Key events
First set: Zverev 4-2 *Shelton (*next server)
Shelton gives the match its first highlight-reel moment, showing off his athleticism with a beautiful pair of sliding volleys at the net. He’s picking on Zverev’s second serve, off of which he’s won five of six points. Zverev responds with some nice serve-and-volley play to pull back from being 0-30 down and then fires a 137mph ace to win the game.
First set: *Zverev 3-2 Shelton (*next server)
Shelton holds at love again. After getting broken in his first service game, Shelton has changed up the pace on his serve for the past two. His four successful serves in this fifth game were at 123mph, 100mph, 123mph (an ace), 104mph – slower than some of the big 130s or even 140s he was trying for in that first game. Such a strategy has worked.
First set: Zverev 3-1 *Shelton (*next server)
Zverev fires two serve attempts into the net for his first double-fault, but he holds. This game also gave us our first real glimpse at Zverev’s predilection for Extreme Ball Bouncing. He reportedly had bounced the ball before his serve more than 12,000 times through his first five matches. Shelton seems to be monitoring the situation, waiting late in the routine to get in position for his return. Commence the serve clock debates!
First set: *Zverev 2-1 Shelton (*next server)
Shelton rebounds after a shaky opening two games with a trio of strong serves that Zverev is unable to cleanly hit back. Zverev’s attempt at a return at 0-40 goes wide into the doubles alley and Shelton holds at love. Shelton won all four of those points on his first serve.
First set: Zverev 2-0 *Shelton (*next server)
A quick and comfortable hold for Zverev.
First set: *Zverev 1-0 Shelton (*next server)
Zverev gets a very, very early break. He handles Shelton’s first serve and forces the American to send a return out in the match’s opening point. The second point stretches to 16 shots – expect more of those – before Shelton nets a sliding volley. The American gets his first ace of the day at 141mph, but he double-faults on break point. His first attempt at 147mph was close enough to earn a roar from the Arthur Ashe crowd, who thought it was an ace, but he’s not quite sure how to approach his second serve yet.
Kerrith writes in with a prediction: “Zverev learnt his game playing against his lefty brother Misha (peak rank 25), the very reason why his backend is a brick wall. He’s more prepared for this matchup than people realise I think. Zverev in 3.”
Right to point out that Zverev is better suited than most to handle Shelton’s big serve. It’ll be worth watching how he lines up in the first few games to receive those serves. It does seem Zverev has the edge, but I’d like to see how far Shelton can push him. He’s significantly improved his baseline play and his own backhand from their previous meetings.
Shelton will serve to start.
The players have taken the court at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
When this tournament began, this would have seemed one of the more unlikely combinations to see in the final. In his opener, Ben Shelton lost the first set 1-6 to Tallon Griekspoor. Alexander Zverev was two points from a first-round exit against Lorenzo Sonego. And here we are.
Neither player is a stranger to a marathon match. The incoming Tennis Australia CEO, Andrew Abdo, suggested last month that tennis should rethink the best-of-five format for men’s grand slam matches to attract a younger audience.
Here’s what Guardian writer Andrew Lawrence has to say on that front:
Ben Shelton is 0-5 against Alexander Zverev. Zverev won in three sets at Cincinnati 2024 and in two at Munich 2025 (the final), Stuttgart 2025, Cincinnati 2025 and the 2025 ATP Finals. Shelton has won just one (1) of those 11 sets.
He’s is aware of the tall task ahead – and he’s up to take it on. After all, he had been 0-17 against top-three opponents before taking down Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-final here.
Problem-solving has been the name of the game here … I’m looking forward to the challenge, being able to problem-solve on Sunday. I know what I’m up against, and I’m also the most confident I’ve ever been in my game.
He’s also 7-2 in finals, and 4-0 in them this year. Says his coach and father Bryan Shelton:
He’s got an amazing record on Sundays. Don’t want to jinx him here, but if you look at his record throughout his career, he’s played well on Sundays.
As at every US Open final, the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd will be full of famous faces. For any eagle-eyed tennis/soccer fans wondering if Trinity Rodman will be in attendance (as she has for all of boyfriend Ben Shelton’s matches at this tournament): we probably won’t see her today.
The American soccer star is at a match of her own. Her Washington Spirit, locked in a chase for first place in the National Women’s Soccer League, are about to start the second half of their game against the Boston Legacy about five hours south in DC.
And some quotes from Ben Shelton:
We’re not done here. The job is not finished. Super excited to get another opportunity to go out there and show my best on Sunday.
This whole tournament now at this point has been unchartered territory. I’m in positions I’ve never been in before. I’ve beaten guys – beaten a guy or guys that I have never beaten before. I’m just excited to put it all out on the line.
“Hopefully I can not make the American dream come true on Sunday,” Alexander Zverev said after winning his semi-final.
