Alexander Zverev admitted he could hardly believe how poorly he was playing in the opening two rounds of this year’s US Open, even as he closed in on a place in Sunday’s final after a demanding tournament.

The top seed moved past Karen Khachanov 6-3 7-6(7), 7-6(6) to book his spot in a third consecutive Grand Slam final and keep alive his pursuit of a second major title of the year.

Zverev produced a composed, authoritative display against the Russian, then returned to the theme of the close calls that shaped his Grand Slam story before his French Open triumph in June.

“Sometimes things go your way. I feel like I’ve had a little struggle at the major level,” he said after beating Khachanov

“I was so close so many times and maybe this year God has said this is going to be your year and enjoy your time on the court.

“I’m enjoying it and playing these big finals. I can’t wait for Sunday.”

He also described a late-night exchange with his extended team during the US Open.

“After the second round, at about 3am I was sitting with my team in the locker room and we were laughing at how bad I was playing,” Zverev said.

“That sense of humour helped me. I obviously have improved a bit otherwise I would not be in the US Open final.”

Martina Navratilova also praised the year he has put together at the majors, saying he deserves recognition for what he has achieved.

“What a year Zverev has had at the majors. It’s been outstanding stuff,” Navratilova told Sky Sports.

“Okay, Sinner lost early at the French Open and Alcaraz didn’t play, but there are no asterisks, he still had to get through even as a favourite.And that has given the confidence to play better tennis after that.

“I think he played better at Wimbledon than he did at Roland Garros, and now he started off badly here by his own admission, but he hasn’t lost a set the last four matches. He’s cooking now.”

Alcaraz is expected to appear at the Laver Cup in London and the Six Kings Slam in Saudi Arabia, though his next major tournament remains unconfirmed.

Ticket pricing at the US Open was one of the major talking points as the tournament began, with the resale market posting extreme figures for the season’s last Grand Slam.

Tennis365 first highlighted the issue in late July, when resale tickets for the men’s singles final were listed at $20,921.07 each. At the time, women’s final tickets for the previous day were priced at $5,885.38.

Those numbers were still present during the opening days of the event, with the pull of Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, Alex Eala and Serena Williams helping drive demand. But as the final weekend comes into view, the official resale site is showing a very different picture.

Tickets for Alexander Zverev’s semi-final against Karen Khachanov have fallen to just $35 on the resale market, a drop the site says represents an 89 per cent decline in value.

There are also plenty of women’s final tickets between Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina available for less than $300, with the lack of an American finalist doing little to hold prices up for fans in New York.

The all-American men’s semi-final between Frances Tiafoe and Ben Shelton is also drawing surprisingly modest resale figures, with numerous tickets listed for $300 or less.

Even with interest easing in the closing stages, the United States Tennis Association is still projected to have surpassed last year’s revenue and profits after three weeks at Flushing Meadows.

The USTA reported $623.8million in revenue in 2024, with most of it coming from the US Open. The tournament produced $559.6 million, or 90% of the total, according to the most recent audited financial statements. Event expenses were $282.2 million, leaving an operating profit of about $277.4 million.

That scale of income helped push prize money to a record $108,000,000 across all competitions this year, with the men’s and women’s singles champions set to receive $5.5m this weekend.

Andy Roddick has offered a firm assessment of Coco Gauff’s US Open semi-final defeat to Elena Rybakina, saying the American will face problems unless her forehand improves. Gauff started well and took the opening set 6-3, but Rybakina turned the match around by winning the next two sets 6-4, 6-4. It was also Gauff’s second loss to the Kazakh in her last three tournaments.

Rybakina, who secured the world No 1 ranking earlier in the week, will now meet top seed Aryna Sabalenka in the final. For Gauff, the result will sting because she had entered the semi-final as the betting favourite after winning the Canadian Open in August. A place in the last four is still a strong result, yet she was unable to hold her level for long enough against an opponent who stayed composed under pressure.

On the latest episode of the Served with Andy Roddick podcast, the 2003 US Open champion pointed to Gauff’s forehand as the decisive issue. “The first set I was saying is this the best Coco has ever played in a tournament. She was in full flight but the forehand deserted her,” he stated during the latest episode of the Served with Andy Roddick podcast.

He added: “Credit to Rybakina, she is not known for dropping sets and then coming back. She is the opposite of Coco when she loses a set, comes back.

“ She has done that on back to back days with the number one ranking at stake and with the US Open title at stake.

“Coco’s forehand let her down. That is it. It’s going to be a struggle when people can go big and create pace to that side.

“When they don’t, she has enough time and she can manipulate spins and hits slices and do all that. But let’s also think about where she was a year ago.

“We saw her almost have the closest she will get to a breakdown, where her hands were shaking on the switchover because she could not serve.

“Let’s judge it on the match and let’s also judge it on year over year progress.”

Gauff is next due to play the China Open, which begins on September 28. She has already made clear that, for the rest of the season, her focus is on improving for 2027 rather than on short-term results. “I think every US Open, and no disrespect to other tournaments, but [after] every US Open is kind of where my mind is just thinking to focus on the improvement for next year.

“I will play in China and hopefully qualify for WTA Finals, but every time I play those events it has been for the purpose of trying to try things for next season or trying to figure out what I need to work on [in] the off-season.

“Sometimes the mindset works, as I’m usually successful at those events, so I think this will just be about going back and seeing what I can improve on and what I need to try and put into my game during the Asian swing.”