Key events
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:
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First round: beat Lorenzo Sonego 6-4 3-6 6-7(7) 7-5 6-4
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Second round: beat Quentin Halys 6-4 4-6 7-6(3) 6-7(3) 6-3
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Third round: beat Alejandro Tobillo (25) 6-2 7-6(2) 6-2
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Fourth round: beat Luciano Darderi (21) 6-2 6-2 7-6(3)
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Quarter-final: beat Botic van de Zandschulp 6-2 7-5 6-1
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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:
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