WHAT HAPPENED: Alexander Zverev recovered from a set down to win a nervy, sweaty three-hour battle with Borna Coric, 1-6, 7-6, 7-6, 6-3, to advance to the semifinals of the 2020 US Open.
Coming into the contest, Coric held a 3-1 edge in his head-to-head with the No. 5 seed and even defeated him at Flushing Meadows in 2017. But Zverev had more experience in the later stages of Grand Slams, having made the semifinals of the Australian Open earlier this year and two quarterfinals at the French Open, in 2018 and 2019. If both could play at their best, this had the potential to be a firecracker backhand contest.
Instead, this turned out to be a battle of nerves. (And sweat, as Coric had to change his drenched clothes on multiple changeovers, much to the consternation of his opponent.) The first set was over quickly. The German, who can be vulnerable on serve, threw in three double faults on his second service game to hand the break to Coric. From there, the No. 5 seed unraveled and couldn't seem to connect on any shot—not even his generally solid backhand—and the Croatian player quickly reeled off the next four games to take the set in 24 minutes.
The second set was even nervier than the first, with both players making errors and dropping serve after having multiple game points—Coric while he was up a break at 4-3. The pair survived to a tiebreak, and while the Croatian player was the first to go up a minibreak, he made too many errors to hand the set to Zverev and level the score.
In the third, the pair traded breaks early on, then stayed even to reach another tiebreak. Late in the set, Coric seemed to be the more willing player to come forward and take control of points, but Zverev chased down a drop shot at 15-30 in his final service game that seemed to tilt momentum in his favor just as the tiebreak began. He immediately took a 4-0 lead, and Coric could not recover from that deficit, losing the set.
In the fourth, Coric failed to convert four break points in the fifth game—thanks in part to some forehand errors and great serves from Zverev. That turned out to be the No. 27 seed’s last chance to take a stand. He was promptly broken two service games later with a forehand pass, and this time, was not able to come up with a great escape as he did when he saved six match points against Stefanos Tsitsipas in their third-round match.
"Obviously, I didn't play well," Zverev said after the match. "It's no secret. I was down 6-1, 4-2 after about 28 minutes. It's not a secret I didn't play my best. But I found a way, found a way to win that second set, and I feel like that's the most important."
WHAT IT MEANS: After losing Grand Slam main draw matches 11 times before ever reaching the quarterfinals, Zverev now advances to his second consecutive semifinal at a major. He'll also have a (slight) advantage over whoever he faces for a spot in the championship match. He has beaten Pablo Carreno Busta the one time they played—on the Miami hard courts, also in a semifinal—and has a 3-2 head-to-head against Denis Shapovalov, though the Canadian has won their last two matches.
"I think the Novak news shocked us all," Zverev said. "For us younger guys, we see that as a massive opportunity. But we have to put our head down and just do our job and focus on ourselves."
MATCH POINT: Zverev managed his serve nicely despite hitting 12 double faults. He made 71 percent of his first serves and won 76 percent of those points.
BELOW: Watch Zverev-Coric quarterfinal highlights
