The US Open final exposed exactly what Ben Shelton still needs to fix

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 13: Ben Shelton of the United States and Alexander Zverev of Germany pose for a photo before their Men's Singles Final match on Day Fifteen of the 2026 US Open at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 13, 2026 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. | Getty Images Well, Alexander Zverev beat Ben Shelton in four unremarkable sets to win the 2026 US Open, and the American men’s tennis drought rolls ever onward unto infinity. Sigh … just because an outcome is predictable doesn’t mean I can’t be upset about it. On Sunday morning in what they’re calling the least bold prediction article of all time, I predicted Shelton would win the US Open but couched it in the understanding that it was not an analytically sound conclusion. Shelton matched up horribly against Zverev, having lost 10 consecutive sets to the German with a 0-5 career record. Zverev had a simple plan of attack, and if he could just execute it, that would be wraps. The proof is, unfortunately, very much in the pudding. Shelton is the worst return player in the ATP Top 50, and if Zverev served even close to his normal level, Shelton wouldn’t have a chance. Well, Zverev actually served above his usual level, winning an unfathomable 85 percent of his first serve points (at one point during the broadcast, they flashed that number was 93 percent) while still getting 70+ percent of first serves in. That is, unfortunately for us believers, the ball game. It was disheartening to once again see an American challenger’s weakness be so surgically identified, exploited and destroyed. Shelton broke Zverev only once: a miraculous 6-5 conversion to win the third set 7-5. But even that didn’t really get Arthur Ashe Stadium into the affair; the third set felt fluky, while the first two won by Zverev were precise and convincing. Shelton never had a chance in the second-set tiebreak, losing it 7-2, and was completely run over in the fourth set 6-2. Through his 13 years of professional experience, Zverev showed Shelton that there are levels to this game. It’s a lesson Zverev himself was repeatedly taught by the dominance of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, then taught again by Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. Shelton will sadly fall short many more times in his career, and who knows how long it will be before he gets another shot at a major final? Shelton simply must become a better returner if he hopes to get back within reach of the mountaintop. Gambling on swinging winners off serves cannot be the strategy, nor can he allow players like Zverev to so completely dictate the pace of the game — he’s not the only big server on tour, nor is that the kind of player one can struggle with and hope to become a champion. Shelton’s win over Alcaraz was legitimately the best win of any American man in years, though I am trying to resist discussing “American men” as if they are a single entity because tennis is an individual sport. Shelton’s success over Alcaraz and failure against Zverev do not necessarily reflect the trajectory of the entire class of American men’s tennis, as tempting as it may be to suggest that two finalists in three years (the other being Taylor Fritz in 2024) are emblematic of a paradigm shift in the fortunes of the 23-year national effort to not be so abjectly terrible. And while there are more high-quality American players than ever, the men’s game in general has seen a massive quality spike in recent seasons. The sheer competitive level has led to a new class of physical freaks that can serve hard and cover the court. There is still a long way to go for the American men’s game. Zverev’s run was not necessarily without issue — he came shockingly close to losing in the first two rounds. But the calm efficiency with which he has capitalized on injuries and disappointments from Alcaraz and Sinner to win both the 2026 French and US Opens is impressive, and is exactly the approach Shelton and other American men will need to take if they want to win a major sooner rather than later. Zverev took a weird year from his two main roadblocks and turned it into two major wins. Perhaps the Americans will have to wait for that to happen to Zverev. A friend asked me after the match if I was appreciably more optimistic than I was coming into this tournament about the prospects for an American man to win a Grand Slam, and I’d say this was at least a marginal improvement in my morale. I can’t deny the progress shown by this apparent golden generation, but I also worry about Frances Tiafoe, Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz exiting their physical primes right as Alcaraz and Sinner enter theirs. It will be up to the younger class like Shelton and Learner Tien to convert this momentum into an actual win; for now, we’ll just keep waiting. That’s the thing about being Charlie Brown with Lucy and the football: you never actually kick it.

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