Alexander Zverev served, and then he almost served again — because he had no idea the match was already over. Stepping back to the baseline at Flushing Meadows after what he thought was just another point, the 29-year-old German had to be told by his own team that he had just won the US Open. "In that moment I was in the zone a lot. I didn't hear noise at all," Zverev said afterward. "At that moment I forgot about the score and it helped me."
It was a stunning finish for a man who six years ago turned the exact same occasion into heartbreak. In 2020, Zverev served for the US Open title only to collapse and lose to Dominic Thiem, leaving the trophy presentation in tears and wishing out loud that he might one day bring the championship home. This time, against American Ben Shelton in front of a roaring, mostly pro-him crowd of roughly 24,000, a different Zverev showed up. He won 6-3, 7-6 (7-2), 5-7, 6-2 to claim his second Grand Slam title in three months, following his French Open triumph in June.
His serve carried him. In the first two sets he won 39 of 42 points behind his first serve and did not face a single break point. When Shelton broke late in the third set to extend the match, it barely mattered — the American managed just four of 20 receiving points in set four. Zverev, the world number two, reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open and the final at Wimbledon this year alongside his two major wins opinion.
"I went 30 years without winning a Grand Slam title and now we've won two in three months," Zverev said. "2026 is the outcome of all the years that happened before." He dedicated the victory to his father, Alexander senior, who was courtside this time, and to his mother, whom he called "the most important and strongest person I know" after she pushed back when doctors told her that her young son, diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, would be limited in life and sport dear.
The win has put the world number one ranking in his sights, with Zverev trailing Sinner by 1,810 points. Yet his triumph is not without complication. In 2023 he received a penalty order and a 450,000-euro fine over an allegation of bodily harm against a former partner, which he denied and contested — a separate legal case was discontinued in 2024talk. He was also accused in 2020 by another former girlfriend, with no legal proceedings. His tennis, though, speaks loudly. Former Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli called him "one of the best athletes to play the sport," and former British number one Annabel Croft praised his "zen-like state" — so deep that he did not even realise he had won.