Top seed Alexander Zverev out-dueled Russian Karen Khachanov 6-3, 7-6 (9/7), 7-6 (8/6) on Friday to reach his third straight Grand Slam final at the US Open.
Zverev, who followed up his maiden major at the French Open with a runner-up finish at Wimbledon, saved two set points in the final tiebreaker to close it out in straight sets.
The 29-year-old German will face the winner of the all-American semifinal between eighth-seeded Ben Shelton and 11th seed Frances Tiafoe in Sunday's championship match.
Alexander Zverev reaches his THIRD consecutive Grand Slam final 🤯 pic.twitter.com/fnTw9kBEZQ
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 11, 2026
One American will have a chance to end a 23-year Grand Slam singles title drought for US men dating to Andy Roddick's 2003 US Open victory by defeating Zverev.
Top-ranked Zverev also reached the US Open final in 2020, where he lost in five sets to Dominic Thiem.
The summer of Alexander 🧡💚💙 pic.twitter.com/qEQ02Ic8tF
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 11, 2026
Khachanov, ranked 50th, failed to reach his first Grand Slam final. The 30-year-old Russian fell to 3-7 against Zverev, who also beat him in the Tokyo Olympic final.
Khachanov swatted forehands beyond the baseline to surrender a break in the eighth game and then drop the first set as Zverev held serve in the ninth.
Zverev broke again to open the second set, Khachanov sending a backhand long after failing to land a first serve in the game, but later Zverev double-faulted to hand the Russian a break for 2-2 as they fought into a tie-breaker.
Khachanov smacked a backhand down-the-line winner to reach 7-7 in the breaker but Zverev captured the second set two points later when the Russian hit a forehand wide.
The top seed will compete for the US Open title!
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 11, 2026
Alexander Zverev defeats Khachanov in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6, 7-6. pic.twitter.com/3HxgWDkFyv
In the third set, both men held all the way into the tie-breaker. Zverev saved two set points when Khachanov sent forehands wide and long. Zverev followed with his final ace and won when the Russian sent a forehand long after two hours and 58 minutes.