It was not a great semifinal. That has to be said. The moments during which both players expressed their best games were very rare, probably because both of them were aware of the unique opportunity to reach a Major final without having to face one of the three “cannibals” that have been dominating tennis during the past 15 years.
Alexander Zverev, the favourite, better-ranked player, went through a personal nightmare during the first two sets when he almost saw the dream of a US Open final sail away due to an endless string of unforced errors that send his opponent just a few games from an almost unthinkable result. But the 23-year-old German could regroup and came back from a two-set deficit for the first time in his career, improving his career record to 14-6 in five set matches, but 10-2 in Majors since 2018.
The first break of the match arrived on the fourth game when Carreno Busta benefitted of a backhand unforced error after a 16-stroke rally. For the surprise of all the fans watching the game from afar, since nobody could be in the stands, it was the Spaniard who dictated the rallies, had no problem imposing his rhythm and was able to outlast Zverev in most of the long rallies. Carreno Busta stretched his lead up to 5-1 before losing his serve and closing down two games later at 6-3 in 40 minutes.
The second set was more of the same, as Zverev started to disintegrate crumbling under the pressure of his opponent’s deep and steady groundstrokes and the pressure he kept piling on himself as he was the overwhelming favourite of the match. Collapsing under an avalanche of 22 unforced errors in the second set alone (and 36 since the beginning of the match), the German young star sank to a humiliating 0-5 before he repeated the same score-saving operation of the first set and eventually succumbed by 6-2 in 45 minutes.
Less than an hour and a half into the match, Zverev found himself two sets to love down with the prospect of having to produce a comeback he had never made in his career to reach his first Major final. He, however, started tidying up his game, eliminating unforced errors and obtaining more direct points out of his serve. Three straight breaks in the middle part of the set saw Zverev take a 4-2 lead that he consolidated into a 6-3 to start the comeback attempt.
After two spotless sets, in the third Carreno Busta had started relaxing the pressure he had applied on Zverev and allowed his opponent to start leading the rallies from inside the baseline. The trend worsened for the Spaniard in the fourth set, when the number of his unforced errors increased to 16 and, when at 1-1 there were three consecutive breaks, Zverev was able to take a lead in the set and capitalized to force the match to a deciding fifth.
Just like in the quarterfinal match he had won against Shapovalov, Carreno Busta availed of a medical time-out before the beginning of the final set to have a massage to his lower back. Unfortunately, it did not achieve the same result, as he got broken in the opening game with three unforced error, and that break eventually cost him the match. With an imperious final set during which he racked up 18 winners against only 6 unforced errors, Zverev lost only six points in his five games of serves and wrapped up the set and the match after 3 hours, 23 minutes.
Zverev now awaits the winner of the second semifinal between Dominic Thiem and Daniil Medvedev.
