By Steve Keating
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Fourth seed Alexander Zverev extended his winning streak to 16 matches by easing past South African Lloyd Harris 7-6(6) 6-3 6-4 and into the semi-finals of the U.S. Open on Wednesday where the German looms large as a potential roadblock to Novak Djokovic’s bid for a calendar-year Grand Slam.
The victory leaves Zverev one win away from returning to a second consecutive U.S. Open final and another shot at a first career major title after losing to Dominic Thiem last year.
Zverev will await the winner between top seed Djokovic and Italian Matteo Berrettini, who meet later on Wednesday in a rematch of the Wimbledon final.
The path to what would be a record 21st major title has become very steep for the history-hunting Serb, who must first get through sixth seed Berrettini with Zverev now waiting in the wings.
(Reporting by Steve Keating in New York. Editing by Toby Davis)
