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.

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