Key events
Zverev* 6-3 2-3 Khachanov (*next server): Khachanov recovers from a wobble that allowed Zverev back into it at 30-30, only to have another that leads to deuce. The Russian wipes his brow after sealing a crucial hold following another long rally.
Zverev 6-3 2-2 Khachanov* (*next server): Khachanov levels it up in the second set! The Russian is coming out on top in the longer rallies and does so in the first two points to take a 0-30 lead. A stunning forehand winner down the line, celebrated with a point in the air, brings up two break points … and Zverev double-faults!
While the players have a sit down, try our quiz of the week in sport …
Zverev* 6-3 2-1 Khachanov (*next server): Khachanov gets the crowd going by rescuing a Zverev dropshot and sending a backhand volley past the German for 30-0. He holds to 15 to stop a run of five games lost in a row.
Zverev 6-3 2-0 Khachanov* (*next server): Zverev is made to work in his first service game of the second set. After some excellent returning gets him back in the game at deuce, Khachanov sends a couple into the net and has to contain his frustration.
Zverev* 6-3 1-0 Khachanov (*next server): Uh oh. The unforced errors are creeping into Khachanov’s game now. So are the missed first serves. Zverev punches a backhand down the line to bring up two break points. A wayward backhand from Khachanov on the second one seals the break.
Zverev wins first set 6-3
The No 1 seed strikes first in this semi-final. Khachanov shakes his head as an unforced error at 15-15 hands the momentum to his opponent. Zverev seals set point as Khachanov sends a forehand long from the baseline.
Zverev* 5-3 Khachanov (*next server): Never mind – Zverev breaks! A first deuce of the match as Khachanov double-faults at 40-30 after recovering from 0-30. After a 16-shot rally, Khachanov hits the net to bring up the first break point of the match. Some nervous hitting from the Russian leads to a wide forehand and Zverev now serves for the set.
Zverev 4-3 Khachanov* (*next server): I feel like I’ve watched Zverev fiddle with the front of his shirt all summer. He does so again here but makes light work of another service game, even with a wasp scuttling along his baseline. Shall we just go straight to the tiebreak?
Zverev* 3-3 Khachanov (*next server): Khachanov, dressed in red with his usual white backwards cap, wastes little time in holding to love. He seals game point with a classy backhand dropshot.
Zverev 3-2 Khachanov* (*next server): Zverev looks incredibly comfortable on serve, but Khachanov is trying to cope – returning a 140mph serve at 30-0 on his way to winning the point. But an ace sets up game point for Zverev and a serve-and-volley seals it.
Zverev* 2-2 Khachanov (*next server): Khachanov holds to 30 fairly comfortably. Neither of them have seen a break point yet.
There’s Ronaldo in the crowd – that I can do.
Zverev 2-1 Khachanov* (*next server): After losing the first point, some assured net approaches from Zverev ease him to 40-15. After a double-fault, the German whistles one down the T for an ace and the game.
There are some actors in the crowd. Woody Harrelson maybe? I’m not so good on this sort of thing.
Zverev* 1-1 Khachanov (*next server): Khachanov drills down a 131mph ace at 15-0 – his fastest serve of the tournament – but then double-faults to give Zverev a glimpse. A long forehand at 40-15 makes it nervy but Khachanov gets it right in his second game point to hold.
Zverev 1-0 Khachanov* (*next server): Zverev holds to 15 after Khachanov fails to recover after a missed forehand pass at the net at 15-15.
The date ‘9/11/01’ is written to the side of the court as part of the 25th anniversary tributes at Flushing Meadows.
Match starts
Some of the empty seats have filled during the warm-up but there are still gaps as a serving Zverev kicks things off.
Khachanov wins the toss and chooses to receive first against Zverev’s thundering serve. The chair umpire is France’s Damien Dumusois.
Karen Khachanov emerges from the tunnel first, followed by Alexander Zverev. Apparently the German was a minute or two late because he needed some extra time in the toilet – we’ve all been there.
On Arthur Ashe Stadium, a retired servicewoman sings the American national anthem before the players come out. Flags are flying at half mast around the grounds today on the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Arthur Ashe was also lit up blue from dusk until dawn this morning.
Zverev v Khachanov could of course go on beyond that 7pm timing – that is the nature of five-set tennis. The incoming Tennis Australia CEO, Andrew Abdo, suggested last month that tennis should rethink it’s best-of-five format for men’s grand slam matches to attract a younger audience.
Andrew Lawrence has, thankfully for us, launched to the defence of longer epics …
In tennis, a match that stretches on for hours and hours isn’t a drag. It’s an obvious marker of quality, an implied reason to tune in. And if engagement is the name of the game, the drama of a fifth act that holds the potential to maintain an audience, capture a new one and – in the case of the Shelton-Alcaraz quarter – extend the primetime viewing window on the West Coast should be an incentive for those committed to growing the game to embrace the five-setter even tighter, not abolish it.
A reminder that the other semi-final between Francis Tiafoe and Ben Shelton is due to start after the conclusion of this one at around 7pm local time, midnight in the UK.
