a sprint finish
The straight-sets scoreline masks the work Zverev has put in this fortnight. His first two matches in New York went the distance, both five-setters that could easily have drained a lesser player. Instead, he has sharpened as the tournament has gone on, winning his next three matches in three sets.
The numbers underline the grind. Zverev has spent 16 hours and 40 minutes on court on his way to the semi-finals — the heaviest workload for any men’s semi-finalist at the US Open since 1991. He has still kept coming.
That effort has brought a slice of history with it. Zverev is the only player this season to reach the semi-finals at all four Grand Slam tournaments, a marker of consistency at the very top level that few manage and even fewer sustain.
Now comes Khachanov.
Khachanov advances as Bloxs breaks down
The Russian’s route to the last four could hardly have contrasted more sharply with Zverev’s latest test.
Karen Khachanov led Belgian Alexander Bloxs 6-2, 7-5, 3-2 when their quarter-final ended not with a match point, but with a handshake. Bloxs, already carrying a rib injury into the contest, arrived strapped and patched: brace on his right ankle, bandage on his thigh, and regular calls for the trainer as the match wore on.
He fought as long as his body allowed. It simply did not allow long enough.
Khachanov, striking cleanly and controlling the rallies, built a two-set lead and an early advantage in the third before the Belgian could no longer continue and retired. The Russian moves into his first US Open semi-final since 2022 and his first Grand Slam semi-final of any kind since the 2023 Australian Open.
Power against resilience
So the stage is set. On one side, Zverev, the ironman of this year’s majors, battle-hardened by long matches and carrying the experience of deep runs in every Slam this season. On the other, Khachanov, back in the last four of a major after a stop-start spell, armed with one of the heaviest games on tour and a fresher body after a shorter quarter-final.
Zverev has history in New York and the mileage to prove it. Khachanov has a chance to rewrite his own.
Only one of them will walk into another US Open final.
