From once wondering if the journey at the US Open was "meaningless", Alexander Zverev is now preparing for his second final at Flushing Meadows on Sunday.
The spectacular comeback in form opened up for him the opportunity to win his second Grand Slam title in his career.
The German player once had to go through dramatic matches lasting 5 sets in the first 2 rounds, but then he won 4 consecutive matches without losing a set.
The 6-3, 7-6(7), 7-6(6) victory over Karen Khachanov in the semi-finals brought him very close to his second major title.
When I first started the tournament, I thought like:'Wow, this is meaningless because I can't do anything here', but now I'm sitting here preparing for the final on Sunday," Zverev shared.
This change creates a clear contrast to his first US Open final in 2020. At that time, despite also having difficulty maintaining stable form, Zverev was still only 2 points away from winning against Dominic Thiem – and his first Grand Slam title in his career.
I didn't play well throughout that tournament. It's interesting that that form didn't change at all, yet I still reached the final and only needed 2 points to win," Zverev shared.
6 years later, this top seed tennis player affirmed that he has become a different person, thanks to accumulating experience through a series of major finals and – most importantly – finally conquering the Grand Slam title he had longed for at this year's Roland Garros tournament.
At that time I was still inexperienced. I was still a young man," he said about 2020. "Now everything is different.
Zverev will face Ben Shelton in the US Open 2026 final.
In the second semi-final, Shelton came back to win against American compatriot Frances Tiafoe 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 after 3 hours and 18 minutes.
Starting poorly when letting Tiafoe break in game 9 of set 1 and win 6-4, but that was only 1 of 2 times he let his opponent score points like that. Conversely, Shelton had 5 successful breaks in the next 3 sets, as well as maximizing serves – scoring 20 aces throughout the match.
Although the double faults were more (3/2), Shelton scored the decisive point by Tiafoe's double fault in set 4.
Before the US Open 2026, the best achievement the 23-year-old player has ever had at Grand Slam tournaments was the semi-finals of the home tournament in 2023 and the Australian Open 2025.
With this year's final, the current context is completely different from 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the US Open to be held without spectators, and Zverev's defeat took place inside the simmeringly deserted Ashe court.
Instead of fearing the enthusiastic cheers of the home fans, Zverev said he was very much looking forward to it.
I think the feeling of competing will be great to play a final at an Arthur Ashe stadium full of spectators instead of an empty stadium," he shared. "For me, the loud and energetic cheers from the audience are always great, as long as they cheer fairly.
