The German player defeated his 23-year-old opponent to win his second Grand Slam title of the year.
The match ended in a strange scenario, when Shelton's return serve went out at the decisive point, Zverev hit the ball towards the opponent's court as if preparing for a new game.
Only when looking up at the big screen did Zverev realize that he had won.
This is Zverev's sixth Grand Slam final but Shelton's first. This experience gap was clearly shown in the early stages of the match when the top seed quickly took a 2-0 lead.
Shelton showed resilience to bring the match to the fourth set, but Zverev's 6-3, 7-6 (2), 5-7, 6-2 victory extinguished America's hopes of having a first male champion since Andy Roddick in 2003.
Shelton stepped onto the field in the warm welcome of 23,000 home fans at the stadium named after the legend Arthur Ashe.
The stands gathered many stars, including Pierce Brosnan, an Irish actor who played James Bond. The mischievous filmmaker flicked the camera towards him right when the match clock displayed the number 0.07.
However, Shelton was somewhat overwhelmed when he made a double fault, giving Zverev a free break point in the first game, and repeated that mistake at the decisive point of set 1.
The No. 8 seed could not even create a break opportunity in the first 2 sets, when Zverev continuously launched extremely powerful serves.
Shelton has never beaten Zverev in the previous 5 encounters, but he has also never beaten Stefanos Tsitsipas or Carlos Alcaraz before this tournament. Therefore, he entered the final at Flushing Meadows with great hope.
However, when Zverev relieved the burden of being "the best player who has never won a Grand Slam" thanks to his victory at Roland Garros this year, he completely overwhelmed in the tie-break of set 2.
Shelton tried very hard and finally took advantage of the break point opportunity to win set 3, when Zverev suddenly encountered problems in his serve.
However, the situation of the match was considered settled when Zverev broke serve early at the beginning of set 4.
Zverev's dribbling habit – statistics show he spent about 3 hours out of a total of more than 23 hours of competition over the past 2 weeks just dribbling between serves – caused him to be penalized for time-breaking.
But that was not enough to stop the German player from winning his second Grand Slam title in his career, also the first time in New York) after 3 hours and 33 minutes, not allowing Shelton to become the first black player since Ashe in 1968 to win at Flushing Meadow.
Zverev could not hide his emotion when sharing after the match about the support from the coaching staff and family.
We have gone through 30 years without winning any Grand Slam titles, and then got 2 titles in just 3 months," he said.
I believe that God has witnessed the efforts, hardships and even the pain we have endured. The achievement of 2026 is the result of everything we faced before".
Zverev also mentioned his mother and her help when he was diagnosed with diabetes from a young age.
I want to thank one more person – who has never directly watched me play but is the most important person in my life.
When her 4-year-old son was diagnosed with diabetes and pursuing sports became difficult, a strong mother needed to be able to assert that her son could become anyone he wanted.
This disease will not shape us. I am very happy that we have overcome it together and achieved the results we have today.
