Fourth-seeded Alexander Zverev of Germany defeated South African Lloyd Harris in straight sets Wednesday to cruise into the semifinals of the U.S. Open in New York.
Zverev eliminated the unseeded Harris 7-6 (6), 6-3, 6-4 in two hours, six minutes at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Zverev broke Harris’ serve four times, three of those coming at crucial points: saving set point in the first, and taking Harris’ opening service games in the next two sets.
“He served incredibly in the first set, so I didn’t have a lot of chances. I somehow managed to win the first set and that loosened me up a little bit,” Zverev said.
The win extended Zverev’s winning streak to 16 straight matches. He will play the winner of Wednesday night’s duel between No. 1 Novak Djokovic and eighth-seeded Matteo Berrettini.
“I hope it goes for eight hours and 30 minutes,” Zverev said.
The appearance in the semis will be the fourth Grand Slam semifinal for Zverev. He played in the U.S. Open finals last year, losing to Dominic Thiem.
“I played the final here last year in front of exactly six people. That was a little bit weird for me but it’s incredible to have the New York crowd back. I think the energy of the stadium, the energy of the people, we missed it for over a year all over the world,” Zverev said.
Zverev finished with 21 aces but battled through five double faults. Harris had 13 aces.
Zverev delivered 43 winners against 26 unforced errors, while Harris also had 26 unforced errors but 34 winners.
–Field Level Media