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NEW YORK (Reuters) – German fifth seed Alexander Zverev overcame a listless start to secure a thrilling 3-6 2-6 6-3 6-4 6-3 victory in the US Open semifinal over Spain’s Pablo Carreño Busta in a moving Friday in New York to reach her first Grand Slam final.
Organizers had commemorated the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks before the semi-final with Broadway singer Christopher Jackson performing a trio of songs in front of a Black Lives Matter display inside Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The German looked headed for certain defeat after committing 36 errors in the first two sets, but he used his versatile game to pull himself up and looked like a completely different player the rest of the way.
“I knew I had to get to better tennis and I knew I had to be more stable … but I’ve reached my first Grand Slam final and that’s all that matters,” Zverev said.
After Zverev leveled the match to two sets apiece, Carreño Busta took a medical time-out to have his back taken care of and the German, with a sudden strut in his step, got the rest he needed in the first game before go back home.
Carreño Busta was blocked early as he stayed in love to open the match, deflected a break point in his next service game and broke twice for a 5-1 lead before securing the first set.
Things continued as the Spaniard in the second when he pushed Zverev’s back against the wall with three consecutive breaks for a 5-0 lead during an unbalanced set in which the German made 22 unforced errors.
But Zverev suddenly seemed the more confident of the two when he broke Carreño Busta four times in the next two sets as he leaned on his serve to pressure the Spaniard.
Zverev, who aspires to become Germany’s first men’s Grand Slam champion since Boris Becker won the 1996 Australian Open, will face second seed Dominic Thiem in Sunday’s final.
Report by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Grant McCool and Kim Coghil
