Alexander Zverev’s post-match comments about Ben Shelton have prompted backlash after his US Open final win.

The German captured his first US Open title and second Grand Slam of 2026 by defeating Shelton 6-3, 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-2 on Sunday. It was a fitting finish to a tournament that had not started smoothly, with Zverev pushed to five sets in each of his first two matches before gradually finding his rhythm. By the time the final arrived, he produced his strongest performance of the event.

Shelton, meanwhile, had arrived at the final as one of the standout players of the tournament. Before the championship match, he had recorded notable wins over Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alcaraz, and Tiafoe.

Zverev was sharper from the baseline and managed to blunt Shelton’s returning threat in a contest that lasted three hours and 33 minutes. Afterward, he highlighted the improvement in Shelton’s game and credited the work the American has done with father and coach Bryan Shelton.

He said, “You see him and his father all the time after the matches, before the matches, working on different things. Every single year he keeps improving something.

“I just played him today. I think this was the best backhand he’s hit ever against me, the most consistent power; there was everything there.

“I remember a couple of years ago when I first played him, he was always dangerous, he always had that serve and that forehand. But if you hit three or four balls to his forehand, there would be an error. That was absolutely not the case today.”

However, other remarks from Zverev were less well received. The French Open champion suggested it was a “mistake” for Tiafoe and Alcaraz to give Shelton pace on the backhand side.

That view did not sit well with some observers online, with criticism quickly following. Shelton’s path to the final included a tiebreak win over Alcaraz in the quarter-finals and a four-set comeback against Tiafoe in the semi-finals.

Alcaraz reached the US Open quarter-finals after more than four months away with a wrist injury. He remains on seven majors and is the youngest player ever to complete the career Grand Slam.

Celebrations can sometimes arrive too early in sport, but Alexander Zverev experienced the opposite on Sunday.

The German finished off a four-set victory over Ben Shelton to claim his first US Open title, yet for a brief moment in Arthur Ashe Stadium he appeared unaware that the match, and the tournament, was already his. Zverev turned away and seemed to be preparing for the next point before the announcement of the score and the reaction of the crowd finally made the outcome clear.

It was an unusual finish to a major final, and one that caught the attention of Andy Roddick. At first, the American wondered whether Zverev had simply been borrowing from Elena Rybakina’s understated style of celebration. Roddick then made clear that the German had not been acting at all, but had genuinely not realised he had won.

On the latest episode of Served, Roddick said, “He did something that I am pretty sure no one has ever done. Won a Slam without knowing he won a Slam.

“Is he going full Rybakina? He comes on the [ESPN] desk and says, ‘I thought it was 5-1’. He goes, ‘My team yelled at me, I looked up’. Are you the first person who just looked up and realised you won a Slam? That was insane.”

Roddick compared the moment to Roger Federer’s similar mix-up against Kei Nishikori in 2014. In that case, Federer had completed a two-set win in the semi-finals of a German event, but briefly failed to recognise that the match was over. After Nishikori missed a backhand, Federer celebrated, returned to the baseline, then realised his error, laughed, and embraced his opponent at the net.

Federer’s career haul of 20 majors remains far above Zverev’s two, but on this particular measure, the German has the edge.

Alexander Zverev enters the 2026 US Open final as the player many expect to beat, with Rick Macci calling him the clear favourite and saying Ben Shelton will need something extraordinary to take the title.

Zverev, the reigning French Open champion, is contesting his third straight Grand Slam final this season. He was also in the Wimbledon final in July, where he lost to Jannik Sinner in four sets. This will be the German’s sixth major final overall. His previous championship matches at this level came at the US Open in 2020, Roland Garros in 2023 and the Australian Open in 2025, all of which ended in runner-up finishes.

Shelton, by contrast, is reaching this stage of a major for the first time. He had previously fallen in the semifinal round in his last two chances to move into a final.

The head-to-head record also leans heavily toward Zverev. He leads 5-0 against Shelton and has surrendered only one set in their meetings, that coming in their first match in 2024.

Macci, who has worked with Venus and Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and Andy Roddick, believes the evidence points strongly in one direction. “The US OPEN MENS FINALS is 100% a ZVEREV match to lose,” he wrote on social media. “He is a heavy favourite and has been there done that.

“His serve is the Z FACTOR OR X FACTOR. His cutter on the deuce court is world-class, and German Jackhammer up the T delivers 138mph with gas.

“Most people want Big Ben to be last one standing at the end. If he pulls a rabbit or Gator out of his hat will be the first American since Roddick to win it and get off the mat.”

Shelton does have support from the New York crowd, along with a serve that remains one of his biggest weapons. Macci said the key for the American is to hold serve and handle pressure when rallies turn tense.

“Shelton has to fire up the American crowd to be wild and loud, jumping and pumping. He has a real shot to win this Slam; holding serve is the key and getting out of a jam,” Macci wrote.

He added: “Shelton has improved a lot mentally. He is more focused on most points and as a result competes better start to finish.”