Alexander Zverev spoiled Ben Shelton’s American dream with the top seed winning the men’s singles final at the US Open in four sets at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York.
Zverev, who triumphed 6-3, 7-6, 5-7, 6-2 in three hours and 33 minutes, capped off a career-best year in the grand slams with a second career major title after triumphing at Roland Garros in June.
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The 29-year-old German earned the No.1 seed at Flushing Meadows courtesy of world No.1 Jannik Sinner missing the final grand slam of the year with a knee injury.
While during Carlos Alcaraz’s four-and-a-month layoff due to a wrist injury, Zverev overtook the Spaniard in the world rankings, climbing to No.2 after making the Wimbledon final in July.
Shelton ended Alcaraz’s hopes of a three-peat in New York in a five-set quarter-final epic that ended at 3.33am – the latest finish in US Open history.
With Alcaraz out of the picture and Sinner absent, the 23-year-old left-hander was hoping to become the first American man since Andy Roddick in 2003 to win their home open.
Zverev half-heartedly apologised to the crowd and tournament officials for playing the role of party pooper.
“The very first thing I want to start with is Ben, you are an incredible player and person, and he will back here many, many more times,” he said during the trophy ceremony.
“To my team, we went 30 years without winning a Grand Slam title, and now we’ve won two in three months.
“2026 is the outcome of all the years that happened before.
“When your four-year-old son is diagnosed with diabetes and told sport will be hard for your child, it takes a very strong mother to walk out of those offices and say: ‘My son will be whatever he wants to be.’
“I’m happy we worked through it.”
While Shelton, whose professional footballer girlfriend Trinity Rodman made a mad dash from her match in Washington DC to New York to be there for the latter stages of the final, was full of praise for his victorious opponent.
“Sascha [Zverev], congrats on these two weeks, your second Grand Slam title and two in one year,” he said during the trophy ceremony.
“What you’re doing is incredible, the way you are serving and moving in play.
“You work harder than anyone I know, and do more hours on court than anyone else.
“You and your team do things the right way and I’m sincerely happy for you guys to hold this title.
“To New York, you guys drove me here today. I’m just getting started and I’ll be back here again.”
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In his first grand slam final, the eighth seed was chasing his tail from the outset with a double fault handing Zverev a break in the opening game of the first set.
Shelton then double faulted again on set point to gift Zverev early lead with a second break of serve.
The second set went more to script as both players held their serve all the way to a tiebreak despite some nervy moments.
Zverev double faulted on multiple occasions and drew the ire of the chair umpire for the time he was taking between points and between serves, but he managed to deliver when it mattered.
It was once again Shelton who blinked first in the tiebreak as Zverev crunched back-to-back winners on the American’s opening two service points and followed it up with two thunderous first serves to race to a 5-0 lead.
Shelton only managed to win two points in the tiebreaker in the end, and having never won a match after dropping the opening two sets, his fate was effectively sealed.
Perhaps feeling the fatigue of spending almost 19 hours on court before the final with five of six matches en route to the final going beyond three sets, Shelton lacked his usual venom in his serve.
A misfiring radar said he cracked a 158mph (roughly 254km/h) rocket during his semi-final win against countryman Frances Tiafoe, but Shelton sent down just seven aces in the opening two sets.
But he found a new level when Zverev showed cracks while serving to send the third set to a tiebreak.
The German appeared content to wait for the American to slip-up as he edged towards the finish line, but Shelton went on the attack at 6-5 and it paid off handsomely.
He kicked off the break of Zverev’s serve with a superb forehand winner onto the sideline.
Two Zverev mishits gave Shelton three set points, and then a second serve let made things even more tense before a missed volley on the second set point took the match to a fourth set.
That blunder may have opened up some old wounds for Zverev.
In his previous trip to the final in New York in 2020, the German was two sets to love up against Dominic Thiem, but the 33-year-old, who retired in 2024 after a spat of injuries, stormed back to win his only grand slam title.
Zverev would not allow lightning to strike twice, however, as he responded immediately by breaking Shelton’s serve in the opening game of the fourth set.
It was more like the opening set than six years earlier – when the Covid-19 pandemic meant the stands were empty inside Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Zverev broke Shelton for a second time in the set to give himself a 5-2 lead and then he had no such issues closing out the match.
Aside from not realising the match was over for several seconds, until the crowd reaction made him aware.
He even hit balls back to the ball kids as he headed for his towel at the back of the court, and Zverev laughed about it to the crowd after shaking hands with Shelton.
“I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anything quite like that,” Australian tennis legend Todd Woodbridge said on Channel 9’s coverage.