A Late Night, Then a Dominant Performance
Alexander Zverev is through to the US Open semi-finals after dispatching Botic van de Zandschulp 6-2, 7-5, 6-1 on Arthur Ashe Stadium, and he did it running on very little sleep. The night before his quarter-final, Zverev stayed glued to his television watching Ben Shelton eliminate defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in what became the latest finish in tournament history, wrapping up at 3:34am local time. Zverev admitted he had not gone to bed before it ended, justifying the decision by pointing out he had slept until 1pm anyway. That kind of flexibility has served him well at Flushing Meadows this year: his first three matches in New York all finished between 1am and 2:15am, so late finishes have become almost routine for the German.
Despite those early struggles, including back-to-back five-set battles in rounds one and two, Zverev has now won three consecutive matches in straight sets. He has spent more time on court en route to the semi-finals than any man at the US Open since 1991, logging 16 hours and 40 minutes total, while conceding 80 games overall, second only to Rafael Nadal's 85 in 2018 for a top seed reaching this stage.
History Made, Khachanov Awaits
With this victory, Zverev becomes the only player to reach all four Grand Slam semi-finals in 2026, a personal career first. He also surpassed Boris Becker's record by logging 23 major singles wins in a single season for a German man. Having claimed his first Grand Slam title at the French Open earlier this year and reaching the Wimbledon final, Zverev now faces Karen Khachanov for a place in Sunday's championship match. TennisDraw users had Zverev as one of the most popular picks to reach this stage following Alcaraz's stunning exit.
