ATP Tour

Zverev reaches US Open SFs, surpasses this Becker major record...

Alexander Zverev booked his place in the US Open semi-finals for the third time in his career Wednesday when he downed Botic van de Zandschulp 6-2, 7-5, 6-1.

The top seed, who won his first major crown at Roland Garros this year, leads the ATP Tour with 51 match wins this season. The 29-year-old’s 23 major match wins this season are the most by a German man in a single season, surpassing Boris Becker’s 22 in 1989.

"Happy to be in the semi-finals," Zverev said in his post-match press conference. "Different kind of match than two days ago, but still happy to win in straight sets and to move on."

Zverev was clutch in key moments against the Dutchman, fending off van de Zandschulp’s first break point of the match — at 2-3 in the second set — by winning a lengthy 33-shot rally. Later on, van de Zandschulp held set point on return while leading 5-4, but committed a forehand error that ended a 15-ball exchange.

Into his 13th major semi-final, second-most among active male players (Novak Djokovic, 55), Zverev will face World No. 50 Karen Khachanov in the last four. Zverev holds a 6-3 lead in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series, including a victory in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics gold-medal match.

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Zverev, a 25-time tour-level titlist, reached the final in New York in 2020 and came within two points of the title, but was overcome by Dominic Thiem in a five-set battle. The Hamburg native will hope to go one step further this fortnight and claim his second major trophy.

With his latest victory, Zverev became the ninth different man in the Open Era to reach the semi-finals at all four majors in a season. Zverev began this Grand Slam season by reaching the semi-finals at the Australian Open. He won Roland Garros in a five-set final against Flavio Cobolli and made the Wimbledon final, only falling to World No. 1 Jannik Sinner.

"The more often that you get to that stage, the more normal it becomes, which is something that you should never take for granted," Zverev said. "I think it's a very special feeling when it becomes a normal thing. I don't take it for granted at all... I'm happy with how things are going, but looking forward, I still hope to play two good matches in New York."

Van de Zandschulp, 30, was competing in the US Open quarter-finals for the second time, having reached this same stage as a qualifier in 2021. The No. 70 player in the PIF ATP Rankings played back-to-back five-setters leading up to Wednesday, including a fourth-round win from two sets to love down and saving match point to escape Arthur Gea.