ATP
Zverev slaps down Shelton as US dry spell extended
Alexander Zverev dominated Ben Shelton 6-3, 7-6 (2), 5-7, 6-2 to win the US open on Sunday and collect his second Grand Slam title of the season.
The German world No. 2 spent three and a half hours in extending the American men’s title drought at the home major. The last local to win the title was Andy Roddick in 2003 – the American podcaster was watching from the stands as his record remained untouched.
by ROGER PARKER FOTOSPORTS INTERNATIONAL
Shelton was competing in his first Grand Slam final while Zverev now owns 2026 trophies from Roland Garros and earned a runner-up finish at Wimbledon.
He now leads the points race to the ATP Finals in Turin in November.
“I know 99.9 percent of the crowd didn’t want me to win,” Zverev said post-match. “I’m sorry if it was the wrong winner. But i did my job.
“It was still an incredible atmosphere. Even if the crowd was against me, they still brought the energy and the noise. I was two points from losing in the first round.”
Zverev gave special mention to his team: “We went 30 years (his age in 2027) without a Grand Slam title, now we have two in the span of three months.
“God has seen how hard we worked and suffered. 2026 is the outcome of all that happened in the years before.
The winner also cited his mother who defied doctors when her son was diagnosed with diabetes at age four, yet managed to become an elite athlete.
“It takes a strong mother to walk out of a doctor’s office saying ‘my son will be whatever he wants to be.’
“This illness will not define us, we worked through it. My mother is the most important and strongest person I know.”
Runner-up Shelton, who – like Zverev – is coached by his father and trailed by his family,
He called the open “my happy place.”
“I love to spend time here and I wish this tournament never ended. But I’m just getting started, I’ll be back here again.”
Zverev made a bold recovery after dropping the third set as Shelton scrambled to try and get into the match.
The German broke to start the fourth set and reinforced his lead with an insurance break for 5-2 as Shelton lobbed long.
A game later, Zverev delivered a service winner on match point, but did not seem to realise that he had won, pausing for a second before twigging that he was now the champion.
Zverev now stands a perfect 6-0 over Shelton and erased the demons from the 2000 final played behind closed doors due to Covid. he lost that match to Dominic Thiem after leading two sets to love.
The world No. 2 leads the ATP with 53 wins this season, including 25 at the Slams.
The 29-year-old becomes the second German to win here after Boris Becker in 1989 and fourth man in Open Era to win his first two Grand Slam titles in the same season.
The experienced Zverev immediately got to work deflating the hype around Shelton as he broke the American in the first and final games of the opening set.
Shelton contributed to his own early downfall as he coughed up double-faults to lose both games.
He fell into a hole after 43 minutes in front of a packed house of more than 20,000 at the Ashe showcourt.
Zverev capitalised on his fast start by maintaining momentum in the second set, consolidating his lead with solid play as the set wound its way into a tiebreaker.
Shelton played to the New York crowd, screaming after each success and cupping his hand to his ear and gesturing for more applause after his occasional winner against a rock-solid opponent.
The German top seed took charge as he sprinted to a 5-0 lead and took a two-sets-to-love lead over the crowd darling with a service winner which Shelton could not handle..
Zverev stayed the course in the third set, saving the only break he had faced at around two hours into the final to stay level, 3-3.
But Shelton began to find an edge in the humid conditions, holding for 6-5 and earning three set points as Zverev began to unravel.
Shelton won the set as Zverev sent a volley wide on a second set point as the final moved towards the three-hour mark.
The German got to work in the fourth set, breaking Shelton to start and reached 2-0 as the finishing line began to appear.
Main photo:- Alexander Zverev celebrates winning US Open Title – by ISF Ltd
Ben Shelton will try to end a 23-year-American title drought at the US Open on Sunday as he plays for the trophy against Alexander Zverev.
Shelton could become the first local since Andy Roddick in 2003 to lift the title after defeating compatriot Frances Tiafoe in a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 comeback in their semi-final. Shelton now takes a 0-5 record into the final with world No. 2 Zverev.
The German ran over Karen Khachanov in their Friday semi 6-3, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (6) to reach his third Grand Slam title match this season after winning Roland Garros and finishing runner-up at Wimbledon.
The ninth-ranked Shelton goes into the final a threatening underdog. “I’m going to need you guys on Sunday,” he told the semi-final crowd “I’m going for it here. I’m going to leave it all on the court. I hope you guys come back me.”
Zverev has experience from five previous finals at the majors while Shelton will be playing at this level for the first time after semis here in 2022 and Australian last season,
Shelton lost the opening set against Tiafoe but then began to impose his game.
