From terrible to title, Zverev ticks second major box at US Open

Mumbai: Maybe it was still a bit of jetlag, as Alexander Zverev had joked earlier about all those late-night finishes from the first week.

Zverev didn’t know he had won. When it belatedly dawned upon him, a good few seconds after the championship point was done even as he zoned in towards his return position, he spread his arms out and laughed. Zverev had also laughed in the first week at how bad — in his own words — he had been playing.

He went from terrible to the title in a week, while still laughing. He went from being two points away from a first-round crash to a second Grand Slam capture. He went from making the US Open a stage of scars in 2020 to one of success in 2026.

The German top seed defeated 8th seed Ben Shelton 6-3, 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-2 on Sunday, ensuring the American wait for a first male major winner since Andy Roddick in 2003 only got longer.

For the 29-year-old French Open and now US Open champion, that capped off a commanding Slam season. Zverev is the only second man from Germany after Boris Becker (1989) to win two singles Slam titles in the same season in the Open era. His 25 match wins in Slams this year, with a final at Wimbledon and semi-final at Australian Open, are the most by a German male in history. His two triumphs in the last three Slams offset four final near-misses, including the first at the 2020 US Open.

“We went 30 years without winning a Grand Slam title, and now we won two within three months,” Zverev told his team on court. “God has seen how hard we worked, how much we suffered, how much pain we went through.”

Competing with type 1 diabetes, Zverev returned from a serious ankle surgery in 2022, has had domestic abuse allegations by two former partners (which he denies), and played with the nearly-man tag for five years after three finals and six semi-finals at Slams in that period.

Until this season, the stars aligned. Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, the two major bosses of 2025, took turns to stay away or leave prematurely. In Paris, Alcaraz was injured and Sinner lost in the second round. In New York, Sinner was injured and Alcaraz lost in the quarters. In Paris, Zverev did not play a top 10 seed until the final. In New York, Zverev did not face a top 20 player until the final.

You play the cards you’re dealt, but does the world No.2 and the most consistent Slam face of 2026 believe he’s the best player in the world at the moment?

“With Sinner injured and Alcaraz coming back after four months, right now, probably yes,” Zverev told the media. “Both of them healthy, and both of them at the top of their game? Maybe not.”

Zverev lost to Alcaraz in Australia, and to Sinner in London. The top seed looked on shaky ground in his first two rounds in New York. He clung on “winning ugly” after the five-setters, and then freed up. Zverev did not drop a set the next four matches to book the title clash with an opponent who had taken just one set off him across five previous meetings.

An illustration of why this was a difficult matchup for Shelton came as early as the second point of the final. A baseline rally unfolded with Zverev defending and moving solidly. The southpaw pressed for a change and went for a drop, which Zverev got to easily and won the point. Four points and a double fault later, the dangerous Shelton serve was dented in the very first game.

Zverev’s backhand is as good as it gets, and his forehand also showed signs of being good on the day when he hit a down-the-line winner. Shelton settled in for two love holds, but the set ended the way it began — with a Shelton double fault and a break.

The lanky German won more than 90% points on his first strike, even though his second serve was susceptible. Shelton’s forehands, however, let him down frequently; like in the seventh game of the second set, where he got Zverev to 30-30 and deuce only for his forehand to close that small window.

The top seed wasn’t flaunting anything exceptional. All he did was remain solid enough while waiting for Shelton to crack in rallies. Yet as the second set headed to the tiebreak, Zverev cranked it up. Two brilliant forehand winners put him at 3-0. Two unreturned serves at 5-0 and, effectively, 2-0 up in the match.

Zverev had been here before, in the final against Dominic Thiem six years ago. Then, from two sets up, the tide turned dramatically against him. When Shelton’s return found sting in the 12th game and Zverev’s forehand lost shape for the young American to take the third set, undercurrents of 2020 may have been felt.

Not for the 2026 Zverev. The German set the tone for the fourth set by breaking immediately, and again in the seventh game. The next game, after an unreturned serve, Zverev thought it was 5-1.

Except, it was game, set and match for the new US Open champion.