Alexander Zverev beats Ben Shelton in 4 sets to win US Open - ESPN

Alexander Zverev's best year in tennis goes on, and so does that lengthy Grand Slam drought for American men.

Zverev won his second major championship and disappointed a crowd that was desperate to see the first Grand Slam title by an American man since 2003, beating Ben Shelton 6-3, 7-6 (2), 5-7, 6-2 on Sunday in the US Open final.

Zverev finally broke through in the majors by winning this year's French Open and followed up by adding the title in New York that he so painfully let slip away in 2020.

He became the fourth man in the Open era to win his first two major titles in the same year, joining Jimmy Connors (1974), Guillermo Vilas (1977) and Jannik Sinner (2024).

The No. 1 seed in a Grand Slam for the first time, he capitalized on Shelton's shaky start in his first major final, played a nearly flawless tiebreaker on serve and then turned back a comeback attempt in front of a crowd that feverishly cheered Shelton on — including girlfriend Trinity Rodman, who made it from her own soccer match in Washington before the finish.

• Zverev: 4th German player in the Open era to win multiple career majors, joining Steffi Graf (22), Boris Becker (6) and Angelique Kerber (3)
• 25-2 record in major matches in 2026; most wins of any player this year
• 7th man to win 25+ major matches in a year in the Open era, joining Novak Djokovic (4 times), Roger Federer (3 times), Jannik Sinner (2025), Rafael Nadal (2010), Mats Wilander (1988) and Rod Laver (1969)
• 3rd man in Open era to win a major after starting tournament with back-to-back 5-setters, joining Boris Becker (1996 Australian Open) and Gastón Gaudio (2004 French Open)
• 89-18 (.832) in his tour-level career vs. lefties, including 44 wins in his last 45 such matches;