Alexander Zverev is into his second US Open final of his career after a 6-3 7-6(7) 7-6(6) win over Karen Khachanov.
The top seed was playing his first day session match at this year’s US Open and it showed as he sprayed a few unforced errors in the early stages of the match.
There were some animated conversations between Zverev and his team as the German was figuring out what string tension to use.
However, Zverev didn’t need to focus on that when Khachanov was solving the problems for him as a few unforced errors gave Zverev the opening set.
It was looking like Zverev would get a comfortable day at the office as he broke early for a 2-0 lead in the second set.
That theory would be put to rest fairly quickly as Khachanov would come back into the match as he won three games in a row to turn the set around.
Khachanov even had break point to take a break lead but Zverev produced some clutch serving to fend off that opportunity.
It was the German who was struggling more on serve but the second set still went to a tiebreak in a game that lasted 14 minutes.
There was a decent opening for Khachanov but he couldn’t take advantage when it mattered most and Zverev sealed the set by winning a long rally to take a two set lead.
The top see soaked in the Arthur Ashe Stadium atmosphere and enjoyed it even more when he held in the third game of the third set from 0-30.
In the third set there was no giving up from Khachanov and after taking the set to a tiebreak, Khachanov took an early lead and was starting to dominate proceedings with the forehand.
However, Khachanov failed to hold his nerve when it mattered most and that’s where Zverev thrived.
Zverev took the third set tiebreak 9-7 to complete a straight sets win and book his place in the US Open final.
It will be Zverev’s second US Open final and his third consecutive Grand Slam final where Ben Shelton or Frances Tiafoe now awaits.
