By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
Top seed Alexander Zverev completed a remarkable Grand Slam double on Sunday, defeating American Ben Shelton 6-3, 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-2 to win the US Open men’s singles title and claim his second major championship of the year.
The German, who won his maiden Grand Slam title at the French Open earlier this year, held his nerve in a fiercely partisan Arthur Ashe Stadium and denied Shelton the chance to end a long wait for an American men’s champion at the US Open.
Zverev made the decisive breakthrough early and controlled much of the opening set with his powerful serve and heavy baseline game. Shelton, backed by a passionate home crowd, fought back in the second set but could not convert the crucial opportunities and Zverev prevailed in the tiebreak.
The American eighth seed finally found his range in the third set, breaking Zverev and forcing the German into a more defensive mode. Shelton’s 5-7 win briefly raised hopes of a dramatic comeback, but Zverev regained control in the fourth set, breaking early and maintaining his composure to close out the match.
The victory is particularly significant for Zverev, who suffered a painful five-set defeat to Dominic Thiem after leading by two sets in the 2020 US Open final. Six years later, he finally lifted the trophy at Flushing Meadows.
Zverev’s breakthrough season began at Roland Garros, where he defeated Italy’s Flavio Cobolli in five sets to win his first Grand Slam title. His US Open triumph now makes him a two-time major champion and gives him two Grand Slam titles in the same season.
For Shelton, the defeat ended an impressive campaign that included a landmark quarterfinal victory over second seed Carlos Alcaraz. He became the first Black American man to reach the US Open men’s final since Arthur Ashe, 54 years earlier.
Shelton’s loss also extended the drought for American men at the Grand Slam. The last American man to win a major remains Andy Roddick, who captured the 2003 US Open title. Andre Agassi, who won the tournament in 2002, was succeeded as American champion by Roddick the following year.
For Zverev, however, New York provided a triumphant conclusion to a season in which he transformed long-standing Grand Slam frustration into major success.
