Alexander Zverev revealed his "scars" from his first grand slam final defeat disappeared after winning the French Open, with the German now adding the US Open to his collection.

Zverev defeated home favourite Ben Shelton in the showpiece at Flushing Meadows on Sunday, winning 6-3 7-6 (7-2) 5-7 6-2 in three hours and 38 minutes.

Zverev is the second German player in the Open Era to win multiple men’s singles titles at grand slams in a season, after Boris Becker (1989, Wimbledon and US Open). Zverev is also the second German male in the Open Era to win the US Open after Becker.

Among players who began their career in the Open Era, Zverev (29 years 132 days at tournament start) is the second-oldest to win a maiden title at the US Open after Stan Wawrinka (31 years 154 days) in 2016, and the latter is the only player who needed more appearances to win the competition (12) than Zverev (11).

Zverev lost the US Open final in 2020 to Dominic Thiem, while he also lost in major finals at Roland-Garros (2024) and the Australian Open (2025) before losing the Wimbledon showpiece this year.

However, he explained how his mindset changed after his triumph in Paris.

"I think the scars of the 2020 final, they kind of disappeared after I won in Paris," Zverev said.

"I said it at Wimbledon. Even though I lost the final, I enjoyed the match.

"I enjoyed being in the grand slam final, I enjoyed playing on Centre Court, I enjoyed playing in front of an amazing crowd, in front of some celebrities and all that. I enjoyed doing that.

"Whereas before winning in Paris, I felt a lot of stress all the time, because there was always a question mark: ‘Will I ever win one?’

"What I think now is just more of a joy to play those kinds of finals."

2 - Alexander Zverev is the 2nd German player in the Open Era to win multiple Men’s Singles titles at Grand Slams in a season, after Becker (1989, Wimbledon & US Open) – Zverev also is the 2nd German male in the Open Era to win the US Open after Becker. Champion. #USOpen |… pic.twitter.com/WOeTtUkfUV

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Shelton, meanwhile, saw his maiden grand slam final appearance end in defeat, but he is keen to bounce back after losing on home soil.

"I'm motivated. Disappointed with how it went. Happy with how I fought throughout the week, two weeks," Shelton said.

"Excited with the progress that I feel that I've made, but yeah, this one stings 100 per cent. Yeah, it's on to the next.

"Try to keep getting better and show up in Australia even stronger than I showed up here."