Alexander Zverev claimed his second major title after sealing US Open glory with a four-set win over Ben Shelton.

The top seed dashed the American dreams of the home favourite, as he prevailed 6-3 7-6 (7-2) 5-7 6-2 after three-and-a-half hours at Flushing Meadows.

Shelton, appearing in his first major final, was aiming to become the first American champion at a slam, 23 years after Andy Roddick triumphed at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

However, the occasion was certainly felt early on by the eighth seed, who was broken in the very first game, with Zverev breaking again in the ninth to draw first blood.

The second set went right down the wire, with neither player budging on serve, yet the German dominated the tie-break to move within six games of glory.

Zverev – a beaten finalist from two sets up six years ago – was made to wait, though, as Shelton refused to lie down, and finally got the elusive break in the 12th game of another tight third set, as he kept his hopes alive.

It proved a false dawn, though. Reigning French Open champion Zverev broke in game one of the fourth, and again in the seventh, before a hold got him over the line.

After years of waiting for grand slam glory, Zverev has now won two of the major titles on offer this season.

A moment worth the waitpic.twitter.com/cI3IxQohZC

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 13, 2026

Zverev banishes Flushing Meadows demons for fairytale ending in New York

All the signs were pointing towards Zverev being the favourite to lift the trophy on Ashe. 

The German was appearing in his third straight major final – and sixth overall – while he had won all five previous meetings with Shelton for the loss of just a single set.

His opponent, meanwhile, was the youngest non-European player to reach a grand slam final (23 years, 325 days) since Juan Martin del Potro at this event 17 years ago.

Shelton's lack of experience on the biggest stage was evident from the start, as he double-faulted in his opening service game to hand Zverev an immediate break.

The underdog generally held his own thereafter, as he looked to become only the third left-handed major champion this century, after Goran Ivanisevic and Rafael Nadal.

Shelton refused to lie down and finally broke his opponent to halve his deficit at the end of the third set.

Zverev may have been twitching at that point. He had led by two sets in the 2020 final against Dominic Thiem, only to surrender that advantage – along with two championship points.

Although, if he was, he did not show it. He quickly broke at the start of the fourth set and got another later on to serve for the title.

No second opportunity was needed, as he became only the second German to win the men's singles title at Flushing Meadows after Boris Becker in 1989.

Zverev finally lifts the US Open title in his 11th appearance, with only Stan Wawrinka (12) appearing more times before getting his hands on the trophy.