Khachanov scored more points than him in the second set, 44:43, and lost it. He led the tiebreak 3-1, broke back to go 5-3 up and then saw Zverev win six of the last eight points before the German converted three set points in the third to win 9-7.
The third set was even worse and ended the same way. Khachanov led the tie-break with a score of 4-1 and moved to fourth place in the match with three points. At 4-2, he hit a forehand cross that looked like a point, and Zverev counterpunched a winner into the corner. From 5-2, then 6-4 down, the Russian had two set points and missed both on forehand errors, and Zverev took it 8-6 when Khachanov’s backhand went long.
Fifteen aces against six
What stopped Zverev when the rallies didn’t happen was his serve. He hit 15 aces in sixes, hit 142 mph and averaged 125 to Khachanov’s 110, and won 79% of his first serve backhands and 56% of his second serves. He finished with 37 wins to 28 and, in fact, 34 unforced errors to Khachanov’s 36; this was not a match controlled by anyone.
This is Zverev’s sixth career Grand Slam final and second at the US Open since 2020. The highlight of the season is Roland Garros, Wimbledon and now New York, three in a row in one season. He lost two matches in the majors all year, to Carlos Alcaraz in the Melbourne semi-finals and to Yannick Sinner in the Wimbledon final.
It was also his 52nd win of 2026 and fourth in a row here after two five-set defeats to open his fortnight against Italy’s Lorenzo Sonnego 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (7), 7-5, 6-4 and France’s Quentin Hallis 6-4, 4-6 (3, 3). Chile’s No. 25 Alejandro Tabillo 6-2, 7-6 (2), 6-2, Italy’s No. 21 Luciano Darderi 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (3) and Holland’s Bottic van de Zandschulp 6-2, 7-5, 6-1.
I was sitting in the locker room with my team and we were actually laughing at how bad I was playing.
Zverev dates his tournament after his second round, the second of two five-sets, from a 3 a.m. locker room chat. “I was sitting in the locker room with my team and we were actually laughing at how bad I was playing,” he said. “That sense of humor helped me. The next day on the practice court I started to feel the ball much better. And then going forward, I was playing a lot better tennis, and obviously I improved a little bit, otherwise I wouldn’t have been in the US Open final.”
Asked what had changed in a season that produced three consecutive major finals, he began by joking at the expense of the person interviewing him. “At the end of last year I did your podcast called Nothing Major and then I decided to have some majors in me because I didn’t want to do that podcast again.”
Then the serious answer. “Sometimes things just go your way and I feel like I’ve struggled a lot at the grassroots level. I’ve been so close so many times and maybe this year God said this is going to be your year and just enjoy your time on the court. And I enjoy it. I love playing these grand finals and I can’t wait for Sunday.”
One stat shows how the draw went for him. Since 1973, only Roger Federer, at Roland Garros and Wimbledon in 2008, has made multiple Grand Slam finals in a season without facing a top 20 opponent along the way. Zverev is the second.
Khachanov leaves with numbers and no game
Khachanov, ranked 50th, was in his third Grand Slam semifinal and second here since 2022. 6-7 (6), 6-1, 6-4 on the road.
Khachanov will be world number 26 on Monday.
