Zverev Advances to US Open Final with Strong Performance
Alexander Zverev walked off Arthur Ashe Stadium with a smile that told the whole story. A straight-sets win over Karen Khachanov – 6-3, 7-6 (9-7), 7-6 (8-6) – and a place in the US Open final secured, built on a serve that veered between risky and ruthless but never lost its nerve when it mattered.
He doubled Khachanov’s double-fault tally, six to three, and flirted with danger in both tie-breaks. Yet the numbers that truly defined the night were on the other side of the ledger: 15 aces to the Russian’s six, and a second serve averaging 112mph, almost 20mph quicker than his opponent’s. That heavy delivery dragged him out of trouble again and again, then slammed the door shut.
Every time Khachanov asked a serious question, Zverev’s serve answered it.
From Locker-Room Laughter to Centre-Stage Composure
Zverev’s transformation across this fortnight has been stark. He admitted on court that after the second round, in the dead of night, he and his team sat in the locker room at around 3am and laughed at how badly he was playing. That gallows humour loosened the tension. The training sessions sharpened the rest.
“In practice I started feeling the ball better,” he said, explaining how his level rose as the tournament deepened. The evidence was on Ashe. The wobbles that marked his early rounds vanished. The German moved with authority, stepped into the court, and trusted the weight of his shots.
Annabel Croft, watching for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, summed it up simply: Zverev has “got better and better the more the tournament has gone on,” and when the match tightened, “he really stepped up to the plate and served spectacularly.”
The climax came on his final service point. One last booming ace, his 15th, ripping through the night. “Where did that come from?” Croft exclaimed. In truth, it had been coming all evening.
Khachanov’s Missed Chances
For Khachanov, this will sting. The Russian left the court to warm applause, signing autographs, but knowing what had slipped through his fingers.
He led in the tie-breaks of both the second and third sets. On another night, with a fraction more composure or a fraction less Zverev, this could easily have gone to a fourth or even a fifth set. He had Zverev looking tight at 2-5 in the third-set breaker, the German “playing like a man under pressure,” as the commentary put it, while Khachanov swung freely, “hitting with no concerns at all.”
The Russian’s all-court game shone in flashes. He won 13 of 14 points at the net, picking his moments to come forward and executing with conviction. From the back of the court he unloaded, at one point detonating a huge forehand into the back corner and celebrating like a “nonchalant gladiator” in front of a crowd that roared for the contest as much as the players.
But when the match turned white-hot, Zverev found one more gear. Khachanov will climb the rankings again after this run, a semi-finalist who proved he belongs deep in majors. He also walks away knowing he “unquestionably missed some big opportunities today.”
A Final Against the Crowd Favourites
Now comes Sunday, and with it a different kind of challenge. Zverev will face an American – either Frances Tiafoe or Ben Shelton – in a final that will belong, in noise and colour, to the home hope.
“I think it will be incredibly special,” Zverev said of the prospect, acknowledging that “these two guys are crowd favourites and everyone loves them.” He plans to watch their semi-final, to soak in the spectacle, then crash the party. “Hopefully I can not make their American dream come true.”
He knows what it means to stand on this stage and fall short. “I have had a lot of struggles at the major level and I was so close so many times,” he reflected. This time, he feels the tide turning. “Maybe this year God has said this is going to be my year and to enjoy my time on the court. I am enjoying it, I love playing these big finals and I can't wait for Sunday.”
The serve is firing. The belief is back. One more match will tell whether this really is his year.
Hewett and Reid Forced to Chase in Wheelchair Doubles
On Court 11, the mood was very different for Britain’s Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid, chasing yet another US Open men’s wheelchair doubles crown the hard way.
The top seeds, hunting a sixth title in New York, were rocked early by Spain’s Martin de la Puente and Ruben Spaargaren of the Netherlands. The challengers rattled off six games in a row to take the opening set 6-2, seizing control with a surge that left the British pair scrambling.
Hewett and Reid know this territory. Only yesterday they came from behind in a heavyweight semi-final against defending champions Gustavo Fernandez and Tokito Oda. They had to dig deep then; they will have to dig deep again.
At 2-2 in the second set, they were still trying to wrestle back momentum. Then came a spark. Trailing by a set and a break, they broke back at the first opportunity, dragging the set back to 3-3 and injecting life into a contest that had threatened to run away from them.
The second set hung delicately in the balance. De la Puente and Spaargaren had struck first and struck hard. Hewett and Reid had responded, as they so often do, with resilience and stubborn refusal to yield.
The question now is simple and brutal: can Britain’s dominant duo force a decider and keep their New York dynasty alive?
Sabalenka v Rybakina Awaits
While Zverev eyes his shot at a first US Open title, the women’s draw moves toward its own climax. Top seed and reigning champion Aryna Sabalenka will face new world number one Elena Rybakina in a final that promises raw power, heavy hitting and very little compromise.
The men’s final will have the crowd. The women’s final might just have the heaviest artillery of the fortnight.
Sunday in New York is set. The only thing left to decide is who walks away with their dream intact – and whose slips through their fingers under the lights of Flushing Meadows.
