Shelton Faces Zverev in US Open Final, Bidding to End 23-Year American Slam Drought

America’s Ben Shelton will play Alexander Zverev at the U.S. Open final on Sept. 13 with a chance to end the American men’s Grand Slam and U.S. Open drought.

The last time a Slam was won by an American was Andy Roddick at the 2003 U.S. Open. Taylor Fritz is the only American to make a men’s final recently, at the 2024 U.S. Open, but lost in straight sets to Jannik Sinner.

“I’m going to need you guys on Sunday to bring the energy. I’m going for it here. I’m going to leave it all on the court,” Shelton said after his semifinal win. “I hope you guys come and back me. Let’s do this for the USA.”

The eighth-seeded Shelton earned this opportunity after a dramatic quarterfinal win over the defending champion Carlos Alcaraz that ended at a record 3:33 a.m. Shelton capped off the match with a 146-mph ace in the fifth-set tiebreak.

The 23-year-old followed it up with a four-set victory over fellow American Francis Tiafoe to make his first grand slam final, while playing some of the best tennis of his young career.

However, history likes Zverev, who has a 5–0 career record against Shelton and dropped only a single set in all those matches.

“Hopefully, I cannot make the American dream come true on Sunday,” Zverev joked after a semifinal win against Karen Kachanov.

The two have yet to play each other this season, which is both of their best statistical seasons, and the U.S. crowd could be a difference maker. 

The first-seeded German has had a much more straightforward path to the final, having not faced any top 20-seeds up to this point and winning his last four matches in straight sets.

The last time Zverev made it to the U.S. Open final was in 2020, where he lost a fifth-set tiebreak to Dominic Thiem, but his career has changed a lot since then.

After spending years chasing the Grand Slam achievement that has always eluded him, the 29-year-old took advantage of injuries and upsets to top players and won his first Slam at this year’s French Open.

He followed it up with his first finals appearance at Wimbledon, and if able to grab a U.S. Open title, Zverev could pull within 2,000 points of World No. 1 Sinner, who missed the tournament because of a knee injury.