NEW YORK, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- Top seed Alexander Zverev grabbed a 6-3, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (6) win over Karen Khachanov on Friday to book his second US Open final.
The reigning Roland Garros champion will meet eighth seed Ben Shelton, who emerged victorious in an all-American semifinal, beating No. 12 seed Frances Tiafoe 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-5.
Zverev had predicted a baseline battle before the semifinal, which indeed featured long rallies during the three-hour match.
The German converted the first break point in the first set to take a 5-3 lead before Khachanov committed three unforced errors to concede the first set.
The duo exchanged service breaks in the second set, and Zverev served in the 12th game to force a tiebreak. He converted his third set point after a long rally to win the second set, in which he hit seven aces.
The third set also saw a tiebreak where Khachanov rushed to a 5-2 lead. But he squandered two set points at 6-4 and made a backhand error to lose the match between the two 1.98-meter-tall players.
"Sometimes things go your way," said Zverev in his on-court interview after the match. "I was so close, so many times."
23-year-old Shelton will attempt to become the first American man to win a Grand Slam title since Andy Roddick at the 2003 US Open.
"It's a lot of emotion. My dad, my mom sacrificed a lot for me to be in this position today," Shelton said. "My dad lost his mom earlier this year, and she's the reason that he was able to play tennis. Without her, there's no Ben Shelton standing here today. This one is for her."
Czech Katerina Siniakova teamed up with American Taylor Townsend to lift the women's doubles title, beating American pair Ashlyn Krueger and Robin Montgomery 5-7, 6-0, 6-2.
China's 16-year-old Sun Xinran reached her third consecutive junior Grand Slam final after dispatching American Chukwumelije Clarke 7-5, 0-6, 6-1.
After missing out on two junior Grand Slam trophies in a row, the junior world No. 1 admitted ahead of the match that she was under pressure.
"I gave myself big pressure - I couldn't sleep at night. But now, here, I am more relaxed. For me, every result is okay because it cannot be worse than it was at Wimbledon," Sun told ITF.com.
"Nobody wants to lose but going through that pain makes you stronger. I would have been better not to lose, but those experiences will make me stronger. Some players maybe come and win a Junior Grand Slam first time, but the experiences are important."
In the final, Sun will face Russian player Anna Pushkareva, who pushed aside Czech Jana Kovackova 6-1, 7-5 in the other semifinal. ■
