Alexander Zverev Beats Ben Shelton in Four Sets to Win US Open Title

THE RESULT

Alexander Zverev beat Ben Shelton 6-3, 7-6(7-2), 5-7, 6-2 on Sunday to win the US Open men's singles title at Arthur Ashe Stadium. It is Zverev's second major title of 2026, following his win at Roland Garros earlier in the year, and his first US Open crown. Shelton was left to reflect on his first Grand Slam final defeat.

HOW IT UNFOLDED

Zverev took control early, breaking Shelton's serve twice to win the first set 6-3. The second set went with serve until a tiebreak, which Shelton nearly forced into a decider after saving set points at 4-5 and 5-6, only for Zverev to surge to a 5-0 lead in the breaker and close it out 7-2. The third set produced the match's turning point: Shelton finally broke Zverev's serve in the final game, ending a streak of 66 consecutive service games held by Zverev against him, to steal the set 7-5 and send the match to a fourth set. Zverev regrouped immediately, breaking Shelton and closing out the title 6-2. Shelton twice raised concerns with the chair umpire during the match about the length of Zverev's ball bouncing routine before serves, though no penalty was issued. Zverev needed 19 hours and 38 minutes across the tournament to reach the final, the fourth longest total on record since 1991.

A ONE SIDED RIVALRY

The result extended Zverev's head to head advantage over Shelton to 6-0, with Zverev not having dropped a set across their four previous meetings before Sunday, including a final at the BMW Open in Munich earlier this year. Shelton's set win in the third set snapped that pattern, but was not enough to change the outcome.

WHAT IT MEANS FOR ZVEREV

Zverev becomes the first German man to win the US Open since Boris Becker in 1989, and the first man to complete the French Open and US Open double in the same season since Novak Djokovic in 2023. He entered the tournament as the world No. 2 seed.

WHAT IT MEANS FOR SHELTON

Shelton, ranked No. 9 in the world, reached his first major final on the back of wins over defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals and Frances Tiafoe in the semifinals. His run made him the first African American man to reach a Grand Slam final since MaliVai Washington at Wimbledon in 1996, and the first at the US Open specifically since Arthur Ashe in 1972. American men have not won a Grand Slam singles title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and that drought continues after Sunday's result.

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Cover photo: Alexander Zverev at the 2026 Wimbledon Championships trophy ceremony (a separate event from this US Open final). Photo by Daniel Cooper via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.