Germany's Alexander Zverev serves during his quarterfinal match against Netherlands' Botic van de Zandschulp
| Photo Credit: Reuters
Alexander Zverev's rocky road to start the U.S. Open turned into smooth sailing to the semifinals. The No. 1 seed beat Botic van de Zandschulp 6-2, 7-5, 6-1 on Wednesday night (September 9, 2026), putting him into the final four of every Grand Slam tournament this season.The French Open champion and Wimbledon runner-up will play on Friday against Karen Khachanov, while Americans Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe meet in the other semifinal.Zverev became the first men's No. 1 seed to play five-set matches in each of the first two rounds of a major in the Open era, which began in 1968. But he won his last three matches in straight sets and is the only man to reach all four major semis this year.After playing more than 4 1/2 hours in each of the first two rounds, Zverev hasn't been on the court more than 2 1/2 in his last three matches.“In other tournaments I would have been out in the first round but here I can fight back and play best-of-five, play 4 1/2 hours and somehow win the match and somehow get into the tournament,” Zverev said. “And then I start playing better throughout the tournament and definitely happy to be in the semifinals here, but of course I want to go further.”He went to the final in 2020 but blew a two-set lead against Dominic Thiem. That was the closest he would come to a major title until his victory this year at Roland Garros and the German now is 23-2 in Grand Slam matches this season.“He's been in top-five for so many years,” Khachanov said. “This year he did also step forward. He won his first Grand Slam, played the final in Wimbledon, as well. I mean, he's coming up really in hot form, let's say.”Khachanov got at least to the third round of every major this year and this time has gone three rounds further. He was prepared to go through a tough test Wednesday but Alexander Blockx's body wasn't up for one.
