Alexander Zverev advanced to the US Open semifinals with a 6-2, 7-5, 6-1 victory over Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp on Wednesday. The 29-year-old German, who won the French Open earlier this year, has steadily improved throughout the tournament after a slow start at Flushing Meadows.

"I think you saw in the first two rounds, I really didn't play well," Zverev said. "In other tournaments I would be out in the first round, but here I can fight back and play best of five sets, play four-and-a-half hours. I've started playing better throughout the tournament, and I'm definitely happy to be in the semifinals here."

Zverev has now reached the semifinals at all four majors this year and is the only Grand Slam champion remaining in the men's draw. "I don't take it for granted at all," he said. "I know it can change in a heartbeat in tennis. I think confidence is something that is incredibly important but also can go away quite quickly."

The top seed struggled early on serve at Arthur Ashe Stadium, coughing up five double faults in an erratic start, but van de Zandschulp leaked forehand errors, allowing Zverev to break in the fifth game and take the first set. The Dutchman regrouped in the second set and came close to levelling the contest, but Zverev absorbed the pressure and reeled off three games in a row towards the end as the momentum swung firmly in his favour.

In the third set, Zverev fired an overhead smash to break early and cruised home from there to reach his third semifinal in New York. With 23 Grand Slam match wins this year, he surpassed Boris Becker's German men's record of 22 from 1989. Next up for Zverev is a rematch of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics gold medal match against Russia's Karen Khachanov.

Source: www.aljazeera.com