Zverev holds off Shelton to win US Open six years after bitter Flushing Meadows loss

[p]The top-seeded German, who was within two points of the US Open crown in 2020 but fell in five agonising sets to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/thiem-dominic/dtwmvonR/"]Dominic Thiem[/a], added the trophy to the French Open title he captured this year.[/p][p]He denied [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/shelton-ben/QNuG0Gzb/"]Shelton[/a]'s bid to become the first US man in 23 years to lift a Grand Slam trophy.[/p][p]The 23-year-old Shelton was one month shy of his first birthday when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/roddick-andy/UDkyswKh/"]Andy Roddick[/a] hoisted the 2003 US Open trophy in the last major triumph for a US man.[/p][p]Hopes were high that Shelton could end the drought after his epic five-set quarter-final victory over defending champion [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/alcaraz-garfia-carlos/UkhgIFEq/"]Carlos Alcaraz[/a], and a come-from-behind win over compatriot [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/tiafoe-frances/AHDLJaph/"]Frances Tiafoe[/a] in the semi-finals.[/p][p]But [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/zverev-alexander/dGbUhw9m/"]Zverev[/a]'s all-court excellence [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/shelton-b-QNuG0Gzb/zverev-a-dGbUhw9m/?mid=MyyzpiYp"]proved too much for Shelton[/a], despite the support of a star-studded Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd trying to will the American to victory.[/p][embed guid="9c9b056d-3474-4d86-bd17-522f08332790" url="https://x.com/usopen/status/2099262714094739532" social-type="twitter" /][p]With their backing, Shelton surged in the third set, eliminating the errors that Zverev had ruthlessly exploited.[/p][p]Serving to extend the set, Zverev fell behind 0-40. Shelton fired long on his first set point, but on the second Zverev's forehand volley went wide. Shelton had his first break of the match, and they were headed to a fourth set.[/p][p]Zverev responded immediately, running Shelton ragged through a 24-shot rally until Shelton sailed a backhand wide to drop his serve in the opening game of the fourth set.[/p][image alt="Key match stats" id="dab04f3b-9922-48fd-822f-5c48b69ce3ba" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="d3889fb0-ab98-4cea-9dd1-947f4b289927" original-width="2160" original-height="2700" /][p]Even with a break in hand, Zverev was feeling the tension from a determined Shelton and the hostile crowd.[/p][p]At 30-30 in the fourth game, he received a time violation warning as he prepared to serve, but shook it off and won the game with a crisp crosscourt backhand that put him up 3-1.[/p][p]He rolled home, lifting his arms in triumph after Shelton fired a serve return long on match point and finally received his own huge cheer from the crowd.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/shelton-b-QNuG0Gzb/zverev-a-dGbUhw9m/summary/stats/?mid=MyyzpiYp"]Catch up on all the match stats with Flashscore.[/a][/b][/p][infobox id="3dc51b3a-107f-482b-9173-a97d347ef1b3" /]