“I was honestly shocked with how calm I was out there today, especially towards the end of the match,” the winner said.
“Calm, confident, focused. I think that that’s what it takes to be in these positions and win at the highest level. It’s so much mental, kind of an interesting feeling.
“I felt a lot more methodical with how I went about it, how focused I was, finishing the job the way I did and being able to move on to the next and look forward to the finals.”
Shelton took victory with a break in the final game of the match, finishing with 20 aces among 47 winners.
“This whole tournament now at this point has been unchartered territory. I’m in positions I’ve never been in before. I’ve beaten guys that I have never beaten before.
“I’m just excited to put it all out on the line.”
PHOTO ROGER PARKER FOTOSPORTS INTERNATIONAL
Shelton will play his fifth final of the season, with trophies in Dallas, Munich, Stuttgart and Montreal. He is the youngest American US Open men’s finalist (age 23) since Roddick, who was 21.
Main photo:- Ben Shelton winning Semi-final -by ATPTour.com
Alexander Zverev powered into his third Grand Slam final of the season on Friday as he controlled Karen Khachanov 6-3, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (6) in a one-way semi-final at the US Open.
The German top seed won his first title at a major at Roland Garros in June, played the Wimbledon final in July against Jannik Sinner and will now play one of two Americans in the Sunday final here.
Zverev fought off accumulated fatigue in a battle lasting for three hours, running his total time on court over the past fortnight to more than 20 hours.
The German moved into his sixth Grand Slam final and his second here when he lost to Dominic Thiem in 2002 after holding a 2-0 lead on sets against the now-retired Austrian.
The top seed came from 2-5 down in the third-set tiebreaker, saving two Khachanov set points and wrapping up victory in his first match point as his opponent returned long.
“Sometimes things just go your way,” the 29-year-old winner said. “I’ve struggled a lot at the majors.
“I’ve been so close too may times. Maybe God said this year will be your year. I love playing these big finals and I can’t wait for Sunday.”
The second semi between Frances Tiafoe and Ben Shelton will throw up an opponent for the world No. 2.
“It will be an incredibly special final. Hopefully I can make the American dream not come true on Sunday,” Zverev said.
The winner said his attitude shifted after he got through an epic five-set struggle in the second round over Quentin Halys which set the record for the latest finish at 3:33 a.m.
“After the second round , I was sitting with my team in the locker room and we were laughing about how bad I was playing,” Zverev said.
“That sense of humour, it helped me. The next day on the practice court, I started feeling the ball a lot better. Moving forward, I was playing much better tennis.”
Zverev established early control over the 50th-ranked Khachanov as he ran out the opening set winning in barely half an hour.
But the contest tightened in the second set as Khachanov began to make an impression.
The 2022 semi-finalist recovered in the fourth set after going down a break in the opening game.
Khachanov put up a fight as the set went into a tiebreaker which lasted 13 minutes, Zverev took a two-set lead on his third set point as his opponent sent a forehand wide.
Zverev increased his leading total of 2026 match wins to 52 as he moved into his sixth Grand Slam final.
Main photo:- Alexander Zverev celebrates semi-final win – by ATPTour.com
Frances Tiafoe turned his momentum around after dropping the first two sets against Alex Michelsen, with the 11th seed scrambling to a 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-4, 7-6 (10-6) Tuesday win into his third semi-final at the US Open.
After Tiafoe converted on his second match point, the winner rushed to the net for a long hug with his tearful opponent who cried on Tiafoe’s shoulders after missing the biggest chance of his young career.
“Everyone in the crowd was asleep during the first couple of hours – I was asleep with y’all,” Tiafoe said. “But after that, the energy was incredible.
“There were two Americans but the crowd was for me and I appreciate that.”
Tiafoe ended with 10 aces against 21 for Michelsen. The pair combined to break 16 times from 40 chances in nearly five hours of battle.
Michelsen who had not lost a set at this edition, served for a straight-set win in the third set but was overcome by nerves, losing his way with two double-faults to start and eventually dropping the set as Tiafoe began to make an impression at 5-all
Two games later, the previous sure thing went into a fourth set after Michelsen dropped serve again in the 12th game, 5-7.
Tiafoe broke twice in the fourth as his game improved, squaring the struggle at two sets each to force a deciding fifth.
Tiafoe, trailing 4-5, stood two points from defeat but delivered thee aces to get out of jail, winning a match tiebreaker to reach the final four.
Tiafoe leads all players with 26 hard-court wins this season and is 3-0 versus Michelsen.
Main photo:- Frances Tiafoe celebrates quarter final win – by ISF Ltd
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