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The first Grand Slam title is within his grasp, Alexander Zverev follows in Boris Becker’s footsteps after a nervous race to catch up: the 23-year-old from Hamburg reached the final of one of the four major tennis tournaments for the first time at the US Open.
In the semifinals, Zverev returned from an almost desperate situation and defeated the Spanish Pablo Carreño Busta at 3:22 am with 3: 6, 2: 6, 6: 3, 6: 4, 6: 3. Zverev still lacks one victory in New York to become the first German since Becker was crowned Grand Slam champion in men’s singles at the 1996 Australian Open.
“I couldn’t be happier, but there is still another step to take,” said Zverev, who became the first German since Rainer Schüttler to reach a Grand Slam final at the Australian Open in 2003: “I could hardly believe it: I play in a Grand Slam semi-final as a favorite and I’m 0-2 behind. But I’m in my first Grand Slam final, that’s the most important thing. “
For the first time in his career, Zverev reached two sets behind, for which Becker praised him as Eurosport-Expert: “It’s incredible what a mentality monster Sascha Zverev has become.”
On Sunday (starting at 10pm live on DAZN), the youngest grand finalist in ten years will face world number three Dominic Thiem of Austria, who beat last year’s finalist Daniil Medvedev (Russia) 6: 2 , 7: 6 (9: 7), 7: 6 (7: 5) defeated. Zverev is good friends with Thiem, but the world number seven had lost his first Grand Slam semi-final in Melbourne in January. In nine comparisons, Zverev was a loser seven times.
US Open: Alexander Zverev struggled to bounce back after weak start
On Sunday (starting at 10pm CEST), the youngest grand finalist in ten years will face Austrian Dominic Thiem or last year’s finalist Daniil Medvedev of Russia. Zverev is friends with both, against Thiem, the world number seven lost his first Grand Slam semi-final in Melbourne in January.
Carreño Busta benefited in the round of 16 from the disqualification of world number one and top seed of the tournament, Novak Djokovic (Serbia). For the first time since the 2016 US Open, there will be a Grand Slam champion whose name is not Djokovic, Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal. The two superstars from Switzerland and Spain didn’t even appear in New York.
As in the quarter-finals against Croatian Borna Coric, Zverev got off to a worse start, quickly falling behind with 1: 5. The long-awaited and grueling rallies unfolded to a high level, despite a rebound from Zverev, the first set went to the strong Spanish at 40 minutes.
Zverev had already received advice in many phone calls with his new coach David Ferrer, who knows his compatriot very well. On Spanish television he saw his protégé continue to dominate the rallies, but Carreño Busta remained much more stable.
US Open: Carreno Busta hit
Zverev seemed increasingly desperate, but the 29-year-old Spaniard was braver and had an answer for everything. Zverev slouched to his bench after giving up his serve to make it 5-0 for the third time in the second round.
“I have a feeling he’s still warming up,” Zverev’s older brother Mischa said after losing the second set. Eurosport. But that suddenly changed, suddenly Zverev played more liberated, two breaks and 34 minutes later sentence three belonged to him. As Zverev grew more and more confident, Carreño Busta grew more nervous. Becker also generated hope: “He can still break it,” said the three-time Wimbledon winner: “Smells the morning air, tastes blood.”
In the fourth movement, the match turned more and more into a frenzied nervous battle. Zverev immediately gave an early break to 2-1, a little later he got another. Carreño Busta acted more and more fear, especially when serving, and caused Zverev’s ire when he took aim twice at the German’s body at the net. But Zverev stayed focused and forced the decisive sentence after 2:44 hours.
The impulse was now clearly in the burger. Carreño Busta had his back treated, Zverev immediately attacked the sick opponent and took his serve. The Spaniard continued to fight tenaciously, but Zverev served strong and did not allow him to approach.
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