Alexander Zverev beats Ben Shelton to win second major at US Open

What happened

Alexander Zverev won the US Open on Sunday, defeating Ben Shelton 6-3 7-6 (7-2) 5-7 6-2 to claim his second Grand Slam singles title. The German’s victory at Arthur Ashe Stadium followed his breakthrough at the French Open in June.

Shelton, the American eighth seed, was contesting his first major final before a crowd of about 24,000, predominantly supporting him. The 23-year-old was trying to end an American men’s Grand Slam singles drought stretching back to Andy Roddick’s US Open title in 2003.

The final ended with an unusual delay in the winner’s celebration. After Shelton sent his return beyond the baseline on championship point, Zverev prepared to serve again. His team had to alert him that the contest was finished before he smiled and lifted his arms.

Zverev had won all five of their earlier meetings, and Shelton immediately gave him an opening. A double fault conceded the first service game. Another, at set point, handed Zverev the opening set as the American struggled to settle into the match.

The top seed built his advantage around two strengths: a first serve that offered Shelton few opportunities and baseline play directed towards the American’s less reliable backhand. Across the opening two sets, Zverev took 39 of the 42 points played on his first serve.

Shelton escaped the only break point he faced in the second set, in its fourth game, to force a tie-break. Zverev then won seven of its nine points, putting himself one set away from the title without having faced a break point.

That changed midway through the third set. Shelton began threatening on return and converted his third break opportunity, eventually taking the set 7-5. But an unsuccessful opening service game in the fourth surrendered his advantage, and Zverev completed the match by winning that set 6-2.

The background

For Zverev, 29, the setting carried the memory of a very different final. In 2020, he led Dominic Thiem by two sets at Flushing Meadows and later served for the championship in the fifth, only to lose. He was tearful during the trophy ceremony.

He entered 2026 with three defeats from three major finals. This season has brought a marked change: alongside his two titles, he reached the Australian Open semi-finals and finished runner-up at Wimbledon. He is now ranked second in the world.

The competitive landscape also changed through injury. Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz shared every men’s major title across 2024 and 2025, but Alcaraz missed this year’s French Open and Wimbledon. Sinner was unable to compete at the US Open.

Zverev nevertheless came close to an immediate exit in New York. He was two points from losing his first-round match, and both of his opening two contests required five sets and continued into the early morning. His level improved as the tournament progressed.

From the third round through the semi-finals, he won without conceding a set. His draw did not put him against anyone ranked inside the world’s top 20 until the final, when Shelton presented a different test with the crowd firmly behind him.

Zverev’s career has also included allegations of domestic abuse. In October 2023, a penalty order imposed a €450,000 (£392,000) fine for bodily harm against a former partner with whom he has a child. He denied the allegations and challenged the order.

A trial that began in May 2024 ended after a week when the proceedings were discontinued; Zverev and his former partner also reached a separate settlement. The court said the discontinuation did not determine guilt or innocence. Another former girlfriend accused him of physical violence and controlling behaviour in October 2020. He denied those allegations, which did not lead to legal proceedings.

Shelton’s route to the final

Shelton arrived in New York having won the Canadian Open the previous month. That success followed a difficult Wimbledon, where Finnish qualifier Otto Virtanen defeated him in the first round. Shelton regarded the grass-court loss as a particularly painful setback and a prompt to reassess.

His US Open draw demanded victories over several powerful opponents, including three players who had previously reached the world’s top 10. The most significant result came against Alcaraz, a seven-time major champion, in a quarter-final that finished at 3:34am.

Alcaraz was making his first tournament appearance in almost five months. Even with that interruption to the Spaniard’s season, the win marked a new achievement for Shelton: he had never previously beaten an opponent ranked in the top three.

The American number one’s recent improvement has included more effective defensive play and work on his backhand. In the final, however, errors on his normally dangerous forehand prevented him from making enough of the attacking opportunities he created against Zverev.

What people are saying

Zverev attributed his failure to recognise the winning point to the depth of his concentration. He said he had stopped registering the noise around him and had become absorbed in playing each point rather than tracking the score.

His thanks extended to the family members behind his career. His father and coach, Alexander Zverev senior, was courtside, unlike at the 2020 final when neither parent attended. His brother, Mischa Zverev, also helps lead the team.

Zverev paid particular tribute to his mother’s response when he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes as a child. He credited her with supporting his ambitions despite doctors warning that the condition would restrict his life and sporting activities.

Former Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli, speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, highlighted his conditioning. She placed his athletic ability alongside the strongest physical performers in tennis, including Alcaraz, Sinner, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal at their peaks.

Former British number one Annabel Croft focused on his emotional restraint throughout the final. She expressed admiration for his composure and surprise that such intense concentration could leave him unaware that he had won the championship.

Shelton’s response combined disappointment with satisfaction at his development. He said the defeat hurt despite the progress he felt he had made, and identified mistakes on balls he had been in a position to attack as a central frustration.

What happens next

The world number one ranking is now a target for Zverev. He trails Sinner by 1,810 points, with two Masters 1000 tournaments and the season-ending ATP Finals still to come. Those events leave significant ranking points available before the season concludes.

Masters 1000 events sit below the Grand Slams in the tour’s tournament hierarchy and award 1,000 ranking points to the singles champion. The ATP Finals uses a different format, beginning with group matches before its knockout stage, and can award an unbeaten champion 1,500 points.

Why this matters

For UK tennis followers, Zverev’s season links success across different playing conditions: the French Open is played on clay, Wimbledon on grass and the US Open on hard courts. His results put him among the leading contenders across all three surfaces.

The final also illustrates the distinction between tournament seeding and world ranking. Zverev played as the US Open’s top seed while ranked second: seedings order the players taking part, so the absence of a higher-ranked competitor can move another player up the draw’s hierarchy.