Both US Open men's semifinals will be played Friday on the hard courts of New York City's USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. An all-American clash will take center stage in prime time after the No. 1 seed warms things up in the afternoon.
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All men's singles matches at Grand Slams are best of five sets. A mix of players' previous grass court results, recent form and stylistic matchups can help pinpoint intriguing betting opportunities in Friday's men's semifinal matches.
US Open Tennis Picks: Zverev vs. Khachanov
Alexander Zverev (81%/-426) vs. Karen Khachanov (19%/+426)
Zverev is certainly the rightful favorite in this match, having made the semifinals or better at all four Grand Slams this year, but the odds understate Khachanov's chances in this battle of 6-foot-6 Europeans. Zverev leads their head-to-head 6-3, with all but one meeting coming on hard courts. The other match was their only Grand Slam showdown, which Zverev took in five sets on the red clay of Roland Garros in 2018. Most recently, they faced off in both of the hard-court Masters 1000 events leading up to last year's US Open, with Khachanov winning at the Canadian Open and Zverev getting revenge in a Cincinnati Open match that Khachanov was unable to finish due to injury. Just over a year later, both are healthy and playing effective tennis.
Zverev has a sparkling 23-2 Grand Slam record in 2026, with the losses coming against Carlos Alcaraz in the Australian Open semifinals and Jannik Sinner (knee) in the Wimbledon final. The top-seeded German hasn't had his A-game in this tournament, so he has been lucky to face a favorable draw without a top-20 opponent in his path. His first two matches both went five sets, and even Zverev's straight-set quarterfinal win over the exhausted Botic van de Zandschulp was a bit sloppy, as Zverev double-faulted seven times and faced a set point in the second set. Khachanov has dropped to 50th in the rankings, though the former world No. 8 will climb up substantially from this run. He has beaten a pair of top-15 seeds en route to his third career hard-court Grand Slam semifinal, taking out No. 3 Felix Auger-Aliassime in the second round and No. 14 Learner Tien in the Round of 16.
US Open Men's Semifinal Prediction: Zverev def. Khachanov 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-7, 6-3
US Open Tennis Picks: Shelton vs. Tiafoe
Ben Shelton (73%/-270) vs. Frances Tiafoe (28%/+257)
Shelton is coming off a win in the match of the tournament so far, as he took out the defending champion Alcaraz in a fifth-set tiebreak that ended at 3:33 a.m. Wednesday morning. Luckily for Shelton, he has had an extra day to recover ahead of this all-American clash with Tiafoe, who is ranked three spots behind Shelton at No. 12. Shelton leads their head-to-head 3-1 overall, though they have split a pair of previous US Open encounters, with Shelton winning in four sets in the 2023 quarterfinal and Tiafoe responding with a five-set win in the 2024 third round. Both have been in excellent hard-court form all summer. Shelton defended his Canadian Open title in August, and Tiafoe reached the Cincinnati Open final the following fortnight.
Tiafoe was also pushed to a fifth-set tiebreak in the quarterfinals, capitalizing on a choke from American compatriot Alex Michelsen to come all the way back after Michelsen took the first two sets and served for it in the third. The crowd should be electric for this all-American clash, which will decide who gets a shot at ending US men's 23-year Grand Slam title drought dating back to Andy Roddick's 2023 US Open triumph. If Shelton can replicate his level from the win over Alcaraz, he's likely to advance to his first Grand Slam final, ending Tiafoe's US Open bid at the semifinal stage for a third time. Tiafoe is certainly capable of capitalizing on any dip in quality from Shelton, but the underdog will need to keep his focus better on his own serve to keep pace in this match, as Shelton has been in the zone on serve in the second week of this tournament. Shelton didn't face a break point in his fourth-round win over Stefanos Tsitsipas and was broken only three times by Alcaraz in five sets. Tiafoe has dropped serve 12 times across his last two matches.
US Open Men's Semifinal Prediction: Shelton def. Tiafoe 6-4, 4-6, 7-6, 6-4
