Alexander Zverev Beats America’s Shelton in US Open Final

Alexander Zverev outlasted America’s Ben Shelton in four sets at the U.S. Open Final on Sunday.

The 6–3, 7–6(2), 5–7, 6–2 win was the German’s first U.S. Open title and dashed Shelton’s dream of ending the 23-year American men’s Grand Slam drought.

The first-seeded Zverev, who improved to a 6–0 career record against Shelton, came out serving big and broke twice in a dominant first set.

The second set was much closer, but the 29 year-old lifted his level and pulled away in the tiebreak.

Shelton earned his first break point of the match in the third set, which he couldn’t convert, but earned three more at 6–5 as the match’s momentum shifted.

The 23 year-old converted the second break point and third set when Zverev missed a volley wide.

But the German immediately came back to break at the start of the fourth set. Zverev continued to hold serve and broke again, which allowed him to serve out the match.

After winning with a first serve, Zverev took a bit to realize the match was over, which he laughed off.

“I thought [the score] was 5–1,” he said after the match. 

While winning 85 percent of his first serves, the two-time Grand Slam winner said he tried to play slower to Shelton’s backhand, because the American thrives off the pace.

The path to Zverev’s first Grand Slam at the 2026 French Open was a difficult one. He suffered a tight, fifth-set tiebreak loss at the 2020 U.S. Open final and lost his first three Grand Slam final appearances.

Then in June this year, Zverev broke through in a five-set win over Flavio Cobolli in Paris, and has now followed it up by with his first Wimbledon win, putting him in good position to finish as the men’s year end No. 1.

He said after the match that while being nervous during his French Open final victory, he was able to relax and enjoy the match at New York’s Arthur Asche stadium much more.

Zverev won against Shelton and the American crowd as the 23-year-old was bidding to become the first American man since Andy Roddick in 2003 to win a U.S. Open title, or any Grand Slam.

Shelton is just the third American man to make a Grand Slam final in the last 20 years—the previous being Andy Roddick in the 2006 U.S. Open and 2009 Wimbledon, and Taylor Fritz who lost a lob-sided final at the 2024 U.S. Open.