World No. 2 men's tennis player Alexander Zverev has captured his first-ever US Open title, following his victory at the French Open earlier this year.

Zverev defeated the United States' Ben Shelton 3-1 after a 3-33 battle in the men's singles final on the final day of the 2026 US Open at Flushing Meadows in New York.

Having claimed his first major title at the French Open this June, Zverev also lifted the US Open trophy, crowning 2026 as a two-major season.

He erased the disappointment of six years ago, when he blew a 2-0 lead to Dominic Thiem in the 2020 tournament final and lost in a comeback.

Earlier this year, Zverev finished as the runner-up at Wimbledon, losing to Jannik Sinner in the final.

This marks the first German champion in the US Open men's singles since Boris Becker won the tournament 37 years ago in 1989.

Despite this victory, Zverev will not dethrone Sinner from the world No. 1 ranking.

Zverev will receive 5.5 million dollars in prize money, while runner-up Shelton will take home 2.8 million dollars.

Had Shelton won this match, he could have become the first American men's singles major champion in 23 years, since Andy Roddick won the US Open in 2003.

After narrowly dropping the first two sets by a hair's breadth, Shelton broke Zverev's final service game in the third set, forcing the match into a fourth set.

However, Zverev seized the momentum right back by breaking Shelton's opening service game in the fourth set.

Shelton committed a flurry of unforced errors, including missing relatively easy shots into the net, allowing Zverev to pull ahead to a 5-2 game lead.

After securing championship point when Shelton's shot sailed wide, Zverev was so focused on the match that he did not even realize he had won and prepared to serve the next point.

Looking around with a puzzled expression at the standing ovation from the crowd, Zverev finally realized the match was over and raised both arms to soak in the joy.

Zverev continued his perfect head-to-head streak against Shelton, winning all six of their encounters.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)