Alexander Zverev wins his first US Open title and becomes the second German to triumph there
Quick Look
- Alexander Zverev won his first Grand Slam title at the US Open by defeating Ben Shelton in the final, becoming the second German player to triumph in New York after Boris Becker in 1989.
- At 29, he captured his second major title of the season after Roland Garros and made history with several rare performances, including surviving his first two rounds in five sets.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Alexander Zverev had reached two Grand Slam finals previously without winning a title, including a landmark defeat to Dominic Thiem in the US Open final six years ago. He had already won Roland-Garros in June 2026, becoming the first German to win a Grand Slam title on clay since Boris Becker.
The number of Top 20 players Zverev had to face to reach the final. This is the third time in his career that the German has found himself in the final of a Grand Slam without having played one.
Six years after a significant defeat against Thiem in the final, Zverev lifted his first trophy at the US Open.
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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 and achieved by his compatriot Boris Becker at the 1996 Australian Open (Greg Rusedski then Thomas Johansson), and Gaston Gaudio at Roland-Garros 2004 (Guillermo Canas then Jiri Novak).
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The only player to have played in three Grand Slam finals in 2026, Alexander Zverev becomes number one in the Race, this Monday ahead of the Italian Jannik Sinner and will be in the fight to take the Italian's first place in the world at the end of the season.
Crowned at Roland-Garros in June, Zverev won a second Grand Slam title in New York at the age of 29.
Zverev became the second German player to triumph at the US Open, 37 years after his compatriot Boris Becker (1989).
After Jimmy Connors (Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open in 1974), Guillermo Vilas (Roland-Garros and US Open in 1977) and Jannik Sinner (Australian Open and US Open in 2024), the German is the fourth player in the Open era (since 1968) to win his first two Grand Slam titles in the same season.
The world number 2 now leads 6-0 in his confrontations with Ben Shelton. The latter was only able to glean two short sets against the German;...
Alexander Zverev is the ninth player to have reached all the Grand Slam semi-finals in the same season. His predecessors are Rod Laver and Tony Roche (1969), Ivan Lendl (1987), Roger Federer (2005-09), Rafael Nadal (2008, 2019), Novak Djokovic (2011-13, 2021, 2023, 2025), Andy Murray (2011) and Jannik Sinner (2025).
The German is one of twelve players who reached a Grand Slam final, in the same year on hard court, grass court and clay court
The 29-year-old champion has “only” won two titles in 2026. But what titles! After Roland-Garros, the US Open which becomes his 26th title on the main circuit, his sixteenth on hard court.
The number of Grand Slam tournaments Alexander Zverev participated in before winning his first title at Roland Garros in June. Only Goran Ivanisevic has done better: the Croatian won Wimbledon in 2001, in his 48th appearance.
In his 46 confrontations against left-handers since his debut on the big circuit, Zverev has won… 45 times. His only executioner? A certain Rafael Nadal.
Zverev signed his 53rd victory of the year against Shelton, the 25th in a Grand Slam. It's better this season than Sinner and Alcaraz. It is true that the two best players of 2024 and 2025 were often injured this year…
With a total of 23 hours and 11 minutes on the courts in seven matches, Zverev becomes the second player to have spent the most time on the courts at the US Open, after Carlos Alcaraz, in 2022, who spent 23 hours and 40 minutes.
The German will leave New York with a check for 5.5 million dollars (around 4.7 million euros), a record prize money in the history of Grand Slam tournaments.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Alexander Zverev will be in contention for world No. 1 at the end of the 2026 season
Likely · Within months
Zverev will continue to perform strongly on hard court in upcoming tournaments
Possible · Within months
Open Questions
- Can Zverev maintain his level of performance to finish the year as world number one?
- How will this victory influence his confidence and his objectives for the next Grand Slam tournaments?
- What will be the impact of this victory on the hierarchy of men's tennis, particularly against Sinner and Alcaraz?



