Prior to this year, Alexander Zverev had appeared in three major finals.
In 2026, he’s matched that number in the past three Grand Slam events alone.
Zverev, the top seed at a Slam for the first time in his career, reached his third consecutive major final thanks to a 6-3 7-6(7) 7-6(6) win over a resurgent Karen Khachanov.
After triumphing at Roland Garros for his long-awaited first major title, before following that with a run to the Wimbledon decider, Zverev will target his second major trophy of the season on Sunday afternoon in New York.
“I believed that it's possible. I think not many of you guys did,” Zverev laughed when asked about reaching more Slam finals in 2026 than dominant forces Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.
“I think the question was always: [are] Carlos and Jannik going to play all four Grand Slam finals between each other again?
“I'm happy with how this year went so far, but I've got another big match on Sunday, and that's my focus.”
When he finally achieved that major breakthrough, at age 29, in Paris in June, a massive weight seemed to lift from Zverev’s shoulders.
He headed to Wimbledon – a tournament where he’d never before cleared the fourth round – and played some of the most decisive and purposeful tennis of his career.
He reached the title match at the All England Club – completing his set of all four major final appearances – and pushed Jannik Sinner to the limit in a compelling final.
At the US Open, his level of tennis has been less convincing, but it’s trending in the right way after scratchy five-set wins in his first- and second-round matches.
Zverev’s trademark grittiness, consistency and fitness have helped him in several moments of jeopardy in subsequent matches. He has saved five set points across three different matches – two against Alejandro Tabilo in the last 32, one against Botic Van De Zandschulp in the quarters and two more against Khachanov on Friday.
Khachanov led 5-3 in the second-set tiebreak, and 5-2 in the third, but from set points up in that final tiebreak lost the last four points of the match.
“Straight-set win, but anything but straightforward in a way. He played incredibly well. Fought incredibly well,” said Zverev, who improved to 24-2 in Grand Slam matches this year.
“Second and third set I think it's more than obvious that they could have gone both ways. I just played a few points better here and there, and I'm happy with the win.”
By holding firm throughout his 2026 campaign and progressing to the final, he’ll play in the US Open decider for the first time since 2020.
That was his first major final and it was a traumatic experience: Zverev led two sets to love against Dominic Thiem and served for the match, before going down in a painful defeat.
He admitted the scar tissue from that loss had lingered until he prevailed in Paris.
Yet with a first major title now in his pocket, the experience of reaching the stage six times now, and the best Grand Slam results of any man this season, he’s come a long way.
“I think a lot has happened. I've played in a lot of other finals. I've played a lot of big matches since then,” Zverev reflected. “Back then, of course, it was my first Grand Slam final. I was inexperienced. I was still a young guy.
“Everything [now] is different.”
The draw has opened up this Flushing Meadows fortnight for Zverev. As was the case at Roland Garros, he has not faced a top-20 player en route to the final.
However, the degree of difficulty is likely to spike in Sunday’s title match when he faces world No.9 Ben Shelton.
While it’s Shelton’s first final, the American lefty has been brilliant in New York, overcoming defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in an astonishing quarterfinal and riding the wave of vociferous home support.
Bidding to become the first American men’s US Open champion in 23 years, Shelton looms as Zverev’s toughest test of the tournament.
“Ben is just a big, powerful guy. Massive serve, massive groundstrokes,” Zverev assessed.
“Everything he does is just big.”