Alexander Zverev beat Karen Khachanov at the US Open to reach a third Grand Slam final in a row and continue his bid for a second major of the year.
The top seed put in a commanding performance to beat the Russian 6-3 7-6 (9-7) 7-6 (8-6).
Germany’s Zverev is the favourite in New York after ending his long wait for a Grand Slam title with his French Open triumph in June.
He reached the Wimbledon final in July, losing in four sets to world number one Jannik Sinner.
The 29-year-old will play either eighth seed Ben Shelton or 11th seed Frances Tiafoe in Sunday’s showpiece, with the two Americans set to meet in Friday’s night session.
“I think it [Sunday] will be incredibly special especially, these two guys are crowd favourites and everyone loves them,” said Zverev.
“Tonight will be an epic semi-final and I am looking forward to watching it. Hopefully I can not make their American dream come true.”
With Sinner and defending US Open champion Carlos Alcaraz suffering with injuries this year, Zverev has found a consistency that has allowed him to reach all four Grand Slam semi-finals.
He started off the tournament in New York slowly, being taken to five sets in his opening two matches, but has not dropped a set since.
Zverev faced brief moments of pressure against world number 50 Khachanov, saving two set points in the third set, but otherwise remained in control.
“After the second round, at about 3am I was sitting with my team in the locker room and we were laughing at how bad I was playing,” Zverev said.
“That sense of humour helped me. I obviously have improved a bit otherwise I would not be in the US Open final.”
Zverev won 13 of 15 points behind his first serve and all nine points at the net in the first set as he broke Khachanov to go 5-3 up before serving out the opener.
Khachanov fought back after going a break down early in the second set and forced a tie-break, saving set point with a magnificent backhand to polish off a 22-shot rally.
In a pivotal point of the match, it was Zverev who took the initiative to earn another set point, converting it as he outlasted Khachanov in a draining rally with some magnificent defence from the baseline.
In the third set, both players remained on serve without conceding a single break point to reach another tie-break.
It was Khachanov who settled quickest into the tie-break, opening up a lead and creating two set points – both of which were saved by Zverev.
From there the top seed never looked back, ultimately clinching victory as Khachanov put a forehand long.
After reaching his sixth major final, Zverev stood arms wide in celebration facing his coaching team, before going to the net to shake hands with Khachanov.
Victory means Zverev is into his second US Open final after suffering a heartbreaking five-set loss to Dominic Thiem in 2020.