Tumaini Carayol has set the scene for a primetime all-American match-up …
As Americans at the US Open, two players who have spent their careers being reminded of how far American men’s tennis has fallen since its decades of dominance over the sport, and particularly of Andy Roddick’s triumph at the 2003 US Open, the last time an American man won a title here, the significance of this moment is doubly important to Tiafoe and Shelton. Unlike in their previous runs, there are no multiple grand-slam champions or all-time greats left in the draw, with the earlier semi-final featuring top seed Alexander Zverev against former top-10 player Karen Khachanov. All four can win this title.
“There are people that you don’t see from the outside, but I think he’s somebody that works extremely hard,” were Zverev’s words about Khachanov during his press conference yesterday.
He’s on the practice courts more than most people. He’s always searching for solutions. He’s always trying to find new ways to get better. He has a great coach who I’ve known also since juniors. He’s been with him since juniors. That I respect a lot when people go together for a long time and go together a long way.
That “great coach” is Vedran Martic, who is a bit of a tennis nerd, reckons Zverev:
We call him ‘The Professor’ because he knows everything about tennis, and he knows every single string tension, knows what everybody does, so that’s quite fun.
Yes, it sounds “quite fun” …
Zverev leads the career head-to-head 6-3 against Khachanov. They faced each other twice during the North American swing last year, with Khachanov winning in the Canadian Open semis but retiring in the fourth round at Cincinnati. Their only grand slam meeting was at the 2018 French Open, when Zverev won in five sets in the fourth round.
Khachanov said yesterday …
We had some great matches. He’s leading the head-to-head, I think, 6-3 if I’m right, tough battles. Last year I won in Canada, which was a very important one after a few defeats that I had against him.
Zverev said …
He’s a great guy. I’ve known him for many, many years, somebody that I grew up with playing junior tournaments. Again, I have massive respect for him. I hope it’s going to be a great battle on Friday.
Karen Khachanov is in his first grand slam semi-final for three and a half years. The Russian started this year with a record of 16-18 but his form over the past couple of weeks will lift him higher than his current world ranking of No 50. Alexander Blockx, who retired injured during the third set of their quarter-final on Thursday, was the third seed Khachanov has knocked out so far.
Run to 2026 semis
First round: Beat Román Andrés Burruchaga 6-3 6-0 6-1
Second round: Beat Felix Auger-Aliassime (3rd seed) 6-7 (5) 6-3 6-2 6-2
Third round: Beat Benjamin Bonzi 6-3 6-2 6-4
Fourth round: Beat Learner Tien (14) 7-5 4-6 6-7(6) 6-1 6-4
Quarter-final: Beat Alexander Blockx (28) 6-2 7-5 3-2 ret
On facing Zverev, Khachanov said yesterday …
I will have to come up with the best form. I will have to have patience, to take control in the middle, to dictate, but not to rush. You know, to build the point in the right way, and then whenever I see and I feel the chance … At some point you have to make the difference. And obviously serve, return. He has a big, big first serve, great return. So I have to be focused on that as well.
Alexander Zverev is aiming to reach his third grand slam final in a row after winning at Roland Garros and finishing runner-up at Wimbledon. But this would be his first US Open final in six years, when he lost to Dominic Thiem with nobody in attendance during the Covid pandemic. Last year, the German was beaten in the third round by Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Run to the 2026 semis
First round: Beat Lorenzo Sonego 6-4 3-6 6-7(7) 7-5 6-4
Second round: Beat Quentin Halys 6-4 4-6 7-6(3) 6-7(3) 6-3
Third round: Beat Alejandro Tobillo (25th seed) 6-2 7-6(2) 6-2
Fourth round: Beat Luciano Darderi (21) 6-2 6-2 7-6(3)
Quarter-final: Beat Botic van de Zandschulp 6-2 7-5 6-1
Siniakova and Townsend win US Open women’s doubles
Before we get into the buildup for the men’s singles, Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend have just been crowned women’s doubles champions at Flushing Meadows after coming back to beat Robin Montgomery and Ashlyn Krueger 5-7 6-0 6-2 in the final on Arthur Ashe.
The No 1 seeds have completed the career grand slam after winning Wimbledon in 2024, the Australian Open in 2025 and the French Open earlier this year.
Preamble
It has been smooth sailing for Alexander Zverev for the past few days at the US Open. The No 1 seed had to fight his way through two five-setters to start the tournament but hasn’t dropped a set since, easing through to the verge of his third grand slam final in succession. The unseeded Karen Khachanov was out of sorts earlier this year, dropping to No 50 in the world, but has found real consistency in the last fortnight. He returns to this stage for the first time since the 2022 semis and could today reach his first grand slam final.
These two will be happy to head out on Arthur Ashe Stadium nice and early, giving them a bit of an advantage over Francis Tiafoe and Ben Shelton, who follow in tonight’s American primetime slot, ahead of Sunday’s final. It is a poignant day in New York on the 25th anniversary of 9/11 and Flushing Meadows will pay tribute to the victims of the attacks.
Zverev and Khachanov are due on court at 3pm local time, 8pm BST. Be sure to get in touch with any predictions, comments or questions. I will be here for the duration.