Zverev had just converted championship point on Arthur Ashe Stadium on Sunday. His box was on its feet. The German was still bouncing a ball, ready to receive the next serve.
He told Sky Sports afterwards that he had simply lost the score.
“Well, I thought the score was 5-1, to be honest. I thought it was 5-1, which helped me; I probably would have served, like, three double faults instead of one!”
The 29-year-old said the noise inside Arthur Ashe had swallowed the umpire’s call.
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“In that moment, I was in the zone a lot. I didn’t hear noise at all. I was in this kind of tunnel where I just didn’t hear anything. Also, when the crowd is loud, it’s impossible to hear the umpire, so I didn’t hear that she said, ‘Game, set, match’.”
“At the end of the day, I just forgot the score. I just thought it was 5-1 instead of 6-2.”
Only when he looked around the stadium and saw his team’s reaction did the top seed accept the match was over, as he described to the ATP Tour.
The French Open came first
The final score was 6-3, 7-6 (2), 5-7, 6-2, and the win gave Zverev his second Grand Slam title of the year. It also delivered what had eluded him for a decade at hard-court majors: a trophy at Flushing Meadows.
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His first came at Roland-Garros in June, where he beat Italian Flavio Cobolli 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-1 in a five-set final to finally secure his maiden Grand Slam title after three previous defeats in majors finals.
Ben Shelton, the 23-year-old American whose run had carried the home crowd through the fortnight in Queens, could not break the German’s serve once.
Across the four Grand Slams of 2026, Zverev went 25-2, with his only losses coming to Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, both in finals.
On court after the trophy presentation, Zverev framed the year as a reward for a family that had watched him fall short so often on the biggest stages.
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“I feel like there was so much suffering for the Zverev family at Grand Slam level, that maybe 2026 is the year we should just enjoy.”
