Zverev and Shelton Meet for US Open Title as Home Crowd Chases History

Alexander Zverev and Ben Shelton meet Sunday afternoon at Arthur Ashe Stadium for the men's singles title at the US Open, a final that pits the tournament's top seed against an American chasing a piece of history that has eluded the country's men's game for more than two decades.

Zverev, the world No. 2 and top seed, reached the final by defeating Karen Khachanov in three tight sets, 6-3, 7-6 (9/7), 7-6 (8/6), a match decided by two tiebreaks against a fellow big server. It is Zverev's second US Open final; he lost the first, in 2020, to Dominic Thiem. He arrives in different form this time, having won his first Grand Slam title at the French Open in June. Everything is different now, Zverev said, having gone through the experience of winning a major final rather than losing one.

Shelton, seeded eighth and ranked ninth in the world, advanced with a four-set win over fellow American Frances Tiafoe, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-5, after eliminating defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals. At 23, Shelton is bidding to become the first American man to win the US Open since Andy Roddick in 2003, and the first Black American man to win the title since Arthur Ashe himself in 1968, at the arena that now bears Ashe's name.

A lopsided history, a home crowd

The head-to-head record heavily favors Zverev, who has beaten Shelton in all five of their previous meetings. But oddsmakers and analysts have made Shelton at least a narrow favorite for Sunday's match, pointing to his dominant serve, the support he will have from a home crowd at Flushing Meadows, and the toll Zverev's marathon semifinal tiebreaks may have taken compared with Shelton's path through the second week.

The match, scheduled for 2 p.m. Eastern time, closes out a tournament that has already produced upsets throughout the draw, including Shelton's quarterfinal win over Alcaraz, who had been considered a heavy favorite to repeat as champion. The US Open's own breakdown of the semifinal round noted that both finalists had to work through service-heavy, high-pressure sets to reach Sunday's title match, a pattern likely to repeat given both men's games are built around their serves.

What's next

Play is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. Eastern time at Arthur Ashe Stadium, with the winner collecting the singles trophy along with the ranking points and prize money that come with a Grand Slam title. A Shelton win would end the longest US men's drought at their home major in the tournament's modern history and hand American tennis its first homegrown men's Grand Slam champion since Roddick's title in the same stadium 23 years ago. A Zverev win would give the German his second major of the season and cement his position at the top of the men's game following his French Open breakthrough. Full order of play and results are being updated on the tournament's website throughout the day, and the United States Tennis Association, which owns and runs the event, has scheduled the usual trophy presentation and press conferences to follow the final directly.

Roddick's 2003 run is still frequently invoked whenever an American man reaches a major final, a measure of how long the drought has stretched even as American women have continued to win Grand Slam titles regularly over the same span. Shelton's path to Sunday, built on one of the sport's biggest serves and a willingness to attack from the opening point, has drawn comparisons to Roddick's own serve-driven game two decades ago. His father and coach, Bryan Shelton, a former tour professional himself, has worked with him on rounding out the rest of his game beyond the serve as the run through the draw has progressed. Zverev, already a Grand Slam champion this season, arrives with the more settled resume heading into the match, while Shelton has the crowd, the momentum and a chance to end a drought that has outlasted most of his career.