NEW YORK — Alexander Zverev's best year in tennis goes on, and so does that lengthy Grand Slam drought for American men.
Zverev won his second major championship and disappointed a crowd that was desperate to see the first Grand Slam title by an American man since 2003, beating Ben Shelton 6-3, 7-6 (2), 5-7, 6-2 on Sunday in the U.S. Open final.
Zverev finally broke through in the majors by winning this year's French Open and followed up by adding the title in New York that he so painfully let slip away in 2020.
The No. 1 seed in a Grand Slam for the first time, he capitalized on Shelton’s shaky start in his first major final, played a nearly flawless tiebreaker on serve and then turned back Shelton’s comeback attempt in front of a crowd that desperately cheered him on.
“I know today 99.9% of the people wanted Ben to win, so I’m very sorry first of all,” Zverev said during the trophy presentation. “But second, it was an incredible atmosphere to play in. Even though I know that the crowd was against me, the crowd was always incredibly fair.”
Shelton was trying to win the first title by an American man since Andy Roddick won in Flushing Meadows in 2003, as well as become the first Black player to win the men's crown since Arthur Ashe in 1968.
But Zverev was too good in majors this year and apparently didn't even know how good he was. He finished the match on his serve but didn't seem to realize it, dropping back behind the baseline as if set to return. Only a few moments later did he figure out he had won, raising his arms in celebration.
“You’re one of the very best players in the world, maybe the best player in the world this year,” Shelton told Zverev.
Zverev improved to 25-2 in major matches this year and won $5.5 million, matching the prize earned by women's champion Elena Rybakina on Saturday as the largest in Grand Slam history.
He thought this title would come in 2020 and still acknowledges it should have. He won the first two sets against Dominic Thiem and got within two points of victory before becoming the first man to blow a two-set lead and lose in the final since 1949.
Whatever ghosts were left from then are long gone now.
Zverev also reached the final at Wimbledon, falling to Jannik Sinner, and became the No. 1 seed in New York when the top-ranked Sinner had to withdraw with a knee injury.
“I think God has seen how hard we worked, how much we suffered, how much pain we went through and I think 2026 is the outcome of all the years that happened before,” Zverev said, addressing his team.
Shelton had already eliminated the defending champion when he beat Carlos Alcaraz in a five-set quarterfinal that ended at 3:33 a.m., the latest finish in U.S. Open history.
But he fell short on Sunday in his attempt to become the first man to beat the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds en route to the U.S. Open title since 1975.
The No. 8 seed fell to 0-6 against Zverev, winning a set Sunday for only the second time.
The 23-year-old Shelton figures to get more chances, but Americans who have grown tired of waiting to celebrate a men’s title wanted it now.
Fans stood and screamed when Shelton emerged from the tunnel before the match, but he didn’t give them any reason to keep the cheers going once play began. Serving first, he lost the opening two points and then eventually handed the game to Zverev with a double-fault.
Zverev maintained that lead the rest of the set, which ended on another double-fault by Shelton.
Zverev’s deliberate playing style helped limit the crowd’s effectiveness. Fans are expected to quiet down as a player is preparing to serve and stay quiet until the ensuing point has completed.
Zverev bounces the ball a number of times — sometimes around 10, maybe a dozen, others nearly 20, insisting there is no set pattern or plan — before he begins his toss, so it guarantees lengthy stretches of silence.
Fans tried to get around that by occasionally cheering when he missed a first serve — another tennis no-no that the chair umpire scolded them for — but Zverev, who said before the match he enjoyed hostile crowds, did not seem affected.
Zverev then turned back Shelton's chance to even the match in the tiebreaker.
Shelton returned Zverev’s opening serve long, was beaten by a superb passing shot and then came up on the wrong end of a 16-shot rally as Zverev went up 3-0. Zverev then hit serves of 147 mph and 124 mph that Shelton couldn’t get back in play. Shelton cut it to 5-2 and then got a return in play for the only time, but Zverev won the point and then hit another serve at 139 mph to close it out.
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