Alexander Zverev is not ready to declare himself the outright best player in men’s tennis, even after collecting his second Grand Slam of the year.

The German beat Ben Shelton 6-3, 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-2 at Flushing Meadows on Sunday in three hours and 33 minutes for his first US Open title, six years on from losing the 2020 final to Dominic Thiem. Asked in his post-match press conference whether he could now be considered the best player in the world, Zverev laid out a carefully hedged answer.

“With Jannik Sinner being injured and Carlos Alcaraz coming back from injury after four months, right now, probably yes,” Zverev told reporters in New York.

“Both of them healthy and both of them at the top of their game, maybe not.”

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Zverev has lost all five of his meetings with Sinner in 2026.

“I mean, four, five months ago when both of them were healthy, I wasn’t. I was losing to Jannik all the time. So if everyone is healthy, I think Jannik is still ahead.”

A trophy on every surface

Zverev’s admission does not obscure a season without precedent in his career. He won Roland Garros in June, reached the Wimbledon final in July, where Sinner beat him, and has now added the US Open. Reaching a major final on clay, grass and hard courts in the same year is a feat only 11 other men have managed since 1978, the ATP notes, a list that includes Björn Borg, John McEnroe, Andre Agassi and the Big Four.

He is also the only man to have won two Grand Slams in 2026. Carlos Alcaraz took the Australian Open in January, Sinner defended Wimbledon in July, and Zverev has the other two.

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Shelton and a 23-year American wait

For Shelton, defeat continued a stubborn statistic. No American man has won a Grand Slam singles title since Andy Roddick at the 2003 US Open, a gap that now stretches 23 years. Shelton had ridden a partisan Arthur Ashe crowd through his run to the final but could not force a decider.

Sinner withdrew from the tournament last month with a right knee injury sustained after his Wimbledon defence, opening the top half of the draw. Alcaraz was returning from a four-month absence of his own. Zverev did not have to face either of them on his way to the trophy, a point his own answer in the press room did not sidestep.

Team Europe in London next

Zverev returns to competition at the Laver Cup, held on 25-27 September 2026 at The O2 in London. He is a six-time competitor at the event and its all-time leading points scorer, and Team Europe are looking to bounce back from last year’s defeat in San Francisco.

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