Will Zverev leave the Russian no chance either?
Alexander Zverev entered the 2026 US Open as the top seed and has made it to the semifinals with five straight wins. If Alexander Zverev’s victory over Karen Khachanov comes to pass, he would reach the final for the third consecutive Grand Slam tournament, where he would face either Frances Tiafoe or Ben Shelton—a local American hero. The head-to-head record clearly favors Zverev, who has won six of their nine matches to date—including the men’s singles final at the 2021 Olympic Games, which earned the German a comfortable victory and the gold medal.
It’s worth noting that Alexander Zverev started off at Flushing Meadows with two nail-biting 3-2 victories and then went on to win three straight matches 3-0. While his victories against Alejandro Tabilo and a Botic van de Zandschulp—who had been struggling recently—in the quarterfinals were very straightforward, the French Open champion only needed to have a good day against Luciano Darderi in the round of 16, when he was able to really flex his muscles. Considering that average performances were otherwise sufficient for the German, we believe the most promising prediction for Alexander Zverev’s match against Karen Khachanov is that Sascha will also secure a 3-0 victory in the semifinals.
Although Karen Khachanov also had an easy time in the quarterfinals against an ailing Alexander Blockx—who ultimately had to retire due to injury—the Moscow native had to work significantly harder overall. Against Felix Auger-Aliassime and Learner Tien, he managed only come-from-behind victories in each match, but he also knocked two top players out of the tournament. Anyone who’s a bit cautious about our pick for Sascha’s 3-0 victory could alternatively bet with value on the Russian forcing the German into a tiebreak in at least one set.
Alexander Zverev – Karen Khachanov Head-to-Head Record
Head-to-Head: 6–3
Both players are old acquaintances. Alexander Zverev’s career is closely linked to Karen Khachanov through one of its greatest moments: in 2021 in Tokyo, the German won the Olympic gold medal in men’s singles by defeating the Russian.
Overall, the Hamburg native also leads the head-to-head series against the Moscow native, 6:3. Their most recent matchup took place in 2025 at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, when Karen Khachanov was forced to retire due to injury while trailing 5:7 and 0:3 in the second set.
Alexander Zverev – Karen Khachanov Prediction
A lot will depend on what kind of day the German has. Against Botic van de Zandschulp, Alexander Zverev simply had to keep the ball in play and wait for his opponent’s mistakes, as the latter committed a veritable barrage of errors. Karen Khachanov won’t make it quite that easy for the French Open champion. However, the Moscow native isn’t exactly playing at the absolute top level right now either.
He’s currently ranked only No. 50 in the world and is in the semifinals of a Grand Slam tournament for just the third time in his career, following the 2022 US Open and the 2023 Australian Open. In both instances, he lost the match to a top-10 player. No wonder, since the Russian has won just 16 of his 76 matches against current top-10 players—a win rate of just 21.1 percent.
If the German—who is likely to rely heavily on his serve in this matchup—gets off to a strong start, it will be difficult for the Russian to stand up to the French Open champion. Although there is a certain degree of risk involved, we’re therefore betting on another clean 3-0 victory for the Hamburg native. Bwin is offering odds of 2.15 for Alexander Zverev vs. Karen Khachanov, and we’re betting four out of ten units on this outcome.
