Alexander Zverev and Elena Rybakina left New York as US Open champions after a championship weekend that produced two first-time winners at Flushing Meadows and ended an American bid to reclaim the men’s title. Zverev defeated American Ben Shelton 6-3, 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-2 on Sunday at Arthur Ashe Stadium, completing a remarkable Grand Slam season for the German.
One day earlier, Rybakina beat two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 to win the women’s championship. For Zverev, the victory carried extra significance. Six years after surrendering a two-set lead to Dominic Thiem in the 2020 US Open final, the 29-year-old returned to the same stage and finished the job.
The title is Zverev’s second Grand Slam championship, following his breakthrough victory at the French Open in June. Germany had gone three decades without a men’s Grand Slam singles champion before Zverev won Roland Garros, and he has now collected two major titles in three months.
Zverev took control of Sunday’s final immediately, breaking Shelton in the opening game and using his powerful serve and backhand to keep the American from settling into the match. He won the second-set tiebreak 7-2 to move within one set of the championship. Shelton refused to disappear. The 23-year-old broke late in the third set and won it 7-5, briefly bringing a strongly pro-American crowd back into the match.
But Zverev responded quickly. A 25-shot rally helped him secure an early break in the fourth set, and he never surrendered the advantage. The ending was unusual: Zverev initially failed to realize that Shelton’s final return had gone long and walked toward the baseline before the umpire’s announcement confirmed he had finally won the US Open.
The defeat ended a memorable tournament for Shelton, who reached his first Grand Slam final after one of the biggest victories of his career. In the quarterfinals, Shelton eliminated defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in a five-set match that finished at 3:33 a.m., the latest finish in US Open history. He then came from a set down to defeat fellow American Frances Tiafoe in the semifinals.
Shelton became the first Black American man to reach the US Open singles final since Arthur Ashe in 1972. His loss, however, means the wait continues for an American men’s Grand Slam singles champion. Andy Roddick remains the last to do it, winning the US Open in 2003.
The women’s final produced its own change at the top. Rybakina ended Sabalenka’s attempt to win a third consecutive US Open title, using the controlled power that has made their rivalry one of the strongest matchups in women’s tennis. The Kazakhstan player broke for a 3-2 lead in the opening set and held on to take it 6-4. Sabalenka responded in the second, finding her range late to force a deciding set.
Rybakina then pulled away. She built a 5-2 advantage in the third and closed out the championship, ending Sabalenka’s 20-match winning streak at the US Open. It was Rybakina’s third Grand Slam title and her first in New York. She won Wimbledon in 2022 and defeated Sabalenka in the Australian Open final earlier this year.
With victories in Melbourne and New York, Rybakina became only the third woman this century to win both hard-court Grand Slam tournaments in the same season. She also reached the world No. 1 ranking. The championship was particularly notable because an ankle injury had raised doubts about Rybakina’s fitness before the tournament began. Instead, she made it through seven matches and defeated Coco Gauff in the semifinals before overcoming Sabalenka in the final.
Both singles champions earned a record $5.5 million winner’s prize. The results closed a US Open in which the established order was repeatedly challenged. Shelton knocked out defending champion Alcaraz, Rybakina ended Sabalenka’s two-year reign in New York, and Zverev finally erased the memory of his painful 2020 defeat.
This time, both championship trophies went to players who had never before lifted one at Flushing Meadows.
