Alexander Zverev, a player who earlier in 2026 was the best player never to win a major, has now won his second of the year by defeating Ben Shelton in the final of the US Open. The German was simply the better player in four sets, and he deserved the win. That isn't necessarily good for men's tennis, though.
The issue is that Zverev's run from the French Open to the US Open happened because of two players who weren't healthy at different times in 2026. His US Open final opponent, Ben Shelton, is a good player, but not with the metronomic focus that the German often has. Sometimes, staying poised is what it takes to win a Grand Slam.
Zverev also has had remarkable success against lefties, and Shelton, as the German has now won 45 of his last 46 matches against left-handers. The truth is that while Shelton was trying to be the first American to win the crown in New York since 2003, the matchup was not a favorable one for him.
Alexander Zverev wins the US Open, but many will remember 2026 for a different reason
The German was simply going to keep balls in play, extend points (and he dominated points when rallies went nine strokes or longer), and not be overly aggressive. He was going to force the American to do more to win, or beat himself doing it. The latter is what occurred.
Alexander Zverev is a great player, but he took advantage when others didn't, and his game is not going to help grow the sport. Besides his off-court accusations, which he has not been found guilty of in a criminal court and we won't be going into them here, he is a boring player. His constant bouncing of the ball before he serves is annoying to opponents and fans, and Zverev likely knows it.
Tennis would benefit more from a player with the charisma and emotion of Ben Shelton, but even if Shelton won the US Open, the victory would have come with an asterisk. He would have won for the same reason that Zverev did: neither has had to play a fully healthy and fully in-form Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.
Shelton defeated Alcaraz in the quarterfinals, but the US Open was the Spaniard's first tournament since April after suffering a wrist injury at the Barcelona Open. Undoubtedly, had Sinner and Alcaraz, the clear alphas of men's tennis, been in top form (Sinner missed the US Open due to a knee injury), they would have been the favorites to reach the final. Tennis misses them when they can't play.
Moreover, Zverev has managed to win two majors this year (the French Open and US Open), which is the same number of wins he has against top-10-ranked opponents at the time he played them. In other words, Zverev isn't only not playing Alcaraz and Sinner for the most part, but he has also avoided other top-ranked players.
When Zverev did play Sinner in the final of Wimbledon, the German was no real match for the Italian. In 2027, with better health for Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, men's tennis should revert to the norm, and Zverev back to not winning majors.
One cannot take his US Open title away, however. He defeated Ben Shelton and got the trophy. Next year will look different (hopefully), though.
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