More quotes:
Ben, Ben is just a big, powerful guy. Massive serve, massive groundstrokes. Everything he does is just big.
Back then [in 2020] of course, it was my first grand slam final. I was inexperienced. I was still a young guy, I would say. Yeah, just different. Everything is different. I am pretty sure that the atmosphere is going to be very, very different on Sunday as well no matter who I play, but I’m looking forward to that. I think it’s going to be a fantastic feeling playing, you know, a final in a sold-out Arthur Ashe and not in an empty one.
Will this be the day that the United States’ 23-year wait for a men’s major champion ends? Ben Shelton is having a career year. He has reached four finals – Dallas, Munich, Stuttgart and Montreal – and won the title in all of them. He is:
The first Black American man to reach the US Open singles final since Arthur Ashe in 1972
The first Black American man to reach any grand slam singles final since MaliVai Washington at Wimbledon in 1996
The fifth American man this century to reach the US Open singles final, joining Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick and Taylor Fritz
The first American man to win tour titles on hardcourt, clay and grass in the same season since Sam Querrey in 2010
Some words from Tumaini on what to expect today:
Zverev is well suited for left-handed opponents due to the strength of his two-handed backhand, which allows him to counter the effects of their swinging serve out wide from the left advantage side as well as their crosscourt forehand from the same position.
There are plenty of reasons, however, for Shelton to be hopeful that things will be different in New York. He will remind himself of the fact that they have never faced each other in a grand slam tournament, where the American so often elevates his game, and particularly that the theme of this tournament has been breaking new ground in difficult match-ups.
Ben Shelton is in a grand slam final for the first time. His previous best result at a major was a semi-final, first at the 2023 US Open and then at the 2025 Australian Open. He had lost in the third round in New York each of the past two years.
His path this year:
First round: beat Tallon Griekspoor 1-6 6-1 7-6 (3) 6-2
Second round: beat Hubert Hurkacz 6-3 5-7 7-6 (3) 7-5
Third round: beat Denis Shapovalov 7-6 (3) 6-7 (5) 6-3 6-4
Fourth round: beat Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-2 6-3 6-4
Quarter-final: beat Carlos Alcaraz (2) 6-7 (5) 6-1 6-3 1-6 7-6 (7)
Semi-final: beat Frances Tiafoe 6-4 3-6 3-6 7-5
Alexander Zverev was the winner at Roland Garros this year and runner-up at Wimbledon. This is his first US Open final since 2020, when he lost to Dominic Thiem at an empty Arthur Ashe Stadium during the coronavirus pandemic.
Here’s how he reached the final in New York this year:
First round: beat Lorenzo Sonego 6-4 3-6 6-7(7) 7-5 6-4
Second round: beat Quentin Halys 6-4 4-6 7-6(3) 6-7(3) 6-3
Third round: beat Alejandro Tobillo (25) 6-2 7-6(2) 6-2
Fourth round: beat Luciano Darderi (21) 6-2 6-2 7-6(3)
Quarter-final: beat Botic van de Zandschulp 6-2 7-5 6-1
Semi-final: beat Karen Khachanov 6-3 7-6 (7) 7-6 (6)
In Saturday’s women’s final, Elena Rybakina beat Aryna Sabalenka for her first US Open title. It was a changing of the guard, of sorts: Rybakina becomes the world No 1 on Monday, ending Sabalenka’s 99-week reign atop the rankings.
Read Tumaini Carayol’s full report here:
Preamble
Hello on this US Open final Sunday, where either Alexander Zverev or Ben Shelton will be crowned king of New York for the first time.
The top-seeded Zverev is playing in his fifth grand slam final and his third in a row this year. The German won his first major title at Roland Garros in June. This is the 29-year-old’s first appearance in the final in New York since 2020, when he lost to Dominic Thiem in a five-setter decided in a tiebreak. After opening the tournament with two matches that went five sets, Zverev has not dropped a set in four matches since and defeated Karen Khachanov in their semi-final to get here.
Shelton, the big-serving eighth seed, could make history today: an American man has not won the US Open since Andy Roddick in 2003, and a Black American man has not won it since Arthur Ashe in 1968. The 23-year-old had an arduous path through the draw to reach his first grand slam final: four of his five matches went at least four sets. His epic quarter-final against Carlos Alcaraz will go down in the US Open lore for its 3.33am finish – the latest end in tournament history – and for its result. Shelton beat countryman Frances Tiafoe in the semi-final, and now has the biggest chance of his career thus far to cement himself as one of the sport’s best.
Zverev holds a 5-0 advantage in their previous meetings. (More on those later.)
The players are due on court at 2pm local time (7pm BST). Any questions, predictions, comments, find me here.
Ella will be here shortly. In the meantime, catch up with the reports on how Alexander Zverev and Ben Shelton clinched their spots in today’s final: