Triumph at the U.S. Open

Alexander Zverev Crowned King of New York

Alex Zverev(Bild: AP/Frank Franklin II)

On Sunday, Alexander Zverev won the US Open for the first time in his career. In his third consecutive Grand Slam final, the German defeated American Ben Shelton 6-3, 7-6(2),5-7, 6-2, and triumphed just as he did in his first major victory at the French Open. At Wimbledon, he had fallen short against South Tyrolean Jannik Sinner, whom he is now closing in on as the No. 1 contender in the world rankings.

Unlike in his first U.S. Open final in 2020, Zverev rightly came out on top this time. While he had lost that match to Lower Austrian Dominic Thiem despite holding a two-set lead, the 29-year-old did not relinquish that advantage exactly six years later to the day. Zverev is the first German since Boris Becker in 1989 to win the men’s singles title at Flushing Meadows. As a reward, he also received a winner’s check in the amount of $5.5 million (€4.74 million). 

(Bild: EPA/CRISTOBAL HERRERA-ULASHKEVICH)

Zverev “misses” his match point
Curiously, Zverev was apparently so focused during the final game that he didn’t even realize he had converted the match point at first—see the video below. It wasn’t until the spectators cheered his first triumph at the US Open that the German finally let his emotions show. 

Shelton, meanwhile, failed to become the first American man to win in New York since Andy Roddick in 2003. The 23-year-old can take comfort in his $2.8 million (€2.42 million) prize.

The better server prevailed
The deciding factor at Arthur Ashe Stadium was, above all, superior serving. Zverev landed significantly more first serves and almost always won the point on them. As a result, he didn’t allow a single break point over the first two sets. Shelton, on the other hand, was clearly nervous in his first Grand Slam final, especially during the decisive moments of the first set. Zverev didn’t even have to convert the break points that led to the 1-0 and 6-3 leads himself, as his opponent committed a double fault on each occasion.

(Bild: AFP/ANGELA WEISS)

In the second set, Shelton managed to force a tiebreak after trailing 5–6 and 0–30, but he was fighting a losing battle there. The No. 2 seed quickly took a 5–0 lead before capitalizing on his very first chance to make it 7–2 and win the set. With this victory, Zverev also won his fifth career tiebreak against Shelton. And it was his third consecutive major tiebreak of the tournament, following the much more closely contested ones in the second and third sets of his semifinal against Karen Khachanov.

Here are the match statistics:

Shelton then left the court, adjusted his game slightly, and was able to maintain a lead throughout the third set thanks to a clearly better and more consistent serving performance. At 3-2, the underdog earned his first break point, but after a brief slump, Zverev regained his serving strength and evened the score with three consecutive points. In the final game, however, the German ultimately lost his first service game. Shelton capitalized on his second set point.

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Zverev quickly shook off the lost set
However, the world No. 9 couldn’t carry that momentum into the fourth set. With bold serve-and-volley play, the man who had defeated defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals managed to fend off one break point, but Zverev capitalized on the second in a spectacular rally. The six-time Grand Slam finalist did not let this advantage slip away. Not even a time warning at 2-1 and 30-30—along with a brief exchange with the chair umpire—threw him off his stride.

(Bild: AP/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

At 5-2, he broke his opponent’s serve once more before closing out the match on his first match point after 3 hours and 33 minutes. He showed no immediate reaction afterward, only realizing after a brief moment that he had won, and then let the crowd celebrate him.

Zverev also won his sixth head-to-head match against Shelton, who managed to take a set from him for at least the second time. The fact remains that Shelton has never been able to come back from a two-set deficit in his career.