Alexander Zverev has a good opportunity to ruin a good party at the end of the 2026 US Open. The German could steal the men's final from Ben Shelton and make sure there is no American men's champion for the first time since 2003.
The final will be played no earlier than 4 pm ET on Sunday, September 13, and will be held inside the refurbished Arthur Ashe Stadium. The crowd will almost certainly be firmly behind Shelton.
But who will win the men's 2026 US Open final? How can you watch? What are the storylines? Below are a few ideas.
- How to watch the US Open men's final between Ben Shelton and Alexander Zverev
- Storylines to watch for the US Open men's final
- Who will win the 2026 US Open men's final?
How to watch the US Open men's final between Ben Shelton and Alexander Zverev
Like any major, the US Open should be available to watch around the globe. Maybe some of the matches have been allowed to go so late that no one can watch, but that won't be an issue on Sunday. The men's final is scheduled for 4 pm ET (though those in Australia will need to get up early or stay up late to catch the action).
- United States: ESPN app and ABC broadcast
- United Kingdom: Sky Sports
- Canada: RDS
- Australia: Nine and Stan Sport
- France: Eurosport France
- Italy: Sky Sport Italia
- India: JioHotstar
- Spain: Telefonica/Movistar
- Mexico, Caribbean, and most of South America: ESPN
- Brazil: sporttv
- China: CCTV and Migu TV
- Japan: WOWOW
- Sub-Saharan Africa: SuperSport
No matter where you live, you can click here for all the official broadcast partners with the US Open.
Storylines to watch for the US Open men's final
Ben Shelton is only part of the story, but in other years he might have been by far the most important one. He isn't only the first African-American male to have a chance to take the title at the US Open since 1972, but he is playing in the stadium that the last Black men's player to reach the final is named after. Arthur Ashe lost in that year's final.
Ashe did win the 1968 US Open final, but he is only one of two Black players to win a men's major. The other was Yannick Noah, who won the French Open in 1983. (Ashe won three majors, thankfully, including the Australian Open in 1970 and Wimbledon in 1975.) Shelton would become the first Black men's player to win a Grand Slam in 43 years.
He would also be the first American men's player to win a major since 2003, when Andy Roddick won the US Open. No pressure on Ben Shelton, right? The question is how he responds to all of it.
Alexander Zverev should feel less stress, and that might help him play more freely. He won his first major in 2026 at the French Open, and he won't be playing in front of a home-nation crowd like Shelton is. Might that help the German win?
Who will win the 2026 US Open men's final?
Goodness, this is a boom or bust for American tennis fans. African-American women from the United States have no issues, of course. Plenty have won majors, and it is the men who need to do better. Taylor Fritz made the final of the US Open in 2024, but to be fair, he was only fresh meat for Jannik Sinner.
That last part is key. How many times an American man has a chance to win a Grand Slam title in the age of Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz is not clear. Ben Shelton might be facing one of his few chances (for him or any other American man) to win at the US Open. Alcaraz wasn't in top form after a nearly five-month layoff, and Sinner withdrew before the event with a knee injury.
That isn't to take anything away from what Shelton has done, though. He has played with important nuance and expected power and pushed through to the final. Zverev hasn't always been pristine but hasn't struggled too much recently. Still, this is Shelton's chance, and he seems to love feeling the pressure. He will win in five sets.
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