Family was at the heart of Alexander Zverev’s US Open triumph on Sunday as the German saluted the members of his inner circle and paid a heartfelt tribute to his mother for refusing to let diabetes define his future.
The top seed beat American Ben Shelton 6-3 7-6(2) 5-7 6-2 at Flushing Meadows to finish a spectacular year at the Grand Slams in which he proved his doubters wrong by going from perennial nearly man to two-time major champion.
Shortly after his victory, Zverev reserved special praise for his mother Irina, a former professional tennis player, and credited her with ensuring type 1 diabetes never limited his ambitions in life.
“When your 4-year-old son is diagnosed with diabetes and doctors in the office tell you that life and sports will be very limited for that child, it takes a very strong mother to say ‘my son will be whatever he wants to be’,” Zverev said.
“‘If he wants to be a tennis player, he’ll be a tennis player. If he wants to do something else, he’ll do something else, but this illness will not define us’.
“I’m happy that we worked through it and we’re doing the things that we’re doing now. My mother is the most important and strongest person I know because it takes an unbelievably strong woman to do what she did.”
The 29-year-old thanked his team, which includes his father Alexander Zverev Sr and his brother Mischa, for their hard work that had delivered him another Grand Slam trophy to add to his Olympic gold medal from the Tokyo Games five years ago.
“We went almost 30 years without winning a Grand Slam title and now we’ve won two in a span of three months,” Zverev said.
“I think God has seen how hard we’ve worked, how much we’ve suffered, how much pain we went through and I think that 2026 is the outcome of all the years that happened before.”
SCARS OF 2020
Zverev had come agonisingly close to capturing his maiden Grand Slam title in New York in 2020, leading Dominic Thiem by two sets to none and later serving for the match in the fifth set before losing.
He finally won his first major crown at this year’s French Open after defeating Flavio Cobolli in five sets, and the German doubled his tally in New York despite making a shaky start to the fortnight.
He also reached the Wimbledon final this year, falling to Jannik Sinner in four sets.
“The scars of the 2020 (U.S. Open) final, they disappeared after I won in Paris. I said at Wimbledon, though I lost in the final, I enjoyed the match … enjoyed playing on Centre Court in front of an amazing crowd,” Zverev said.
“Before winning in Paris, I felt a lot of stress all the time, because there was always a question mark. ‘Will I ever win one?’ Now it’s more of a joy to play those kinds of finals.”
With Sinner sidelined by a knee injury and Carlos Alcaraz having just returned from a wrist problem, Zverev reluctantly accepted that he was the man to beat in men’s tennis after a strong finish to the Grand Slam season.
“Four or five months ago, when both of them were healthy, I wasn’t. I was losing to Jannik all the time,” he added.
“So if everyone is healthy, Jannik is still ahead. It’s as simple as that.”
The home fans were desperate to see Shelton end a 23-year American men’s Grand Slam drought but the eighth seed never found his top form in his first major final.
“I know that today 99.9% of the people wanted Ben to win so I’m very sorry,” said Zverev. “Even though I know that the crowd was against me, the crowd was always incredibly fair and we as players we appreciate it.”
Zverev was so focused on the job at hand, he did not even realise he had won the title when Shelton smacked a service return long.
As the umpire announced ‘Game, set and match Zverev’, the German headed back to the baseline, ready to receive Shelton’s serve.
It took him a few seconds to register why the cheering fans were giving him a standing ovation — as he belatedly cracked a smile and ran to the net to embrace Shelton.
He was beaming again as he was handed a Grand Slam record $5.5 million winner’s prize.
ZVEREV GETS HOT START
In a battle between two of tennis’ most explosive players, it was Zverev who had all the early firepower, as Shelton’s inexperience showed with a double fault on break point in the opening game.
Shelton produced one of the points of the match in the sixth game, scrambling to reach a drop shot and prevailing in a tense exchange at the net.
Encouraged by his team, the American mixed in serve-and-volley tactics in an attempt to shift the momentum, but the move proved ineffective and he handed Zverev the set with a double fault.
The partisan crowd tried to get under Zverev’s skin in the second set, cheering wildly after he produced a double fault in the ninth game. But the German refused to get distracted, surging to a 5-0 lead in the tiebreak as the fans desperately chanted “Let’s go, Ben!”
Zverev looked like he would roll to the finish line in the third set as he saved a break point in the sixth game with a lethal backhand winner.
Shelton’s frustration boiled over two games later when he slipped and crashed to the court, prompting the American to let out an expletive.
But Shelton dug in his heels, subduing his opponent with a series of powerful groundstrokes from the baseline to break serve and force a fourth set.
Shelton’s resilience only delayed the inevitable as Zverev came through a 25-shot rally to secure an early break in the deciding set. He never let go of that advantage as he finally got the chance to hoist the US Open trophy on his 11th appearance at the hardcourt major.
“My successes are a gift, the failures are a gift, and being here playing in front of you guys is a gift,” said Shelton, the first Black American man in 54 years to contest the New York final after Arthur Ashe.
Source: Khaleej Times