Alexander Zverev reaches his 13th Grand Slam semifinal and continues an exceptional season at the US Open
Alexander Zverev advanced to the semifinals of the 2026 US Open after a convincing 6:2, 7:5, 6:1 victory over Botic van de Zandschulp in the quarterfinal played on September 9 at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York. According to the tournament's official website, the top seed thus reached the 13th Grand Slam semifinal of his career and his fourth this season, confirming the consistency that has kept him at the very top of men's tennis throughout 2026. The German player will face Karen Khachanov for a place in the final, after Khachanov advanced to his third Grand Slam semifinal following Alexander Blockx's retirement in their quarterfinal. Zverev leads their head-to-head record 6-3, but the official US Open website points out that Khachanov earned all three of his victories against him on hard courts. The semifinal is scheduled for Friday, September 11, and the winner will move one step closer to the title at the final Grand Slam tournament of the season.
Zverev's result in New York carries additional weight when viewed in the context of the entire 2026 season. The ATP states that in January he reached the Australian Open semifinals, where Carlos Alcaraz defeated him after five hours and 27 minutes, then in June he won the first Grand Slam title of his career at Roland Garros, and in July he played in the Wimbledon final. By reaching the last four at the US Open, he secured at least a semifinal appearance at all four major tournaments in the same season. The official US Open website highlights that this is the first time in his career that he has gone so deep at each of the four Grand Slams in a single year. Such a run does not guarantee the title in New York, but it demonstrates a level of consistency that is particularly rare at Grand Slam tournaments.
Van de Zandschulp was unable to extend his surprising run
The quarterfinal match against Van de Zandschulp was the first meeting between the two players, and Zverev imposed a pace from the start that kept the Dutch player under constant pressure. The official US Open website reported that the top seed won in straight sets, 6:2, 7:5, 6:1, under the lights of the largest stadium at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center complex. The first and third sets were extremely convincing in terms of the score, while the second brought considerably more resistance and showed how important Zverev's patience was at the end of the set. Although the tournament report states that the German was not at his very best, his overall level was enough to prevent another upset by a player who had already knocked out seeded opponents during the tournament. For Zverev, it was particularly important that he completed a third consecutive match without having to play a fifth set, following a very demanding start to the tournament.
Van de Zandschulp did not arrive in New York as one of the main contenders to reach the closing stages, but his path to the quarterfinal confirmed that he is dangerous on a fast hard court. According to the US Open, he eliminated sixth seed Alex de Minaur in straight sets in the second round, while in the round of 16 against Arthur Gee he saved a match point and won after five hours and 13 minutes. The organizers listed that match as the fourth-longest match in US Open history. The Dutchman therefore reached the quarterfinals in New York for the second time in his career, following his breakthrough in 2021, but against Zverev he was denied the opportunity to reach his first Grand Slam semifinal. His run to the last eight nevertheless once again showed how the draw at major tournaments can open up for a player who strings together several victories over higher-ranked opponents at the right moment.
From almost ten hours in the first two rounds to a run of more convincing victories
Zverev's path through this year's US Open did not look comfortable from the start. In the first round against Lorenzo Sonego, he was seriously threatened and had to come from behind in a five-set match, winning 6:4, 3:6, 6:7(7), 7:5, 6:4. According to the official US Open report, the match lasted four hours and 53 minutes, and Sonego was only two points away from victory in the fourth set. After the match, Zverev emphasized how physically and mentally demanding the contest had been, while tournament statistics showed that he converted five of 22 break-point opportunities. It was already clear at that stage that his ability to recover would be one of the important factors for the remainder of the tournament.
The second round brought no respite either. Quentin Halys took the top seed into another marathon, with Zverev winning 6:4, 4:6, 7:6(3), 6:7(3), 6:3 after four hours and 33 minutes. According to the official match times, he spent a total of nine hours and 26 minutes on court in just his first two appearances at the tournament. That is precisely why the third-round match against Alejandro Tabilo represents an important turning point in his tournament: Zverev won 6:2, 7:6(2), 6:2 and, for the first time in New York that year, avoided a long match. The US Open also states that he saved two set points in the second set, thereby preventing the match from potentially becoming complicated once again.
