Alexander Zverev reaches the US Open final and awaits Shelton-Tiafoe winner
NEW YORK (AP) — Alexander Zverev knows what it's like to endure a lengthy wait for a Grand Slam title. Now that it's over for him, he wants to keep the drought going for American men's tennis.
Zverev will play for his second major title this year after beating Karen Khachanov 6-3, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (6) on Friday in the U.S. Open semifinals.
Zverev will play Sunday against No. 8 seed Ben Shelton or No. 11 Frances Tiafoe, who meet later Friday for the right to become the American man playing for the title. Both have been semifinalists in Flushing Meadows but neither has reached a major final.
The U.S. is still seeking its first men's Grand Slam champion since Andy Roddick won in New York in 2003.
“Hopefully I can not make the American dream come true on Sunday,” Zverev said.
Zverev, who had long been considered the best men's player without a major, finally broke through at the French Open this year. The German followed by reaching the Wimbledon final, where he lost to Jannik Sinner, and is 24-2 in Grand Slam matches this season.
“Sometimes just things go your way and I feel like I’ve had a lot of struggles at the major level, 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,” Zverev said.
Now he will try to win the title that he still can't believe he let get away in 2020. Zverev won the first two sets against Dominic Thiem but then lost in a fifth-set tiebreaker, as Thiem became the first man to win the U.S. Open title after dropping the first two sets since 1949.
Zverev was solid after going up two sets this time, and has won 13 consecutive sets after becoming the first No. 1-seeded man to play five-setters in each of the first two rounds of a major.
Khachanov was trying to reach his first major final after a surprising run in New York. He arrived with a losing record for the season but went on to reach his third Grand Slam semifinal, including second at the U.S. Open.
He started playing better after dropping the first set and then falling behind 2-0 in the second. He finally broke Zverev’s serve to tie it and it stayed even until they went to the tiebreaker. The Russian erased Zverev's first two set points in it before Zverev finished it off by winning a 34-shot rally.
Khachanov then had leads of 3-0 and 5-2 in the third-set tiebreaker before Zverev battled back.
The Shelton-Tiafoe matchup, pitting two fan favorites on the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, was the clear main event on semifinal day. Ticket prices were available at surprisingly low figures for the matchup between Zverev and the No. 50-ranked Khachanov, who was bidding to become the lowest-ranked U.S. Open finalist since the ATP rankings began in 1973.
His level in the final two sets probably would have been good enough to beat Zverev early in the tournament. The No. 1 seed at a major for the first time after Sinner pulled out with a knee injury, Zverev had to go the distance against Lorenzo Sonego and Quentin Halys in his first two rounds, spending nearly 9 1/2 hours on the court.
He said he and his team laughed about how poorly he was playing after the second match.
“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 U.S. Open final.”
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