Alexander Zverev has never had a US Open bracket look quite like this. After taking down Botic van de Zandschulp in straight sets at Arthur Ashe Stadium, he is the only Grand Slam winner still in a men’s field that has already lost Carlos Alcaraz to Ben Shelton in the last eight.

The quarterfinal was a controlled exhibition of Zverev’s baseline weight. He broke twice in the opening set, swatted away a set point down at 5-4 in the second, and pulled clear early in the third to close out the match as van de Zandschulp faded.

The win put Zverev into the semifinals of all four majors of 2026, a run built on the French Open title he lifted in June, his first at a major after years of near-misses.

Semifinal against Khachanov

The 29-year-old will meet unseeded Russian Karen Khachanov in Friday’s semifinal, a rematch of the Tokyo Olympics gold medal match Zverev won in 2021. Khachanov reached the last four when Alexander Blockx retired in their quarterfinal.

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The other semifinal is all-American: No. 8 seed Ben Shelton against No. 11 Frances Tiafoe. Whichever one wins will be the first American man to contest a US Open final since Andy Roddick lifted the trophy in 2003.

The 2020 collapse still hangs over New York

Zverev’s most vivid US Open memory is not a happy one. In the 2020 final he led Dominic Thiem by two sets and a break before losing in five. That defeat framed half a decade of Slam near-misses.

Speaking after the match, Zverev did not sound like a man treating the draw as a formality.

“I think the person gonna win here is gonna be the one that plays the best tennis,” he told reporters.

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Zverev and Khachanov play on Friday under the lights at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

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