Day 11 was far more straightforward than the two quarter-finals we saw 24 hours earlier, with Alexander Zverev and Karen Khachanov both booking their places in the last four without too much trouble.
Zverev continued his much cleaner second week by seeing off Botic van de Zandschulp in straight sets. There were still a couple of those familiar moments where he leaves the door wide open for his opponent, particularly in the second set, but Botic was clearly running on fumes after almost 10 hours on court across his previous two matches.
The other quarter-final never really got going properly. Alexander Blockx was already carrying a rib problem and then seemed to pick up just about every other injury going before eventually retiring early in the third against Khachanov.
So we now have our semi-final lineup. Zverev is the only remaining Grand Slam champion in the draw, while Khachanov, Tiafoe and Shelton are all trying to reach a major final for the first time.
Here’s a look at both Day 11 quarter-finals.
Day Eleven US Open 2026 Quarterfinal Results
Alexander Zverev def. Botic van de Zandschulp 6-2, 7-5, 6-1
Alexander Zverev continued his much-improved second week with another straight-sets win, seeing off Botic van de Zandschulp to reach his third US Open semi-final.
I couldn’t see any other outcome in this, considering Botic had spent almost 10 hours on court across his previous two matches, and for most of this one, it showed.
Zverev was not particularly spectacular, but he didn’t need to be and controlled the opening set comfortably.
The second set was the only time things threatened to get interesting. Van de Zandschulp had two break chances at 3-2 and then reached set point on return at 5-4, but Zverev survived both situations and immediately punished him by breaking at 5-5.
From there, the Dutchman’s resistance disappeared pretty quickly as Zverev ran through the third 6-1.
It wasn’t his cleanest performance, and there is rarely a match where he doens’t let his opponent have a big gaping window to get back into it but job done.
Seven double faults and more unforced errors than winners, but he saved both break points he faced and converted six of his nine, so the important points were all pretty one-sided.
After spending more than nine hours on court in his opening two rounds, Zverev has now won three straight matches without dropping a set and suddenly looks far fresher than he did at the start of the tournament.
Match Stats
Highlights
Karen Khachanov def. Alexander Blockx 6-2, 7-5, 3-2 RET
Alexander Blockx’s US Open run ended in unfortunate fashion as his body finally gave up against Karen Khachanov.
The Belgian had already been struggling with a rib problem against Cerundolo, and he said after it only got better once the pain meda kicked in so it was obvious he’d never be at 100% for this one.
It only got worse too, as by the end, he was dealing with the rib, a leg issue, pain in his foot and then apparently a trapped nerve in his back as well.
Khachanov was comfortably in control of the first set, but Blockx did well to keep the second competitive despite visibly struggling between points.
He was still hanging around at 5-5, but Khachanov broke late to take the set and then moved ahead 3-2 in the third before Blockx decided there was little point in continuing.
Not much to analyse from a tennis perspective, as Blockx was basically trying to survive physically, although Khachanov handled the situation professionally and didn’t let the strange circumstances affect him.
Khachanov, meanwhile, is into his third Grand Slam semi-final despite arriving in New York in terrible form. He’ll face Zverev, who leads their head-to-head 6-3.
Match Stats
Highlights
US Open 2026 Men’s Semifinal Matches
- Alexander Zverev [1] vs Karen Khachanov
- Frances Tiafoe [11] vs Ben Shelton [8]
