Alexander Zverev knew he was on his way to history in the US Open 2026 men’s final. Not too offensive.
Facing No. With 8 seed Ben Shelton and the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd rooting against him, Zverev sailed through every challenge until celebrating a 6-3, 7-6, 5-7, 6-2 win. The wait continues for the first American male Grand Slam title since 2003.
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Incredibly, Zverev didn’t even seem to notice the match when Shelton’s last return of serve went long.
Another Grand Slam title is the life of Zverev, which seems to be due to the lack of such titles entering 2026. Zverev’s place in history seemed clear, a great player who could never reach great historians such as Carlos Alcaraz or Jannik Sinner, when it mattered most.
We’re not sure that much has changed. Zverev wound up 25-2 in Grand Slams this year, Roland-Garros and the US Open. His two losses: Alcaraz in the Australian Open semifinals, Sinner in the Wimbledon finals.
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Zverev methodically handled all the other players. In retrospect, the two biggest challenges of his first two-team tournament were against Lorenzo Sonego and Quentin Halys, when the former No. 1 seed in the major to win the fifth round in both the first and second rounds.
Zverev did not drop a set after those two matches until the final, as the field opened up to him as he did at Roland-Garros. Shelton’s opponent has had little trouble in the past, with a 5-0 head record.
Ben Shelton looked different at the US Open until Alexander Zverev
When it comes to head to head, there were some open fences for Shelton in this fight.
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Zverev’s game is built to limit Shelton’s greatest strength and his greatest weakness. Like many players used, Shelton is used to swinging forehands at Zverev, which is one of the most lethal on the tour. And Shelton has never been a good return, which is a problem when Zverev is about 133 mph with his first serve.
There was cause for hope with Shelton, though, as he seemed to return, showing better than ever with his recently developed toolkit. He turned a similar 0-3 record into five innings against Alcaraz in the fourth quarter.
However, that hope quickly fizzled once in front of Zverev, who broke Shelton to open the match. Shelton, perhaps struck with nerves, gave Zverev, who broke the game with a double fault, then did the same to close out a weak first set.
Meanwhile, Shelton just couldn’t do much against Zverev’s serve. Not even a break point until the third set of 66 consecutive service holds by Zverev against him. As good as Shelton’s serve was, it didn’t seem to matter after Zverev took the second set 7-2 tiebreaker.
Zverev blew a doubles lead in the Open final before infamously crashing against Dominic Thiem rather infamously. He was able to repeat when Shelton finally got the break to steal third place.
But Shelton blinked again to open the fourth. He was up 30 at love, then a double fault and a pair of unforced errors opened the door for Zverev to take the decisive break. He added another one for measure later, taking so much drama out of the rest of the game that Zverev didn’t know the match was over until the point.
Zverev won, ironically, only by walking away from the things that made him a better player this year. His biggest weakness is always growing passive and waiting too long for the opponent to just make a mistake. He rarely works against Alcaraz and Peccator, as he seems to move the point more and sometimes tries to push the opponents from the right side.
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That performance worked just fine for him today, handling the forehands that Shelton loves, but overall Zverev just expected Shelton out of almost every match. Shelton committed 47 unforced errors to Zverev’s 35.
As Zverev told ESPN after the match;
“Against Ben, you don’t need to play all the time. The more he plays in peace, the better he plays. I think it’s a mistake for Carlos and maybe Francis. [Tiafoe] he did.”
America’s Grand Slam drought continues
Zverev’s triumph is Shelton’s fall, continuing a 23-year drought for American men that goes back to US Andy Roddick’s title in 2003.
The past two decades have not been a golden age for American men’s tennis, to put it mildly. Shelton represented the country’s best chance to end the streak since Roddick’s retirement in 2012.
