Ben Shelton walked onto Arthur Ashe Stadium with the chance to end the longest Grand Slam drought in United States men’s tennis history. He walked off with a runner-up plate.
Alexander Zverev claimed his second major of the year on Sunday, beating the 23-year-old American 6-3, 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-2 in three hours and 33 minutes. Not since Andy Roddick beat Juan Carlos Ferrero in the 2003 US Open final has a US man lifted a Grand Slam trophy. That wait now runs past 8,400 days, the longest in the country’s tennis history.
Shelton was also the first Black American man to reach a US Open final since Arthur Ashe in 1972. He arrived on a run that had already included a five-set quarterfinal win over Carlos Alcaraz and a semifinal defeat of Frances Tiafoe.
Four breaks to one
The German broke Shelton twice in the opening set and won 68 of his 80 first-serve points across the match. He took the second-set tie-break 7-2 to move within a set of the title.
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Shelton clawed one set back, taking the third 7-5 after Zverev’s serve wavered for the first time in the final. The 29-year-old regrouped, broke twice more in the fourth and served out the trophy.
Zverev converted four of his six break points; Shelton took just one of three. The American hit more winners on the day, 47 to 35, but also 47 unforced errors to Zverev’s 31.
“The crowd was against me”
Zverev used his trophy speech to acknowledge where the New York crowd’s sympathies had lain, and to thank the stadium for staying with the match.
“I know that today 99.9% of the people wanted Ben to win so I’m very sorry,” he said. “Even though I know that the crowd was against me, the crowd was always incredibly fair and we as players we appreciate it.”
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He turned next to the man on the other side of the net.
“Ben, you’re an incredible player, an incredible person. This was your first Grand Slam final, but I already told you that you’re going to be back here many, many more times.”
Shelton returned the compliment.
“Sascha, congrats on these two weeks man. Your second Grand Slam title, two in one year. You’re one of the very best players in the world. Maybe the best player in the world this year.”
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Six years after the Thiem collapse
Zverev’s first Grand Slam title came at Roland Garros in June, at the fourth Grand Slam final of his career. The 2020 US Open final against Dominic Thiem, when Zverev led two sets to love at Arthur Ashe Stadium and lost in five, had followed him around the circuit ever since.
He now sits on a 25-2 record at majors in 2026, with two Slams in a single season, a feat most recently achieved by Jannik Sinner in 2024. His only defeats at the four Slams this year came against Alcaraz at the Australian Open and against Sinner in the Wimbledon final.
Zverev is only the second German to win the US Open men’s title, after Boris Becker in 1989. Sunday’s victory was also the first men’s Grand Slam by a German player since Becker’s 1996 Australian Open triumph.
“We went 30 years without winning a Grand Slam title and now we won two in a span of three months,” Zverev said.
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Shelton, who will rise to a career-high world No. 4 when the ATP rankings are updated, was already looking ahead as he stepped off court.
“I’m just getting started. I’ll be back here again.”
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