Alexander Zverev and Ben Shelton face off this Sunday from 8:00 PM in the US Open final. The German tennis player seeks to achieve his second Grand Slam after lifting the Roland Garros trophy this summer. To do so, he must overcome the American host, who will play his first major final. Zverev started the tournament somewhat hesitant and lost two four-set matches in the first two encounters against Sonego and Halys. However, after that struggle, he has reached this final without dropping more sets against Tabilo, Darderi, Van de Zandschulp, and Kachanov. Shelton, on the other hand, only won 3-0 against Tsitsipas, but he left Carlos Alcaraz behind in the quarterfinals before eliminating his compatriot Tiafoe in the semifinals. This will be the sixth time these players face each other, and in the previous five, the German emerged victorious.
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And it helped him consolidate himself in the elite, apart from the problems of Jannik Sinner or Carlos Alcaraz. Very settled at number 2 in the world after a spectacular year where he was a finalist at Wimbledon and Madrid, semifinalist at the Australian Open, Indian Wells Miami, Monaco, Munich, and Halle.
Alexander Zverev, 29 years old and native of Hamburg, is not coached by his brother but by his father, is making 2026 his year in which he has broken his particular “glass ceiling” with his great victory at Roland Garros. Winner of the Olympic Games (Tokyo 2021), ATP Finals (two), Masters 1000 (seven), that win against Flavio Cobolli shattered all the ghosts he had in his head.
He is actually playing his first Grand Slam final. And the path has not been easy; he struggled to get past Griekspoor, Hurkacz, and Shapovalov in the early rounds, to cruise past Tsitsipas in the round of 16. And then, the heroic feat of eliminating Carlos Alcaraz in a five-set match that went until 3:30 in the morning, before winning the semifinal derby against Tiafoe.
Installed in the World Top Ten since he reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals in 2025; in this 2026 he started well with the Australian Open quarterfinals and the Dallas title and, above all, the Munich title on clay to then disappear on the clay courts. He returned with a grass title, Stuttgart, to then disappear on the grass and focus on an American tour where he was defending points and things couldn’t have gone better.
Ben Shelton has not failed the tradition of left-handers at the US Open. With a two-handed backhand and about to turn 24, his coach is his brother Bryan Shelton. He is playing the tenth final of his career, holding seven titles, the most important of which he has not won in his country but in the neighboring one, being the current two-time champion of the Canadian Masters 1000 (2025 and 2026).
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Two players whose main weapon is the serve, so today we will experience several stretches without rhythm or excessive rallies. But they can also stand out in other aspects such as the two-handed backhand of the German; or the tremendous confidence to mix calm and explosiveness on the American side, besides playing at home.
For his part, Ben Shelton has the opportunity to be the first American to win his country’s Grand Slam since Andy Roddick in 2003, who was the last not only to win a major on the ATP but also to qualify for a final. Also, if he wins today, for the first time since 2014 there will be four different Grand Slam winners in the same season.
A match that, one way or another, will break records as neither Carlos Alcaraz nor Jannik Sinner, the references on the circuit in the last two years, are present. On one hand, Alexander Zverev aims to be the first German player to win two Grand Slams in the same year since Boris Becker in 1989, when he won Wimbledon and the US Open.
Hello, good afternoon to all tennis lovers in general and to all US Open followers in particular. Next, we will offer you live coverage of the great final of the last Grand Slam of the season to be held at the majestic Arthur Ashe located in the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York between the world number 1, the German Alexander Zverev, and the local idol, the ninth-ranked player in the world, Ben Shelton.
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