Alexander Zverev hopes the tide is now turning in his career, as he celebrated a second Grand Slam title with victory in the US Open against Ben Shelton.
After losing his first three major showpieces, the German has now won two of the last three this year alone as he completed a 6-3 7-6 5-7 6-2 win over American Ben Shelton at Flushing Meadows. That ensured he added the US Open title to his French Open success earlier this year, with a Wimbledon final loss to Jannik Sinner lodged inbetween.
For Zverev, such was his focus that he actually didn’t realise he’d won the match. When a powerful serve was not returned he instead got ready to serve the next point, only for the news of his victory to be delivered by his jubilant team courtside.
“I thought the score was 5-1! I knew that I had broken him twice, but I thought he only held once,” Zverev said of his initial confusion after sealing the win.
“I was thinking: ‘Okay, I’m going to have a relaxed service game here and then I’ll get tight on the next one.’ “It was lucky for me! It’s actually funny, teachers in tennis say play each point and forget about the score. Well I forgot about the score and it helped me!”
On his victory as a whole, he added: “I feel like there was so much suffering for the Zverev family at Grand Slam level, that maybe 2026 is the year we should just enjoy. Everything is going perfectly. I am unbelievably happy. Three months ago if I was told you are going to win one Grand Slam in your career and nothing else, I would have signed the paper straight away and never questioned it.
“Now standing here with two Grand Slam trophies in the space of the months is incredible.”
On Saturday the attention was all on the women’s final, as Elena Rybakina defeated Aryna Sabalenka to win her first US Open title.
Kazakhstan’s Rybakina was already guaranteed of moving to world number one regardless of the result but she secured victory to boot, after a 6-4 5-7 6-2 win over the Belarussian.
Sabalenka was aiming for the three-peat but couldn’t find a way past a stern and determined opponent – one who entered this tournament with a serious foot complaint that had left her struggling to walk without pain.
On the injury, Rybakina said: “We arrived in New York and did an MRI. It didn’t look that great. I couldn’t even walk for the next few days without pain. I was lucky enough to have a very good doctor in Australia. She was on the phone with us all the time and somehow, with the team, we made a plan.”
That plan was certainly executed. For Rybakina, this triumph represents the third slam of her career, and she now needs just a French Open to complete her personal set.
“I was so unlucky with the injury, but I’m very proud. I still can’t believe it.”
