Zverev and Shelton Set Up New York Final as Khachanov and Tiafoe Fall in Straight Story Lines

Flushing Meadows delivered its semifinal day without a fifth set, but not without resistance. Alexander Zverev needed three tie-break-tinged hours' worth of tension to see off Karen Khachanov 6-3 7-6 7-6, a scoreline that flatters the German only in its straightness. After breaking early to bank the opening set, Zverev was pinned into two breakers by a Khachanov who kept finding first serves at the moments that mattered; twice the Russian got to the edge of levelling the match, and twice Zverev found the better ball. It is the sort of win — economical in sets, expensive in nerves — that a finalist tends to remember.

Ben Shelton took the harder road. Frances Tiafoe, in an all-American semifinal, seized the first set 6-4 and looked the more settled man for half an hour. Shelton's answer was to shorten the points: 6-3, 6-3, and then a fourth set in which he broke at the death for 7-5 rather than risk another tie-break. Tiafoe's exit closes the home story for the tournament, but it was the loser who forced the match's shape, and Shelton who proved he could change it.

That sets up Sunday's final: Zverev, the No. 2, against Shelton, the No. 9. The contrast is the story. Zverev arrives having conceded one set in two semifinal tie-breaks and having controlled rallies from the baseline; Shelton arrives with the bigger swing and the shorter route, and with the evidence that he can lose a set and still win a match on this court. On a hard court that has favoured first-strike tennis all fortnight, the return games may decide it.

Qualifying at the WTA 1000 in Guadalajara narrowed by two. Nao Hibino was clinical against Sofiia Bielinska, 6-4 6-1, taking control after a competitive opening set, while Katrina Scott handled Alexandra Panova 6-2 6-4. Both now sit a step from a main draw that already looks crowded with names.

The Challenger circuit produced the day's cleanest performances. In Montreux, Fiona Ferro beat Dalma Galfi 6-1 2-6 6-0 in a match of extremes, losing her way completely in the second set before conceding nothing in the third; she will face Noma Noha Akugue, a 7-6 6-3 winner over Maristany G., in a final between the world No. 141 and No. 137. Antalya 4 will be decided by Alevtina Ibragimova, who came back to beat Alicia Herrero Linana 4-6 6-2 6-3, and Rositsa Dencheva, who did the same to Irene Burillo Escorihuela 4-6 6-4 6-4. In Barranquilla, Claire Liu dismissed Leolia Jeanjean 6-2 6-4 and Anna Blinkova edged past Elsa Jacquemot 6-1 7-6.

On the men's side, Mika Brunold produced the number of the day, 6-0 6-2 against Vitaliy Sachko in Tulln, where Joao Lucas Reis Da Silva beat Alex Barrena 6-2 6-3. Shanghai will pit Ilya Ivashka, a 6-3 6-4 winner over Luca Castelnuovo, against Marat Sharipov, who beat Pavel Kotov 6-3 7-5. Cassis goes to Titouan Droguet, who recovered from a first-set tie-break to beat Nicolai Budkov Kjaer 6-7 6-2 6-4, against Mark Lajal, a 7-6 7-5 winner over Daniel Masur. Istanbul 3 belongs to Jay Dylan Hara Friend, past Maks Kasnikowski 7-6 6-4, and Max Basing, who needed only 6-1 6-3 against Harold Mayot. In Phan Thiet 3, Ilia Simakin ended Max Purcell's week 6-3 2-6 6-2 and meets Arthur Weber, who beat Yuta Shimizu 6-4 6-4. In Genova, Thiago Seyboth Wild reached the semifinals past Juan Pablo Varillas 6-1 7-6.