The finals are set at Flushing Meadows, and Sunday’s championship match will pit the top seed against the American number one.
Alexander Zverev continued what has been an exceptional 2026 campaign by edging Karen Khachanov in a straight-sets contest that was considerably closer than the scoreline suggests.
The German held his nerve in two tense tiebreaks to reach a third consecutive Grand Slam final and move within one victory of completing the year’s biggest collection of results.
In the night session, Ben Shelton produced another solid performance, recovering from a set down to defeat fellow American Frances Tiafoe and reach his first Grand Slam final.
The 23-year-old’s explosive serving and increasingly reliable all-court game proved too much for Tiafoe, making him the first American man to reach the US Open final since 2006.
It sets up an intriguing championship match between the man who’s made three Grand Slam finals this year and a player chasing the biggest title of his career who will have to overturn a 0-5 head-to-head record if he is to stop Zverev on Sunday.
US Open 2026 Semifinal Results
| Winner | Loser | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Alexander Zverev [1] | Karen Khachanov | 6-3, 7-6(7), 7-6(6) |
| Ben Shelton [8] | Frances Tiafoe [11] | 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 |
Alexander Zverev def. Karen Khachanov 6-3, 7-6(7), 7-6(6)
Alexander Zverev is into his third consecutive Grand Slam final after getting past Karen Khachanov in three sets, although this was a tighter match than the scoreline suggests.
Zverev took the opening set with the only break, but Khachanov raised his level significantly from there and probably should have taken at least one of the next two.
The Russian recovered from an early break in the second and then had chances in both tiebreaks. He led 5-3 in the second-set breaker before Zverev reeled him back in, and then moved 5-2 ahead in the third before again failing to finish the job.
That was really the difference. Zverev played well on the bigger points, including winning the final four points of the match after Khachanov had two set points at 6-4 in the third-set tiebreak.
There were only three points between them across the entire match, so Khachanov competed well, which is what you expect, and the only real problem for him is that he doesn’t really have a way to hurt Zverev other than to try to outmuscle him.
For Zverev, he has made the semifinal at the Australian Open, won Roland Garros, reached the Wimbledon final and is now one match away from adding the US Open.
Match Stats
| Key Stats | Alexander Zverev | Karen Khachanov |
|---|---|---|
| Winners | 38 | 28 |
| Unforced Errors | 34 | 36 |
| Aces | 16 | 6 |
| Double Faults | 6 | 3 |
| 1st Serve In | 63% (70/111) | 62% (62/100) |
| 1st Serve Points Won | 79% (55/70) | 82% (51/62) |
| 2nd Serve In | 85% (35/41) | 92% (35/38) |
| 2nd Serve Points Won | 56% (23/41) | 53% (20/38) |
| Break Points Saved | 50% (1/2) | 33% (1/3) |
| Service Games | 94% (16/17) | 88% (14/16) |
| Average 1st serve speed | 213 km/h | 194 km/h |
| Average 2nd serve speed | 180 km/h | 149 km/h |
| 1st Return Points Won | 18% (11/62) | 21% (15/70) |
| 2nd Return Points Won | 47% (18/38) | 44% (18/41) |
| Break Points Won | 67% (2/3) | 50% (1/2) |
| Return Games | 13% (2/16) | 6% (1/17) |
| Service Points | 70% (78/111) | 71% (71/100) |
| Return Points | 29% (29/100) | 30% (33/111) |
| Net Points | 85% (17/20) | 92% (12/13) |
| Total Points | 51% (107/211) | 49% (104/211) |
| Pressure Points | 64% (7/11) | 36% (4/11) |
| Match Points Saved | 0 | 0 |
| Max Points In A Row | 6 | 7 |
| Distance covered | 2,389 m | 2,373 m |
| Total Games | 57% (20/35) | 43% (15/35) |
| Max Games In A Row | 5 | 3 |
Highlights
Press Conference
Ben Shelton def. Frances Tiafoe 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-5
Ben Shelton is into his first Grand Slam final after coming from a set down to beat Frances Tiafoe in a pretty convincing four-set performance.
Tiafoe took the opener after Shelton double-faulted at 4-4, but I never really felt like he had control of the match.
Shelton started getting on top of the baseline exchanges in the second, and the biggest difference was how much more damage he was doing behind both serves.
He finished with 20 aces, landed 75% of his first serves and won 54% behind his second serve. Tiafoe, by contrast, won just 38% behind his second.
That is a huge gap in a match like this, and it’s kinda crazy how poor Tiafoe’s serve is. Big first serve, but the second is easy pickings.
The third set was probably Shelton’s best. He started hitting through the backhand side with much more confidence and won a 28-shot rally at 2-2 that seemed to shift the momentum further his way.
He then broke with a couple of excellent backhand passes and eventually took the set after a lengthy 15-minute game at 5-3.
Compared to when he came on the scene, the backhand is much improved. Not a shot you can call a weapon, but it’s holding up well so far in New York.
Tiafoe kept himself in the fourth and actually served reasonably well for most of it, but at 5-6 he played a poor game under pressure, and Shelton took advantage,
Overall, the numbers tell the story. Shelton hit 47 winners to Tiafoe’s 27, won 128 points to 107 and broke serve five times.
Tiafoe had a decent tournament, but this was another major semi-final where he never quite looked like the stronger player once the match moved into the business end.
For the final, the German leads their head-to-head 5-0, and stylistically it is not an especially friendly matchup for Shelton because his forehand goes into Zverev’s rock-steady backhand, which is his best shot.
Match Stats
| Key Stats | Frances Tiafoe | Ben Shelton |
|---|---|---|
| Winners | 27 | 47 |
| Unforced Errors | 28 | 31 |
| Aces | 3 | 20 |
| Double Faults | 2 | 3 |
| 1st Serve In | 57% (69/121) | 75% (86/114) |
| 1st Serve Points Won | 78% (54/69) | 77% (66/86) |
| 2nd Serve In | 96% (50/52) | 89% (25/28) |
| 2nd Serve Points Won | 38% (20/52) | 54% (15/28) |
| Break Points Saved | 55% (6/11) | 71% (5/7) |
| Service Games | 75% (15/20) | 90% (18/20) |
| Average 1st serve speed | 187 km/h | 199 km/h |
| Average 2nd serve speed | 142 km/h | 165 km/h |
| 1st Return Points Won | 23% (20/86) | 22% (15/69) |
| 2nd Return Points Won | 46% (13/28) | 62% (32/52) |
| Break Points Won | 29% (2/7) | 45% (5/11) |
| Return Games | 10% (2/20) | 25% (5/20) |
| Service Points | 61% (74/121) | 71% (81/114) |
| Return Points | 29% (33/114) | 39% (47/121) |
| Net Points | 73% (24/33) | 67% (16/24) |
| Total Points | 46% (107/235) | 54% (128/235) |
| Pressure Points | 48% (16/33) | 52% (17/33) |
| Match Points Saved | 1 | 0 |
| Max Points In A Row | 7 | 8 |
| Distance covered | 2,604 m | 2,845 m |
| Total Games | 43% (17/40) | 57% (23/40) |
| Max Games In A Row | 3 | 3 |
Highlights
US Open 2026 Men’s Final
- Alexander Zverev [1] v Ben Shelton [8]
