Zverev survives two tiebreaks to beat Khachanov, reaches third straight Grand Slam final

Alexander Zverev survived two tiebreaks he was on the verge of losing to beat Karen Khachanov 6-3, 7-6(7), 7-6(6) on Friday afternoon at Arthur Ashe Stadium, reaching his third consecutive Grand Slam final of 2026 and a second US Open final six years after his heartbreaking loss there in 2020.

The top-seeded German needed two hours and 47 minutes to see off the unseeded Khachanov, who arrived in the semifinal ranked No. 50 in the world after upsetting No. 3 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime and No. 14 seed Learner Tien earlier in the tournament. Zverev will play the winner of Friday night's all-American semifinal between Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe in Sunday's final, a result that had not been decided as this article was filed.

Two tiebreaks, two escapes

Zverev took the first set comfortably, breaking Khachanov's serve twice, but the match tightened from there. In the second-set tiebreak, Khachanov built a 5-3 lead and held a set point before Zverev won six of the final eight points to force a third set. The pattern repeated almost exactly in the third-set tiebreak: Khachanov led 4-1 with two more set points, only for both to disappear on forehand errors, and Zverev closed it out.

The underlying numbers told a closer story than the scoreline suggests. Khachanov actually won more total points in the second set, 44 to 43, despite losing it, and finished with 36 unforced errors to Zverev's 34 and 28 winners to Zverev's 37. Zverev's serve was the difference in the tightest moments — he hit 15 aces to Khachanov's six and averaged 125 mph on his first delivery, according to match statistics reported by Tennis Majors. Khachanov, for his part, leaves New York a considerably more dangerous player than he arrived: the run to a third career major semifinal will lift him to roughly No. 26 in the world when the new rankings are published.

Friday's result also extended Zverev's dominance in the head-to-head series: he now leads Khachanov 6-3 in their career meetings, a rivalry that includes a five-set match at the 2018 French Open and a gold-medal final the two played at the pandemic-delayed 2021 Tokyo Olympics, which Zverev won. Khachanov's run to the semifinal, meanwhile, was built on beating two seeded players in Auger-Aliassime and Tien back to back, results that outweighed his modest No. 50 ranking coming into the tournament.

A season across three surfaces

Friday's win extended a run that has defined Zverev's 2026 season. He won his first Grand Slam title on the clay of Roland Garros in the spring, reached the final on the grass of Wimbledon in the summer, and has now reached the final on the hard courts of the US Open — finals on three different surfaces in the same calendar year. According to the ATP Tour, Zverev is only the 12th man since 1978 to accomplish that feat, and every one of the previous 11 went on to become a multiple Grand Slam champion and a world No. 1. Zverev, who turns 30 next year, has yet to reach the top ranking spot despite years as one of the tour's most consistent players, and Sunday's final is his sixth appearance in a major final overall.

The Roland Garros title, documented on the tournament's official player profile, ended a long wait for a first major for Zverev, who had reached four Grand Slam finals previously without winning one. This year's US Open run also carries a specific piece of unfinished business: in the 2020 final, played without fans because of the pandemic, Zverev led Dominic Thiem by two sets before losing in five. A win Sunday would be his first US Open title and second major overall.

A rough start turned around at 3 a.m.

Zverev's route to the final was not smooth. He needed five sets to get past Quentin Halys in the second round in a match that did not finish until roughly 3 a.m., and he described the aftermath in blunt terms after Friday's win, according to remarks carried by Yahoo Sports.

"After the second round at about 3am, I was sitting with my team in the locker room, we were actually laughing our a— off about how bad I was playing. That sense of humor helped me," Zverev said.

Zverev said the moment marked a turning point: he felt sharper in practice the following day and his level rose through the rest of the tournament, culminating in Friday's escape act against Khachanov. Looking ahead to a possible American opponent in the final, Zverev was similarly candid about the atmosphere he expects to face at Ashe. "Frances and Ben; they're crowd favourites here in New York. Everybody loves them," he said, adding that he hoped to avoid completing what would be a popular storyline for the home crowd.

What happens next

The men's final is scheduled for Sunday at Arthur Ashe Stadium, with Zverev awaiting the winner of the Shelton-Tiafoe semifinal. Per the tournament's own preview material published by the ATP Tour, the winner of that all-American match would become the first home men's singles finalist in New York since Andy Roddick's title run in 2003, adding another layer of significance to whichever man Zverev ultimately faces. A win for either Shelton or Tiafoe would also mark the first appearance by an American man in a US Open final since Taylor Fritz reached the title match in 2024. Beyond the historical stakes, the two Americans were playing Friday night for 1,300 ranking points and $2.8 million in prize money simply by reaching Sunday's final, underscoring how much was on the line in a match that had been building since the two players first met on tour.

For Zverev, Sunday represents a chance to convert a season of surface versatility into a second major title and to close the door on the ghosts of his 2020 final loss on the same court. For the sport more broadly, the outcome will also shape the conversation around this year's Grand Slam field, in which Zverev has now reached three of four major finals without previously holding the No. 1 ranking that has traditionally accompanied that level of consistency, as detailed in ESPN's coverage of Friday's result.