Germany's Alexander Zverev on Sunday conquered the US Open, defeating American Ben Shelton in four sets at the Arthur Ashe Stadium to claim his first US Open title and the second Grand Slam trophy of his career. Six years after letting a two-set lead slip against Dominic Thiem in the 2020 final, the German top seed returned to New York and this time finished the job. Zverev knew what he was up against, playing a US Open final in a stadium full of people desperate to at last see another American champion.
He tuned out the screams for Ben Shelton for so long that he didn’t even realise when he won, not hearing the chair umpire’s announcement that the match was over. I was in this kind of tunnel where I just didn’t hear anything.” Zverev used that focus to win a second major championship and prevent a first Grand Slam title by an American man since 2003, beating Shelton 6-3, 7-6 (2), 5-7, 6-2 on Sunday. Zverev finally broke through in the majors by winning this year’s French Open and followed up by adding the title in New York that he so painfully let slip away in 2020.
The No. 1 seed in a Grand Slam for the first time, he capitalised on Shelton’s shaky start in his first major final, played a nearly flawless tiebreaker on serve and then turned back a comeback attempt in front of a crowd that feverishly cheered Shelton on — including girlfriend Trinity Rodman, who made it from her own soccer match in Washington before the finish. Even though I know that the crowd was against me, the crowd was always incredibly fair.” Shelton was trying to win the first title by an American man since Andy Roddick won in Flushing Meadows in 2003, as well as become the first Black player to win the men’s crown since Arthur Ashe in 1968. Walking out on that court today, there’s nothing like it.
I’ve never felt anything like that before,” Shelton said. But Zverev was too good in majors this year and apparently didn’t even know how good he was. After hitting a serve winner, he dropped back behind the baseline as if set to return.
Zverev, who later explained he thought the score was 5-1, eventually did figure out he had won, raising his arms in celebration. Zverev improved to 25-2 in major matches this year and won $5.5 million, matching the prize earned by women’s champion Elena Rybakina on Saturday as the largest in Grand Slam history. He thought this title would come in 2020 and still acknowledges it should have.
He won the first two sets against Dominic Thiem and got within two points of victory before becoming the first man to blow a two-set lead and lose in the final since 1949. Whatever ghosts were left from then are long gone now. Zverev also reached the final at Wimbledon, falling to Jannik Sinner, and became the No. 1 seed in New York when the top-ranked Sinner had to withdraw with a knee injury.
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