Alexander Zverev moved into the US Open men's semifinals with a commanding 6-2, 7-5, 6-1 victory over Botic van de Zandschulp on Wednesday, while Coco Gauff delivered one of the tournament's most dramatic comebacks to also reach the last four at Flushing Meadows in New York.
Zverev, the 27-year-old German and reigning French Open champion, is now the only Grand Slam title-holder remaining in the men's draw. Despite a rocky start to his campaign — he acknowledged he played poorly in the opening rounds — he has grown steadily stronger throughout the tournament. "I've started playing better throughout the tournament, and I'm definitely happy to be in the semifinals here," he said. With 23 Grand Slam match wins this year, he surpassed the record of 22 set by his compatriot Boris Becker in 1989. He next faces Russia's Karen Khachanov, a rematch of their Olympic gold medal final at the Tokyo Games in 2021. For Van de Zandschulp, the 30-year-old Dutchman, the defeat ends a remarkable run in New York, but it carries a significant silver lining: his quarterfinalist finish propels him from 70th to 40th in the world rankings, well ahead of his stated target of cracking the top 50 this season. "I have few points to defend for the rest of the year, so I can keep looking upward," he said. He came close to becoming the first Dutch man in a Grand Slam singles semifinal since Martin Verkerk reached the Roland Garros final in 2003.
In the women's draw, defending champion Coco Gauff produced a stunning fightback to defeat Russian fifth seed Mirra Andreeva 2-6, 7-6 (7), 6-2, saving two match points along the way. Andreeva dominated the opening set and held two opportunities to close out the match in a tense second-set tiebreak, but Gauff — who took a locker-room break between sets to reset — gradually turned the contest around. She credited fellow American Frances Tiafoe, who had staged his own two-set comeback the previous evening, as an inspiration. "I was thinking about Frances Tiafoe and how he came back yesterday. And we all want to do well in front of this crowd," she said. Gauff now faces second seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, who earlier secured the world number one ranking with a win over China's Zheng Qinwen. The two players have split their career meetings evenly, though Rybakina won their most recent encounter at last month's Toronto tournament.
The results set up a compelling final stretch of the year's last Grand Slam. Zverev's consistency across all four majors in 2024 — he has reached the semifinals at each of them — underlines his status as the sport's most reliable performer at the highest level, even as he pursues only his second major title. For Gauff, another deep run at her home Slam speaks to her resilience, though the challenge posed by a newly crowned world number one will test her to the limit. "These are the moments you live for," she said.