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No one wants Roddick to end his run. As you can see from his “Served” podcast last year:
“One, I hate talking about him at this point. Two, I hate other players talking about him. Three, I hate what he likes; [John McEnroe] He has to talk. He won a lot because of the f***. I won one. This just happens to be the last one. … I just need to say, and all the time I asked about it. I’m not a dolphin. Don’t pop the champagne when the season is over. We want this so much, maybe more than anyone outside of the people who come to win it. And what has never been said, which is lazy for me: I was 10 years in a row with him, and I did not recover again. “I could have won in ’09 and it would have been a lot less dramatic.”
At just 23 years old, Shelton still appears to be the country’s best up-and-coming prospect. Zverev himself said he would win the trophy at some point in his career.
Meanwhile, American women have won 23 Grand Slam titles in the same span.
What do we make of Alexander Zverev’s 2 Grand Slam titles?
Zverev is now a two-time Grand Slam winner. that is, to be present.
There will be detractors for what Zverev has accomplished this year, because a year of adverse health for both Sinner and Alcaraz meant that they did not meet their usual opponents at two titles. In fact, not much for anyone.
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Zverev reached the finals in Paris and New York only to face one player with a seed higher than No. 21. His Roland-Garros semifinal opponent was young No. 26 seed Jakub Mensik. Her US Open semifinal opponent was the unlikely Karen Khachanov.
Shelton and Roland-Garros finalist Flavio Cobolli are both at least top 10 players. In fact, Shelton will go from ninth in the world before this tournament to No. 4 reaching the end
Tennis is ultimately about beating the player in front of you. We’re not denying that Zverev has done it, although this is something that will be on the agenda the next time Alcaraz or Sinner aims for a Grand Slam.
With this interview it is also not to be avoided that Zverev has never been a popular player on the tour, including many on court controversies and accusations of domestic abuse from two of his girlfriends. He denied any wrongdoing to them, when one of them went to trial in 2014.
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Follow along with Yahoo Sports for the latest highlights, news and more as Ben Shelton and Alexander Zverev face off in the 2016 US Open men’s singles finals.
Jack Baer
Jack Baer
Jack Baer
Jack Baer
That’s what he does. Alexander Zverev wins his second Grand Slam title of the year.
Jack Baer
Double point of the ball.
Jack Baer
After a tricky exchange at the net, Zverev went up two breaks and will now serve for the US Open title. Twice, if necessary.
Jack Baer
Uh oh, double break point for Zverev. This must be radically ended.
Jack Baer
Ben Shelton is running out of luck for this return. Zverev holds the news at love and is two games away from a second Grand Slam title.
Jack Baer
Shelton dialed up his serve to a match-high 144 mph and ended the easy hold with a hand winner down the line.
Jack Baer
Zverev discusses the time violation in frustration and shakes Shelton in his hand as he plays guard. It’s a break, three games into the US Open title.
Jack Baer
Zverev receives a warning for a time violation, to the delight of the Ashes crowd, who bounces more than a dozen balls in front of everyone serving. He complains that he was going to the referee’s chair because he was waiting for the crowd to sit down.
Jack Baer
Shelton was in danger of blowing it completely when he fell behind at 30-points but made his way back, finishing with the last two points at the net. There is still work to be done, but here is a match if he falters at that point.
Jack Baer
Zverev consolidates, ending the game with some great net play. He won 20 of 24 points at the net today, no mean feat against a player with power like Shelton.
Jack Baer
Jack Baer
Three straight errors gives Zverev a point, but Shelton saves it with a well-executed serve and flight. However, he gives Zverev another break point after the would-be winner comes out less than a finger wide and the German overcomes him in a 24-shot encounter.
As soon as he has the moment, Zverev takes it. It’s Zverev’s first break since the first set and now he has an easier way to end this affair in four sets. Total buzzkill for this crowd.
Jack Baer
Jack Baer
Jack Baer
wow Just when needed, Shelton gets a break by challenging Zverev to the net and swinging wide. That ends with a 66 by Zverev towards him.
Game on.
Jack Baer
have a phone Shelton has a triple break point.
Jack Baer
They are more dominated by Zverev and Shelton. Unless Shelton holds a streak of 66 straight against Zverev, we’re going to another tiebreaker.
