US OPEN. New York. By Leo Canaparo
The top seed in the men’s draw, Alexander Zverev, defeated eighth seed Ben Shelton in an exciting four-set battle lasting three hours and 33 minutes, winning 6-3, 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-2 to claim the first US Open title of his career this Sunday. It was Zverev’s second Grand Slam victory, following his triumph at Wimbledon earlier this year.
Zverev, ranked No. 2 in the ATP rankings, did not realize he had reached match point against American Ben Shelton, ranked No. 9, on Sunday. After hitting the winning shot, he continued as if nothing had happened, even as the crowd rose to applaud him. It was only when he looked at the big screen that he realized he had become US Open champion, winning his second Grand Slam title of the year and of his career.
Once he understood that he was the champion, he raised his arms to celebrate, although only for a few seconds. His first gesture was to approach the net and embrace and congratulate his opponent.
“Honestly, I thought the score was 5-1. I thought I was up 5-1, and that helped me. I probably would have served and hit about three double faults instead of one,” he joked after the match.
With this victory, Zverev claimed his second Grand Slam crown and extended the drought of American men’s singles champions at the most prestigious tournaments in tennis, which has been ongoing since 2003.
“I know that 99.9% of the people wanted Ben to win today, so first of all, I’m very sorry,” the German said during the trophy ceremony. “But secondly, it was an incredible atmosphere to play in. Even though I know the crowd was against me, they were always incredibly fair,” he added.