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Let’s get the obvious part out of the way immediately: This stinks.
Ben Shelton had a chance to end a 23-year Grand Slam drought for American men’s tennis on Sunday afternoon in New York. Instead, Alexander Zverev beat him 6-3, 7-6 (2), 5-7, 6-2 to win the U.S. Open and capture his second Grand Slam title of the year.
American men’s tennis missed a golden opportunity, but Shelton gave America a tennis star worth rooting for.
It's not the same as winning, but it's a major positive step for a country desperate to find the next great American player.
Shelton, making his first career Grand Slam final appearance, looked nervous from the start. The first game told us exactly what kind of afternoon this might be.
He committed two errors to give Zverev an immediate break point, then double-faulted to hand over the break in the first game of the match. Shelton double-faulted again on set point to drop the opening set, 6-3.
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The second set played out on even terms until the tiebreak, which is where Shelton’s game fell apart. Zverev raced to a 5-0 lead and took it 7-2.
Zverev wasn’t blowing Shelton off the court, which is what made the match so frustrating to watch. Shelton kept getting into winnable points on Zverev’s serve, only to miss a forehand, dump a backhand into the net or choose the wrong shot at the wrong moment.
For most of the match, Shelton looked like the more gifted player. His power, athleticism and creativity are fun to watch. The 23-year-old American produced most of the shots that made the crowd gasp and his serve regularly crossed 140 mph. His flashes of greatness showed that he's much more than another American man with a big serve.
But the inconsistency killed his chances to win his first Grand Slam title.
Zverev didn’t need to be spectacular. He served well, kept the ball in play and waited for Shelton to crack. Steady isn’t particularly exciting, but it wins Grand Slam finals when the guy on the other side keeps giving away points. And Zverev's win at the French Open earlier this summer gave him a crucial edge in experience that showed up throughout the match.
He finally earned his first break point of the match with Zverev serving at 2-3 in the third set, but the German erased it. Shelton kept holding, waited for another chance and pounced with Zverev serving at 5-6. He jumped ahead 0-40 and converted his second set point when Zverev missed a routine volley.
Then he immediately put himself in trouble again. Shelton led 30-0 in his opening service game of the fourth set before a double fault and another forehand error opened the door. He saved one break point with a gutsy serve-and-volley play, but Zverev eventually broke and never gave it back.
That was essentially the match. Zverev broke Shelton again at 4-2 before serving out the match in the final game. There was a funny moment at the very end, as Zverev didn't realize he had just won the U.S. Open.
After a Shelton return went long, Zverev appeared to think there was more tennis to play. He went to serve again before realizing the match was over and he was the champion. At that point, a huge smile crept over his face and he threw his arms in the air.
On the other side, a clearly frustrated Ben Shelton appeared to be holding back his emotions as he went to shake his opponent's hand.
World No. 1 Jannik Sinner withdrew prior to the tournament because of a knee injury. Novak Djokovic lost in the first round. Shelton stunned defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in a five-set quarterfinal that ended at 3:33 in the morning.
The three biggest obstacles were gone and Shelton was responsible for eliminating one of them.
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Zverev was hardly an easy opponent. He won the French Open in June, reached the Wimbledon final and entered Sunday having beaten Shelton in all five of their previous meetings.
Over the past 30 years, only seven other men have won multiple Grand Slam titles in the same calendar year: Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz and Sinner.
Zverev’s off-the-court legacy is more complicated. He has faced domestic abuse allegations from two former partners, both of which he has denied. The ATP closed an investigation into one set of allegations in 2023 after finding insufficient evidence to substantiate the claims, and a German court closed a separate case in 2024 after a settlement with no finding or admission of guilt.
On the court, there’s no longer any debate about whether Zverev can handle the final Sunday of a major. He proved it in Paris and did it again in New York.
But this was still a winnable final for Shelton. Since Andy Roddick won the 2003 U.S. Open, American men have gone 0-for-7 in Grand Slam finals. Roddick accounted for four of those losses, while Andre Agassi, Taylor Fritz and now Shelton each fell once.
American men’s tennis couldn’t have asked for a clearer path to ending the drought. It still couldn’t finish the job and, because of that, it's a failure.
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Of course, ESPN immediately tried to turn Shelton’s run into a story about race.
"It’s more than just Ben Shelton’s first U.S. Open Final," the network posted after his semifinal victory.
ESPN then noted that Shelton was the first Black American man to reach the U.S. Open final since Arthur Ashe in 1972. That’s historically accurate.
But Shelton never made this run about his skin color. The media wanted to put him in that box, and he didn’t follow them there.
Shelton has consistently used his platform to talk about his Christian faith, his family and his country. After winning in Australia earlier this year, he signed a television camera with the message, "USA ’til it’s backwards."
After beating Alcaraz in the biggest victory of his career, Shelton immediately pointed to his faith.
"I’m just so grateful, so blessed. God’s blessed me in so many ways," Shelton said.
He made a similar point after winning in Montreal earlier this summer, saying, "I would be nowhere without my faith. That’s what’s most important to me."
Then came Friday’s semifinal against Frances Tiafoe, played on the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Shelton spoke about the sacrifices his parents made and dedicated the victory to his late grandmother. He asked the New York crowd to return for the final because, as he put it, "We’re going for it here."
Ben Shelton wasn't able to win the U.S. Open despite reaching the final match, but he cemented himself as an American tennis star. (USTA via Getty Images)
Before leaving the court, completely unprompted, Shelton offered his thoughts and prayers to the families affected by 9/11 and called New York one of the greatest cities in the world.
That’s the guy America has watched for the past two weeks.
He’s powerful, emotional and wildly entertaining. He also loves his family, talks openly about God and treats representing the United States as an honor, not a burden.
Now, let’s not pretend losing a Grand Slam final is the same as winning one because it isn't. Ben Shelton will be the first one to say that, too. He had the chance American men’s tennis had been waiting more than two decades to get, and he didn’t finish the job.
But Shelton’s tournament was still a massive win for him and for American tennis.
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He beat Carlos Alcaraz and reached his first Grand Slam final. He had a chance to give up against Zverev, but he kept fighting and forced a fourth set. He showed the composure, faith and love of country that make American sports fans want to invest in a player.
Shelton didn’t deliver America a trophy on Sunday.
But he gave us a tennis star we can’t wait to watch try again.