The trend continued in the round of 16 against Luciano Darderi. Zverev defeated the 21st seed 6:2, 6:2, 7:6(3), meaning he entered the quarterfinals after two consecutive straight-set victories. The tournament's official website emphasized at the time that he was the only player in the men's draw to have reached at least the quarterfinals at all four Grand Slam tournaments in 2026. The victory over Van de Zandschulp took that one step further: he completed a third consecutive match without dropping a set and secured his place in the semifinals without another physical marathon like those that had defined the start of his campaign in New York. In the closing stages of a two-week Grand Slam, conserving that kind of energy can be important, especially with opponents experienced on the biggest stages still to come.
The season in which he finally won his first Grand Slam title
Zverev enters the 2026 US Open as a player who had already lifted the greatest burden of his career several months earlier. On June 7, the ATP confirmed that he defeated Flavio Cobolli 6:1, 4:6, 6:4, 6:7(5), 6:1 in the Roland Garros final to win his first Grand Slam title. Until that point, he had lost his first three finals at the biggest tournaments, including the particularly painful 2020 US Open final against Dominic Thiem. The official US Open website recalls that he had been on the verge of the title after taking a two-set lead but was unable to finish the match. The Paris triumph six years later changed the context of every major final-stage appearance that followed: Zverev is no longer trying to prove that he can win a Grand Slam, but is instead trying to add a second title.
At Roland Garros, he also became the first German winner of the men's singles title since Henner Henkel in 1937 and, according to the ATP, only the third German player to win a Grand Slam in the Open Era, after Boris Becker and Michael Stich. A month later, he continued his run on the grass at Wimbledon, where he reached the final for the first time. The ATP states that Jannik Sinner defeated him 6:7(7), 7:6(2), 6:3, 6:4 in the title match. Combined with his Australian Open semifinal and his current US Open semifinal, this means that in 2026 Zverev found a sufficiently consistent game on every Grand Slam surface to reach the closing days of each tournament. Particularly significant is the fact that these results came on hard courts in Melbourne and New York, clay in Paris and grass in London, underlining the adaptability of his game.
The Australian Open offered a different kind of test. In the semifinal against Alcaraz, Zverev lost 6:4, 7:6(5), 6:7(3), 6:7(4), 7:5, and the ATP recorded the match as the longest semifinal in the tournament's history, lasting five hours and 27 minutes. The German led 5:3 in the fifth set but was unable to close out the match. That defeat could have had a severe impact on the direction of his season, but several months later he won Roland Garros, then reached the Wimbledon final and has now returned to another Grand Slam semifinal. The consistency of his results after such an exhausting start to the year is one of the reasons why his run in New York carries broader significance than a single quarterfinal victory.
Top seed following Sinner's withdrawal
Zverev is the top seed at the US Open, which further increased expectations surrounding his draw. Before the start of the main tournament, the official tournament website announced that he had been given the No. 1 position in the draw after world No. 1 Jannik Sinner withdrew because of injury. Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz was the second seed, meaning that Zverev, as the highest-ranked player in the top half of the draw, carried the role of one of the main favorites from the first day. His status as the top seed, however, did not provide him with an easy start, as shown by the five-set matches against Sonego and Halys. Only after those challenges did he begin to build the rhythm that carried him to straight-set victories in his next three matches.
For the 29-year-old German, New York also holds a special place in his career because of the 2020 final. Against Thiem, he missed a major opportunity to win his first Grand Slam title, and the defeat remained for years one of the reference points in discussions about his relationship with the biggest matches. He now returns to the closing stages of the same tournament as the reigning Roland Garros champion and a player who has since proven that he can win a best-of-five-set final. The difference in experience is not merely psychological: Zverev enters the 2026 semifinal with 13 Grand Slam semifinal appearances, while this is Khachanov's third such semifinal. Experience alone, however, will not decide the match, particularly against an opponent who has already shown that he can neutralize Zverev's greatest strengths on hard courts.
Khachanov returns to the closing stages of the US Open after four years
Karen Khachanov secured his place in the semifinals after Alexander Blockx retired from their quarterfinal match. According to the US Open, Khachanov was leading 6:2, 7:5, 3:2 when the retirement occurred, with the match having lasted one hour and 37 minutes. Blockx experienced health problems during the match and requested medical assistance, while Khachanov controlled most of the contest that had been played up to that point. For the Russian player, this is his second US Open semifinal after 2022 and the third Grand Slam semifinal of his career; in addition to New York, he also reached the last four at the 2023 Australian Open. He did not reach the final on either of those two previous occasions.
