Germany's Alexander Zverev wins US Open

Alexander Zverev has won the US Open for the first time, defeating Ben Shelton in the final. It is Zverev's second Grand Slam win of 2026 after a long wait for his first title, but controversy still hangs over him

Alexander Zverev has won his second Grand Slam singles title after the German top seed beat Ben Shelton in the US Open final on Sunday.

Zverev beat the American, who was making his first appearance in a major final, 6-3, 7-6 (7-2), 5-7, 6-2.

This success caps the best season of Zverev's career. Not only has he now won two of the four Grand Slams in the same season, but he has become just the ninth man to reach at least the semifinals at all four majors in the same season.

"We went 30 years without winning a Grand Slam title and now we've won two in three months," Zverev said on court after his second major win of the year, following his victory at the French Open in June.

"God has seen how hard we've worked and how much we've suffered. 2026 is the outcome of all the years that happened before," he said as he thanked his coaching team and family.

Great expectations from the start

As a former junior world No. 1, there were great expectations on Zverev from the moment he started his pro career in 2013 at just 16 years old. Titles soon followed, as did a shock early win over Roger Federer in a tournament in his native Germany in 2016.

But the presence of Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic meant Zverev struggled to make a mark in the Grand Slams. After a string of disappointing exits, he had something of a breakthrough in 2020, reaching the semifinals of the Australian Open and the final of the US Open.

With age starting to catch up with at least two of the big three in modern men's tennis, Zverev looked well primed to become a dominant force in the majors. His 2021 Olympic gold felt like it might be just the start.

French Open ends long Grand Slam wait

But he was unable to make the opportunity count, and the emergence of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz has made the task even tougher. Finally, this year, Zverev got his hands on a major title, winning at Roland Garros in June. In doing so, he became the first German man to win a singles Grand Slam since Boris Becker in 1996 in the process.

"It was just relief, joy, everything together," he told ATPTour.com. "I didn't realize that I had won the match until I saw my box all jumping around and celebrating. In your mind, you think, 'Well, I've got to continue playing', but then I saw my dad raise his arms in the air. That's when it kind of hit me, 'Okay, we've done it. We've achieved it. We are Grand Slam champions.'"

Becker's triumph was a year before Zverev was born in Hamburg to Russian parents who were both tennis pros in the Soviet Union and moved to Germany in 1991. His older brother, Mischa, was also a pro until 2023, reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open in 2017 and becoming world number 25 in the same year. But it was Alexander who was destined for the even bigger stage.

Family a big influence on Zverev's career

In their youth, Mischa was generally coached by his father, Alexander Zverev Snr, while the younger brother was coached by his mother, Irina. His father has taken the reins in the professional arena though, and the family remain a constant fixture at Zverev's matches.

"I know there are crazy tennis parents out there as well," the 29-year-old said on the subject ahead of the US Open. "If you try to control every single aspect of your kid's life, even when the kid is 25, 26, 27 years old and at some point has a personal life… I think that is never helpful."

"But if you have smart tennis parents like we do have on tour now, I feel like Ben Shelton's father is incredibly smart, Casper Ruud's father is incredibly smart, I feel like I'm lucky enough to say the same thing about my parents. I think then it's beneficial."

Despite finally ending Germany's long wait for a major male tennis champion, Zverev is far from universally liked in his own country, or on the tennis circuit.

Domestic violence allegations

While there is acknowledgement of his work in promoting awareness of type 1 diabetes, with which he was diagnosed in 2022, allegations of domestic abuse have hung over his career and seen him heckled at various tournaments. His behavior on court has also seen him get in trouble before.

The first came in October 2020, when his ex-girlfriend, Olya Sharypova, claimed he had been violent towards her on multiple occasions. However, Sharypova didn't press criminal charges, and in January 2023, men's tennis governing body the ATP closed its own investigation into the matter, citing "insufficient evidence."

Welcoming that decision at the time, Zverev said: "From the beginning, I have maintained my innocence and denied the baseless allegations made against me."

But he faced a Berlin court in 2024 after similar allegations from Brenda Patea, Zverev's ex-girlfriend and the mother of his daughter. The court was told that "after a heated argument" in the German capital, Zverev allegedly pushed Patea against a wall and strangled her with both hands.

He denied the charges and the case was settled, with Zverev paying €200,000 ($233,000), €150,000 of which went to the state and €50,000 to charitable organizations. The case was officially declared "no verdict" and Zverev made no admission of guilt.