Alexander Zverev marched into a third consecutive Grand Slam final with the cold authority of a man who now expects to be here.
The top seed dismantled Karen Khachanov 6-3 7-6 (9-7) 7-6 (8-6) at the US Open, tightening his grip on a season that has already delivered a first major in Paris and a Wimbledon final in July.
In New York, he is the man to beat. With Jannik Sinner and defending champion Carlos Alcaraz both hampered by injury this year, Zverev has stepped into the space at the top of the game and refused to budge.
From 3am doubts to another final
It has not all been smooth. Zverev admitted that after scraping through two five-set marathons to open his campaign, he and his team sat in the locker room at around 3am, laughing at how poorly he was playing.
That gallows humour seems a long way off now.
“I obviously have improved a bit otherwise I would not be in the US Open final,” he said, the understatement of a night that underlined how complete his tennis has become.
Since those early scares, he has not dropped a set. Against the world number 50 Khachanov, he faced pockets of danger, saved two set points in the third, and still looked like the man in charge of the evening.
Statement start
The tone was set early. Zverev won 13 of 15 points behind his first serve in the opening set and all nine points at the net. Khachanov, always a dangerous ball-striker, found himself pushed back, rushed, and squeezed.
A single break for 5-3 felt inevitable once Zverev locked in on return. He served out the set without fuss, his game compact and ruthless, his body language that of a player who knows the finish line in these matches now belongs to him.
Khachanov needed something extra in the second set and, to his credit, he found it. After falling behind an early break, he clawed his way back and dragged Zverev into longer, more physical rallies. The Russian saved set point with a gorgeous backhand winner at the end of a 22-shot exchange that finally had the crowd fully engaged.
For a moment, the match hung there.
The pivotal moments
The pressure finally told in the tie-break. Zverev, who has learned the hard way how to manage these knife-edge moments, stepped forward. He seized the initiative, constructed another set point and this time refused to let it go, outlasting Khachanov in a draining baseline duel capped by some superb scrambling defence.
Two sets up, he tightened his grip again. The third set became a serving shootout, both men holding without facing a single break point. Khachanov refused to fade, but he could not quite crack the German’s rhythm.
In the tie-break, the Russian struck first, jumping ahead and earning two set points. This was the last opening he would see. Zverev erased both, snapping back with the calm of a player who has spent all season living in these moments.
From there, he did not look back. Khachanov finally blinked, sending a forehand long to end the contest. Zverev spread his arms wide towards his coaching team, a brief, controlled celebration from a man who understands there is still one more step to take.
This is his sixth major final and his second in New York, four years after the brutal five-set collapse against Dominic Thiem in 2020 that once seemed destined to define him.
It no longer does.
A different Zverev, a different stage
Now 29, Zverev stands one match away from a second Slam of the year and a third straight major final. The numbers tell the story of consistency; the way he talks reveals the rest.
On Sunday he will face either Ben Shelton or Frances Tiafoe, two Americans who will have the full roar of Arthur Ashe Stadium behind them.
“I think it will be incredibly special, especially, these two guys are crowd favourites and everyone loves them,” Zverev said. “Tonight will be an epic semi-final and I am looking forward to watching it. Hopefully I can not make their American dream come true.”
The line was delivered with a smile, but the intent is clear. He has spent years chasing this stage. Now he is the one others are trying to dislodge.
New York remembers the night he let a US Open title slip from his grasp. On Sunday, with a second major of the season on the line, Zverev walks back into that arena no longer as the nearly man, but as the favourite who expects to finish the job.
