US Open 2026: Alexander Zverev beats Ben Shelton for his second Grand Slam

Alexander Zverev beat Ben Shelton 6-3, 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-2 on Sunday at Flushing Meadows to win the first US Open of his career, in 3 hours 33 minutes. Three months after Roland Garros, it is his second Grand Slam title.

How did the final turn?

Early. Shelton, in his first Grand Slam final, double-faulted twice on break points in the opening set, which Zverev took 6-3. The German then led 5-0 in the second-set tie-break and closed it out 7-2.

Carried by the crowd, Shelton got the final going again: he finally broke Zverev in the twelfth game of the third set to take it 7-5. The momentum did not last. He dropped serve straight away in the fourth, and Zverev won 12 of the last 14 points of the match.

The German did not even realise he had won: he stayed on the baseline ready to return until his team told him. "In that moment, I was in the zone a lot. I didn't hear noise at all," he said.

"I know today 99.9% of the people wanted Ben to win, so I'm very sorry first of all. But second, it was an incredible atmosphere to play in," he told the crowd.

"You're one of the very best players in the world, maybe the best player in the world this year," Shelton said.

What does the title change for Zverev?

At 29, the German, who lost his first three Grand Slam finals — including the 2020 US Open against Dominic Thiem — has won two of three this season, with Roland Garros and a lost Wimbledon final. He is the fourth man in the Open Era to win his first two majors in the same year, and the second German man, after Boris Becker, to own more than one.

He is 25-2 at Grand Slams in 2026 and has 53 wins this season, the most on tour. He now leads Shelton 6-0. Still world No. 2, he sits 1,810 points behind Jannik Sinner in the rankings, but 700 points ahead of him in the Race to Turin.

The champion takes home $5.5 million, the same as Elena Rybakina the day before.

What about Shelton?

The defeat extends the American wait: no man from the United States has won a Grand Slam title since Andy Roddick at the 2003 US Open. Shelton was the first African American man in the New York final since Arthur Ashe in 1972.

He does not leave empty-handed: at 23, after knocking out Carlos Alcaraz deep into the night and Frances Tiafoe in the semi-finals, he rises to a career-high world No. 4 on Monday.