Alexander Zverev defeated Botic van de Zandschulp in the US Open men’s singles quarterfinals to reach the semifinals.
After getting through his first two matches in five-set battles, he finished the next three with straight-set victories.
Reaching the semifinals matters not simply because of the number of wins, but because Zverev set a new single-season major record for German men’s tennis.
3-Line Summary
1. Zverev reached the US Open semifinals.
2. He recorded 23 major-match wins in a single season.
3. His form came alive after long early matches.
A Quarterfinal Win Completed 6-2, 7-5, 6-1
Germany’s Alexander Zverev defeated the Netherlands’ Botic van de Zandschulp 6-2, 7-5, 6-1 in the US Open men’s singles quarterfinals, which concluded on the 10th in Korean time in the 2026 US Open. With the victory, Zverev reached his third career US Open semifinal and his 13th career major semifinal.
The match cannot be explained solely by his comfortable start in the first set. At 2-3 in the second set, Zverev gave his opponent the first break point but saved it after a 33-shot rally. When van de Zandschulp earned a set point at 5-4, he also protected the opportunity after a 15-shot rally. After taking the second set, he widened the gap to 6-1 in the third.
According to Tennis Korea, the eight games he conceded that day were the fewest in the tournament. Since the second set of his third-round match against Alejandro Tabilo, Zverev had held his own service games for 31 consecutive games. The fact that he regained his momentum after overcoming the key moment in the second set was reflected directly in the quarterfinal set score.
23 Major Wins, Surpassing Boris Becker’s 22
With this victory, Zverev recorded 23 major-match wins this season. That surpassed the record of 22, set by Boris Becker in 1989, for the most major-match wins in a single season by a German men’s player. His overall season win total was also 51, the most on tour.
This record does not refer solely to his performance at the US Open. After reaching the Australian Open semifinals, winning Roland-Garros, and finishing runner-up at Wimbledon, Zverev also reached the US Open semifinals. Tennis Korea reported that he became the ninth men’s player in the Open Era to reach at least the semifinals at all four majors in the same season.
The contrast between the struggles Zverev faced in the first two rounds and his subsequent results is also clear. He became the first No. 1 seed in the Open Era to play both the first and second rounds of a major in five sets, but he then finished all three of his next matches with straight-set victories. The record should be viewed together with the process of recovering after enduring long early matches, rather than as the result of one dominant win.
The Fitness Variable Left by the Five Sets in Rounds 1 and 2
By the semifinals, Zverev had spent a total of 16 hours and 40 minutes on court. Since 1991, when the ATP began recording match times, this was the longest time required to reach the semifinals in the US Open men’s singles. For a player who spent so much time on court early in the tournament, reaching the final four also leaves a physical burden alongside the result.
Zverev said that he could have been eliminated in the first round, but that his level improved after winning the five-set match. In a report by Vietnam.vn, he also said that his level was improving with each round and that he wanted to go further. This was the player’s post-match comment and is not a definitive assessment indicating what happened afterward.
His semifinal opponent was Russia’s Karen Khachanov. Zverev led their head-to-head record 6-3. However, after the quarterfinal, the semifinal result had not yet been determined, so the key point confirmed in this tournament was that the player who endured the long early matches also established a new major-win record for German tennis.
References
Tags #AlexanderZverev #Zverev #USOpen #USOpenTennis #Tennis #MensTennis #GrandSlam #BorisBecker #KarenKhachanov #BoticvanDeZandschulp #RolandGarros #ATP_Tour