In 2026, the boss in the Grand Slam is Alexander Zverev. The German won his second title of the year in a Major this Sunday after Roland-Garros. More solid than rookie Ben Shelton, the German confirmed his authority over the season. Those who are absent are always wrong. If Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz remain the two best players in the world, they have been weighed down by physical problems. Sinner missed this US Open and Alcaraz did not participate at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. And Zverev, the third man in 2025, took full advantage of it. He played in three consecutive finals and won two titles (Roland-Garros and US Open).
Zverev makes history by becoming the first player to triumph at the US Open after surviving his first two rounds in five sets (Lorenzo Sonego then Quentin Halys). A rare performance in the Majors also achieved by his compatriot Boris Becker at the 1996 Australian Open (Greg Rusedski then Thomas Johansson), and by Gaston Gaudio at Roland-Garros 2004 (Guillermo Canas then Jiri Novak). The future world number 4 had the heavy responsibility of ending a 23-year drought for American men's tennis, which has not won a major title since Andy Roddick in 2003.
Skip the ad
Physically challenged, tense by the stakes, the rookie was particularly nervous at the start of the match: he offered the first break at the start of the match with an ugly double fault. Then, with a double fault, the American conceded the first act after 40 minutes of play. A clear and flawless domination from a very solid Zverev. Without straining his talent, the world number 2 won 94% of the points on his first serves in the first set compared to only 65% for Shelton.
On the back foot, Shelton had the merit of erasing a break point in the fourth game of the second set. But, without solutions from the baseline, not holding the rally, he was still as harmless on the opposing serve. Zverev remained calm. He was able to make us forget the excitement that he had often shown in the past in Major finals. In the seventh game of the second act, however, Shelton upset his opponent a little more. Only a little, not yet managing to get the slightest break point.
Sharper on the serve, showing himself to be more and more aggressive by attempting to climb the net more and more regularly, Shelton raised the mood, waking up the Arthur-Ashe Stadium. He pushed the favorite to the tiebreaker. But in the tie-break, the Hamburger escaped 5-0, before concluding 7-2 and logically leading two sets to zero after 1h50 of play in New York.
Always as imperial on his first balls with 92% of points won in the second set, the 1st seed experienced his first failure in the sixth game of the third set with three consecutive errors which offered a first break point, unconverted by Shelton. The German tightened his game perfectly at the right time, like a fabulous backhand pass along the line when he was a little roughed up on his throw-in in the 8th game of the 3rd act. The slight domination of the outsider being rewarded a few minutes later. Trailing 15-40, Zverev collected his forehand volley, confirming his slack shot and offering the third set to the local, reinvigorated after 2h49 of play.
Not for long. Victim of a culpable slackness, Shelton was surprised at the start of the fourth round by a once again precise and clinical Zverev. Yet in the tough physically, the German hit the nail on the head by once again stealing Shelton's service which was far too inconsistent in this fourth act. Zverev is the new king of New York. As an executioner of left-handers. In his 46 confrontations against left-handers since his debut on the big circuit, Zverev has now won… 45 times.
