Two men beat him in a major this year. Carlos Alcaraz did it at the Australian Open, and Cinner did it at the Wimbledon final. All the rest he has played in the four Grand Slams he has won, going 25-2 at that level and 24 wins in a season before this final, already the most in a German’s history, surpassing Boris Becker’s 22 since 1989.
“Sasha, you’re one of the best players in the world, maybe the best player in the world this year,” Shelton said. “What you’re doing is incredible. How to serve, move and play. You work harder than I know. You spend more hours on the court than I know. You and your team are doing everything right. I’m honestly glad you guys are holding this title. It’s been a long time since you came here.”
Zverev becomes the second German to win the title since Becker in 1989, the fifth active player to win more than one major alongside Novak Djokovic, Alcaraz, Sinner and Stan Wawrinka, and the first born in the 1990s to win two. It was his 53rd win of the season he has already led and it takes him 700 points clear at the top of the race heading into the Tour.
First serve and long wait to look at it
It was decided by Zverev’s first serve and how long Shelton had to wait to get there. The German won 93% of her points in the first two sets, 42 to 39, and the American didn’t earn a single break point until 3-2 in the third. Both breaks in the opening set ended in double faults by Shelton, and the second went to a tiebreak.
Once Shelton found the range, the third set was quick; 90% off his first serve, 18 to 7 unforced errors, 36 of 62 points and a break at 5-6 when Zverev hit a quick forehand with an easy forehand before. This was the first set that Zverev lost after the second round.
He didn’t seem to notice that he had won
The most telling detail of the night came after that. Zverev won the title on his first muting pony and didn’t seem to register that the match was over.
It goes along with what he said here about the change the first major did to him. Asked if losing the 2020 US Open final in two sets left scar tissue, he said it stayed and then it went away. “It was done before I won in Paris,” he said. “There were question marks, there were doubts about whether I would ever win, for sure. I’ve talked about it quite openly before. Now that I’ve won one, it’s good.”
Six years ago, on the same court and in an empty stadium, he pushed Dominic Thiem to two sets in this final and lost, becoming the only man in history to win a Grand Slam semifinal in two sets and then lose the final in two sets.
His recording streak, which is now shorter
The title also settles the controversy that has been at his side for the entire fortnight. Zverev entered the finals 1-7 against top-10 opponents in 2026 and 6-20 against them at the Grand Slam level, and had not played a top-20 player in six matches here. Shelton ranks 9th.
He has now beaten him six times and has won 45 of his last 46 matches against the left-hander since Roland Garros 2023, including 14 of 14 in majors.
It was the 23-year-old Shelton’s first Grand Slam final, and the wait continues. No American has won a major since Andy Roddick at the tournament in 2003, a streak that now spans 8,407 days and is the longest in the country’s history. He was the first black American in the US Open final since Arthur Ashe in 1972.
