Ben Shelton and Alexander Zverev will battle for the US Open title on Sunday, September 13, with both men chasing their first championship at Flushing Meadows.
The final at Arthur Ashe Stadium will produce a new champion after defending champion Carlos Alcaraz was knocked out by Shelton in the quarter-finals.
For Shelton, the stakes go beyond the title. The 23-year-old American is bidding to end a 23-year wait for the United States to produce a men’s Grand Slam singles champion. Andy Roddick was the last American man to achieve the feat when he won the US Open in 2003.
Shelton is also aiming to become the first Black American man to win the US Open since Arthur Ashe in 1972. He has already become the first Black American man since Ashe to reach the final in New York.
The eighth seed has fought through a demanding route to the championship match. Shelton needed four sets to beat Tallon Griekspoor in the opening round and Hubert Hurkacz in the second before overcoming Denis Shapovalov in four sets.
He then defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets before producing one of the biggest wins of his career against Alcaraz.
Shelton recovered from a set down to beat the second seed 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6(7), ending Alcaraz’s run of 13 consecutive Grand Slam wins against American opponents.
He followed that with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 victory over Frances Tiafoe in an all-American semi-final to reach his first Grand Slam final. Shelton had previously reached the US Open semi-finals in 2023 and the Australian Open semi-finals in 2025.
Standing in his way is a far more experienced Zverev. The 29-year-old German is appearing in his sixth Grand Slam final and second US Open final. He lost his first final in New York to Dominic Thiem in 2020.
Zverev has enjoyed a strong 2026 season, winning the French Open and reaching the Wimbledon final. A victory on Sunday would give him his second Grand Slam title of the year.
The top seed survived two five-set battles in his opening two rounds, beating Lorenzo Sonego before overcoming Quentin Halys in a match that lasted four hours and 33 minutes.
He then found his rhythm, beating Alejandro Tabilo, Luciano Darderi and Botic van de Zandschulp before defeating Karen Khachanov in the semi-finals.
The run has taken Zverev to his fourth Grand Slam semi-final of the year and 13th of his career. Zverev will enter the final with a significant advantage in their head-to-head record. He has won all five previous meetings with Shelton, taking 10 of the 11 sets they have played.
Their most recent meeting came at the 2025 ATP Finals, while Zverev also won their previous encounter in Cincinnati. However, they have never met at a Grand Slam, making Sunday’s final their first meeting on the sport’s biggest stage.
Zverev has also been dominant against left-handed players, winning 44 of his last 45 matches against them. Shelton, though, has already shown during this tournament that he can handle the biggest challenges.
A win would not only give him his first Grand Slam title but also make him the first American man since Roddick to win a major and the first Black American man since Ashe to lift the US Open trophy.
Zverev, meanwhile, will be looking to use his experience and dominant head-to-head record to deny Shelton a place in history.
