Number-one seeded German Alexander Zverev triumphed over the big American hope, eighth-seeded Ben Shelton, in Arthur Ashe Stadium to take the US Open men’s singles title 6-3, 7-6, 5-7, 6-2. The match was both hard-fought and historic: Shelton was the first Black man to play in the final of the US Open since the stadium’s namesake, Arthur Ashe, in 1972.
The packed crowd cheering Shelton on included Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez Bezos, Katies Holmes, Rami Malek, Eiza González, Camila Cabello, Tate McRae, Martha Stewart, Adam Driver, Brad Pitt and Ines de Ramon, Lauren Bush Lauren and David Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Sombr, Chris Pine, a trio of Knicks (Karl-Anthony Towns, Josh Hart, and Jalen Brunson), and a host of tennis legends including Stan Smith, four-time US Open women’s champion Martina Navratilova, and five-time US Open men’s champion Jimmy Connors, who presented the Tiffany winner’s trophy to Zverev.
It’s Zverev’s second Grand Slam title (and his second this year, after taking the French Open title in June), and was Shelton’s first time playing a major final (after his earlier epic victories over Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals and Frances Tiafoe in the semifinals).
Zverev struck early, breaking Shelton’s serve in the very first game of the match, and he didn’t much let up after that, taking the first set, 6-3, behind the kind of monster serve Shelton hadn’t seen much of yet in this Open. (Yes, it’s Shelton who’s known for the 150-mph rockets, but Zverev’s serving is both more consistent and more varied.)
Changeovers in the second set featured something most tennis fans were probably seeing for the first time: Zverev, who has Type 1 diabetes and checks his glucose levels throughout his matches, gave himself an insulin injection on two occasions—in the midst of holding down 12 consecutive points on his serve. But that second set was a war of attrition, and it came down to a tiebreak—which Zverev won easily, 7-2, putting the title seemingly within his grasp, yes?
Perhaps—only one player at the US Open since 1949 had jumped to a two-sets-to-none lead and then lost the match. But that player was, yes, Zverev, in 2020. And the third set seemed to open the window on that possibility. With two players serving this big, service breaks were extremely rare in this match, but alas: With the crowd increasingly willing him on, Shelton broke Zverev’s serve for the first time in the last 67 games they’d played, and he did it at the perfect moment, stealing the third set, 7-5.
What momentum Shelton was riding dissipated early in the fourth set, as his serve was broken, again, in the very first game, and again later in the set, all but assuring that Zverev would serve out the victory, which he did, in odd fashion: After winning what turned out to be match point, Zverev retreated to the baseline, seemingly waiting for Shelton to serve the next game, before realizing in a moment that he’d just won one of tennis’s grandest titles. (This also means that Andy Roddick is still the last American to win the US Open, in 2003.)
Zverev soon ran over to offer his condolences (and, perhaps, congratulations) to Shelton’s father, former pro Brian Shelton, who coaches his son—just as Zverev is coached by his father, Alexander Sr.
Shelton was quick to thank his family and his coaching team—what he called “my squad” (which included, yes, his girlfriend Trinity Rodman) before turning to “the volunteers, the drivers—my driver Xavier is up there somewhere, I appreciate you man! To the umpires, the ballkids, all the security guards who make me smile every day: This is my happy place, and I wish this tournament never ended.”
