There is a historic US Open final between Alexander Zverev and Ben Shelton. Alexander Zverev is looking to win his second major of the year after finally breaking through at Roland-Garros. Meanwhile, Ben Shelton is looking to finally break the American men’s major drought. The match is expected to begin at 2 p.m. ET at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Here is my pick and prediction for the US Open final between Zverev and Shelton.
Alexander Zverev vs. Ben Shelton Prediction, Preview
Ben Shelton Preview
History is on the line for Ben Shelton. Not only is this a massive opportunity for his career, but the weight of 23 years of American men’s tennis is on his shoulders. Shelton has bloomed into one of the best players in the world over the past several years, and now the 23-year-old is in his first career major final. Shelton has played excellent tennis at this tournament so far. He finally broke through on the big stage and beat Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals. That win should give him a lot of confidence that he can take down Alexander Zverev as well. Shelton also beat fellow American Frances Tiafoe in the semifinals. Shelton looked very mature over those two matches and seems to be reaching the best form of his career.
Alexander Zverev Preview
Alexander Zverev is having the best season of his career. The various injuries to Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic certainly helped Zverev have a cleared path in these majors, but he has also played excellent tennis. Prior to Roland-Garros, Zverev was 3-7 in major semifinals and 0-3 in major finals. That breakthrough at Roland-Garros was massive for Zverev’s career legacy, but he did follow that up by losing another final to Jannik Sinner at Wimbledon. Zverev is now 1-4 in major finals in his career. This is the second US Open final of Zverev’s career. He made it to the final in 2020, where he blew a 2-0 set lead to Dominic Thiem. Zverev will hope to finally conquer those demons and win his first US Open title.
American Men’s Tennis Major Drought
This is a massive match for men’s American tennis. American women have been excellent over the years, but the men have not won a major in 23 years. In 2003, there were two different American men, Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick, who won majors. Since then, there have been plenty of great American players, but none have been able to reach that mountaintop.
Since Andy Roddick in 2009, there had not been an American men’s major finalist until Taylor Fritz made the 2024 US Open final. Now, Ben Shelton has made it two American finalists at the US Open in three years. Of course, Shelton will hope for a better result than Fritz, who lost in straight sets to Jannik Sinner. This is a massive opportunity for Shelton to break that 23-year drought and become the biggest name in American men’s tennis.
Alexander Zverev vs. Ben Shelton Pick, Best Bet
My best bet is for Ben Shelton to win this match and finally win a men’s singles Grand Slam title for America. Shelton has been much more battle-tested than Zverev in this tournament. That can sometimes be a negative if a player isn’t fresh heading into the final, but Shelton should be in good shape. He had two days off between the quarterfinals and semifinals, and that semifinal match ended up being relatively short for a four-setter. Shelton is also one of the fittest players on tour and should be able to go the distance with Zverev with no issues.
While Alexander Zverev got his breakthrough at Roland-Garros, he clearly has problems in major finals. He is 1-4, and even his one win was pushed to five sets. He was a big favorite over Flavio Cobolli in that final and led two sets to one before giving away the fourth set. It was very reminiscent of Zverev’s blown 2-0 set lead at the 2020 US Open against Thiem. Those memories will inevitably be fresh on Zverev’s mind, especially if this gets to a fifth set.
The American crowd will also be strongly behind Ben Shelton in this match. While he has had support in this tournament, he went up against arguably the most popular player in tennis, Carlos Alcaraz, and then the most popular American player, Frances Tiafoe, over the last two rounds. Now, the New York crowd will be desperate for an American to win the title, and Alexander Zverev is one of the most disliked players on tour. Shelton should use that crowd and his brilliant serve to push for his first career US Open title.
