"We went 30 years without winning a Grand Slam title and now we won two in a span of three months," Zverev told the crowd, referring to Boris Becker's 1996 Australian Open, the last major won by a German man before this season. "I think God has seen how hard we worked, how much we suffered, how much pain we went through, and I think 2026 is the outcome of all the years that happened before."
A Champion Nobody Picked, in a Draw Nobody Predicted
Zverev became only the fourth man in history to win his first two Slam trophies in the same year, joining Jannik Sinner, Guillermo Vilas and Jimmy Connors, and his 25th match win at a major in 2026 made him the seventh man to reach that number in a calendar year. Not bad for someone who opened the tournament insisting he was "one of the 128 players that are favorites in the draw," and who was two points from losing in the first round to Lorenzo Sonego.
The tournament justified his caution. The draw had teeth from the start: Sinner withdrew with a knee injury before it began, Djokovic was stunned in the first round for the first time in his career, and by the end of week one only four top-10 seeds survived. Then Shelton produced the shock of the tournament, beating defending champion Alcaraz at 3:33 a.m., the latest finish in US Open history, before winning the all-American semifinal against Frances Tiafoe in Friday's primetime slot.
The Drought That Didn't End
Shelton carried the hopes of a country that hasn't produced a men's major champion in 23 years, and Arthur Ashe Stadium made no secret of its allegiance; Zverev estimated "99.9%" of the crowd was against him. It didn't matter. He broke Shelton's opening service game, took the second-set tiebreak behind his serve, and after Shelton forced a fourth set, becoming the first American man to win a set in a major final since 2009, broke immediately and never wavered.
"You're one of the very best players in the world, maybe the best player in the world this year," a gracious Shelton said on court. "What you're doing is incredible... [I'm] sincerely happy for you guys to hold this title. It's been a long time coming here."
Zverev remains one of the most polarizing figures in tennis, having faced multiple domestic violence accusations, and the reception in New York reflected both that history and the home crowd's rooting interest.
A Season Turned Upside Down
The title completes a year that dismantled the sport's script. Sinner and Alcaraz had won every major in 2024 and 2025; in 2026, Alcaraz took the Australian Open to complete the career Grand Slam, then missed Roland Garros and Wimbledon with a wrist injury. Zverev won in Paris over Flavio Cobolli, shedding the label of best player never to win a Slam, and Sinner answered at Wimbledon. New York, with Sinner absent and Alcaraz undercooked after a comeback that began in mixed doubles with Serena Williams, whose own return ended in the quarterfinals, belonged to the players who seized it.
The women's draw told the opposite story: the top four seeds, Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina, Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff, all reached the semifinals, a first at the US Open since 1975, and Rybakina beat Sabalenka in Saturday's final for her third major, her second of the season and the world No. 1 ranking. The unlikely duo of Zverev and Rybakina leaves New York with two 2026 majors each, after a tournament remembered as much for influencer disruptions, marijuana complaints and 3:33 a.m. finishes as for the tennis. "I was two points away from losing in the first round," Zverev reminded the stadium on Sunday night. "It would have been a different outcome otherwise."
Frequently Asked Questions
- What was the score of the US Open men's final?
- Zverev beat Ben Shelton 6-3, 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-2 in three hours and 33 minutes on Sunday for his second Grand Slam title, both won in 2026.
- Why was Zverev's win historic?
- He became the fourth man ever to win his first two Slam titles in the same year, after Sinner, Vilas and Connors, and ended a season in which German men won two majors after a 30-year drought since Boris Becker in 1996.
- How close did Shelton come to ending the American drought?
- He reached the final, the first American man there since 2024, and won a set, the first by an American man in a major final since 2009, but no American man has won a Slam in 23 years.
- Who won the women's US Open title?
- Elena Rybakina, who beat Aryna Sabalenka in Saturday's final for her third major, her second of 2026, and the world No. 1 ranking.
