Top seed Alexander Zverev out-gunned Karen Khachanov to reach his third straight Grand Slam final on Friday, rolling into the US Open title match with a straight sets win.
Big-serving Ben Shelton overpowered American compatriot Frances Tiafoe in four sets to reach the first Grand Slam final of his career.
Zverev, who followed up his maiden major at the French Open with a runner-up finish at Wimbledon, saved two set points in the final tiebreaker to close out the 6-3, 7-6 (9/7), 7-6 (8/6) victory.
He'll face Ben Shelton in Sunday's championship match.
The German predicted an "absolutely epic" contest between the two Americans, after which he'll be out to thwart the winner's bid to become the first American man in 23 years to lift a Grand Slam trophy.
"Hopefully I can not make the American dream come true on Sunday," said Zverev, who came agonizingly close to the US Open title in 2020 before falling to Dominic Thiem in five sets.
After a somewhat inauspicious start to the tournament, spending nine hours and 26 minutes on court in laborious five-set victories in the first and second rounds, Zverev has steadily upped his game.
He needed two hours and 57 minutes to deny 50th-ranked Khachanov's bid to become the lowest-ranked Grand Slam finalist since number 54 Marcos Baghdatis at the 2006 Australian Open.
But the Russian, who fell to Zverev in the Olympic gold medal match in Tokyo in 2021, put up a spirited challenge in the second and third sets.
Unable to make any real headway in the first set, Khachanov fell a quick break down in the second.
The Russian couldn't resist a grin when he snuck a passing shot by Zverev to open the fourth game, and flung his arm into the air in celebration three points later when a forehand winner gave him his first break chance of the match.
Zverev double faulted to hand him a break that leveled the set at 2-2.
Khachanov had another chance two games later when Zverev's backhand into the net to end a 32-shot rally gave him a break point.
But the German came up with a big serve and escaped the danger as they went to the tiebreaker, where Khachanov denied Zverev on two set points with thumping forehand and a brilliant backhand down the line before Zverev closed out the set.
Neither player mustered a break point in a tense third set. Khachanov had a chance to extend the match when he took a 6-4 lead in the tiebreaker, but after a pair of forehand errors from the Russian Zverev came up with his 15th ace and sealed the win on the next point when Khachanov sent a forehand long.
Eighth-seeded Shelton blasted 20 aces on his way to a thrilling 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 victory on the Arthur Ashe Stadium court that sends the 23-year-old into Sunday's championship match against top-seeded Alexander Zverev of Germany.
A pulsating all-American semi-final had seen both players vying to reach a Grand Slam final for the first time.
Shelton -- who took down defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals -- will now have the chance to become the first American man to win a Grand Slam title since 2003, when Andy Roddick triumphed at the US Open.
"It's a lot of emotion," Shelton said in an on-court interview after a win that was watched by a star-studded New York crowd.
"My dad, my mom have sacrificed a lot for me to be in this position today. My dad lost his mom earlier this year, and she's the reason that he was able to play tennis.
"Without her, there's no Ben Shelton standing here today. So this one is for her. And I'm gonna need you guys on Sunday to to bring the energy. I'm going for it. I'm gonna leave it all on the court.
Earlier, Tiafoe got off to a bright start, claiming the first set after breaking when Shelton uncharacteristically double-faulted to trail at 5-4.
Tiafoe held to love to clinch the first set but Shelton came flying out of the blocks to start the second.
An early break helped him into a 2-0 lead before Tiafoe responded with a break to level at 2-2.
Yet with Tiafoe's serve increasingly erratic, Shelton grabbed another break in the eighth game to go 5-3 up and then held to level.
The momentum was all with Shelton and Tiafoe had to fight off two break points before holding early in the third set.
However Shelton – who had one serve initially clocked at 158mph before it was later adjusted to 144mph -- made no mistake in the fifth game with a break to go 3-2 up.
Tiafoe needed to hold to keep the set alive in the ninth game, and a furious arm-wrestle saw the 11th seed once again save three break and set points.
Shelton though earned his fourth break point after pouncing on Tiafoe's second serve once more, scorching a backhand return down the line.
Shelton converted that when Tiafoe netted a forehand to find himself 2-1 down.
The fourth set went with serve until the 12th game, when Shelton grabbed the crucial break to seal victory.