Khachanov has already come through several demanding matches on his way to the closing stages. In the second round he eliminated third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime 6:7(5), 6:3, 6:2, 6:2, and in the round of 16 he defeated 14th seed Learner Tien in five sets, 7:5, 4:6, 6:7(6), 6:1, 6:4. The US Open states that his victory over Tien earned him the seventh Grand Slam quarterfinal of his career and his second in New York. The quarterfinal against Blockx ended earlier than expected, allowing Khachanov to avoid another long physical test. As a result, he too enters the semifinal with a certain reserve of energy, which could be important against a player who relies heavily on a powerful serve, deep groundstrokes and pressure during long service games.
The head-to-head record favors Zverev, but hard courts call for caution
The official US Open website states that Zverev leads 6-3 in the nine previous meetings with Khachanov. That overall record suggests a clear advantage for the top seed, but the same source points to a detail that is particularly relevant in New York: all three of Khachanov's victories came on hard courts. Their history also includes matches on major stages, so both players are well acquainted with the other's patterns of play. Zverev will try to impose his serve and take the initiative with the first shot after the serve, while Khachanov has enough power from the baseline to force him into longer rallies and reduce the number of short points. The quality of the return and the ability to convert rare break opportunities are therefore likely to be among the key tactical areas of the match.
It is also important for Zverev that he has gradually reduced his time on court during the second week of the tournament. After two opening marathons, he completed the matches against Tabilo, Darderi and Van de Zandschulp in straight sets. Khachanov, on the other hand, played five sets against Tien but finished his quarterfinal before the end of the third set. Physical freshness therefore should not be a one-sided issue, but rather another element in which an advantage will have to be earned during the match itself. In the closing stages of a Grand Slam, the differences between players often come down to a few points in service games, tie-breaks or the closing stages of sets, and their head-to-head record suggests that Khachanov has enough experience to disrupt Zverev's plan.
A semifinal with major stakes and a clear place in Zverev's season
The official US Open schedule for September 11 features two men's singles semifinals at Arthur Ashe Stadium, while the final is scheduled for Sunday, September 13. Zverev arrives at this stage as the top seed, the reigning Roland Garros champion and a player who has reached at least the semifinals at every Grand Slam this year. Khachanov arrives as an unseeded player who has already eliminated highly seeded opponents and who is returning to the New York semifinals for the first time since 2022. Their match therefore combines Zverev's exceptional season-long consistency with Khachanov's opportunity to make his biggest breakthrough on the Grand Slam stage in several years. Regardless of ranking and seeding, the history of their meetings on hard courts leaves enough reason for caution before the first point is played.
By reaching the last four, Zverev has already secured $1.45 million in prize money, according to the official 2026 US Open prize-money table, while the finalist receives $2.8 million and the champion $5.5 million. The financial figures further illustrate the scale of the tournament, but for the top seed the sporting stakes carry even greater significance. A second Grand Slam title in the same season would cement 2026 as the most successful year of his career and transform the long period of searching for his first major trophy into a season with the possibility of winning multiple biggest tournaments. The first step toward that goal will be Khachanov, an opponent he knows well but against whom the hard-court statistics leave no room for complacency. New York will therefore provide another test on Friday of Zverev's ability to turn his best Grand Slam season into another final.
Sources:
- US Open - official reports on the Zverev-Van de Zandschulp quarterfinal, Khachanov's advancement against Blockx and the semifinalists' head-to-head record (Zverev's quarterfinal; Khachanov's quarterfinal; head-to-head record)
- US Open - official reports on Zverev's path through the first four rounds (Sonego; Halys; Tabilo; Darderi)
- US Open - official information on Van de Zandschulp's path to the quarterfinals and Khachanov's victory over Learner Tien (Van de Zandschulp; Khachanov)
- US Open - draw announcement and confirmation of Zverev's status as the top seed following Sinner's withdrawal (link)
- ATP Tour - official reports on Zverev's results at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the 2026 Australian Open (Roland Garros; Wimbledon; Australian Open)
- US Open - official schedule for the closing stages and the 2026 tournament prize money (schedule; prize money)