Alexander Zverev began the season nearing his 29th birthday and without a major title, despite consistent success at every other level of the game.
Eight months later, he’s a multiple Grand Slam champion and closing in on the world No.1 ranking.
Zverev followed his Roland Garros triumph in June with victory at the US Open on Sunday, beating American star Ben Shelton 6-3 7-6(2) 5-7 6-2 to continue his watershed season.
After reaching three consecutive major finals and winning two, he has won 20 of his past 21 Grand Slam matches while completely re-writing his career story.
“We went 30 years without winning a Grand Slam title and now we won two in the span of three months,” Zverev said when addressing his team during the trophy presentation.
"I think God has seen how hard we worked, how much we suffered, how much pain we went through, and I think 2026 is the outcome of all the years that happened before."
It’s been a tennis season notable for health issues afflicting its top two stars. A wrist injury kept reigning Australian Open champion Carlos Alcaraz out of Roland Garros and Wimbledon, while world No.1 Jannik Sinner – who suffered in the heat and bowed out in the second round in Paris – missed the US Open with a knee injury.
Zverev has stepped into the breach as a consistent and reliable force in an increasingly open men’s game.
He was the only player to reach the semifinals at all four Grand Slam tournaments in 2026, and had he converted a 5-3 fifth-set lead in his AO semifinal against Alcaraz, he may well have appeared in all four finals.
Behind a dominant first serve and striking his forehand more aggressively than ever, he broke through for major glory in Paris – after three previous defeats in major finals – and rode that momentum to post a career-best performance at Wimbledon.
“You’re one of the very best players in the world, maybe the best player in the world this year,” Shelton acknowledged during the presentation. “What you’re doing is incredible – the way you’re serving, the way you’re moving and playing.
“You work harder than anyone I know, you put more hours on the court than anyone I know.”
That work continued to pay dividends at Flushing Meadows where after two scratchy five-set performances in rounds one and two, Zverev settled into the tournament and won 13 consecutive sets en route to the final.
The stats did not bode well for Shelton when he lined up against the German in his first major final.
Zverev had won his past 13 Slam matches against left-handers and owned a winning 5-0 record against Shelton, having won the past 10 sets they’d played.
When Zverev made it 11 in a row by winning the first set of Sunday’s final – dropping just one point behind his first serve – it emerged that 30 of the past 33 US Open finals had been won by the player who took the first set.
When he made it 12 in a row thanks to some scorching forehands in the second-set tiebreak, a stat surfaced showing Shelton had never recovered from a two-set deficit, having found himself nine times previously in that position.
Two-sets-to-love up was the position Zverev found himself in during his first Grand Slam final, six years ago against Dominic Thiem on the same court.
And nerves returned deep in the third set when he completely decelerated on his forehand in the 12th game, then wildly missed a volley, to hand Shelton the break – and the third set.
The Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd went wild as Shelton cupped his hand to his ear, leaning into the energy he’d created.
The possibility of a first American men’s US Open champion in 23 years remained alive – until Zverev quickly extinguished such hopes.
After dropping the first two points of the fourth set Zverev won 11 of the next 13, then established a 5-2 lead thanks to a second break of serve.
The top seed was so focused that, upon clinching championship point, he didn’t even realise he’d won.
“I thought the score was 5-1,” he laughed on the ESPN set afterward. “Which helped me – I probably would have served, like, three double faults instead of one. I knew that I’d broke him twice, but yeah, it was a long match, long two weeks. But in the end I’m happy.”
Zverev began the tournament a distant second behind world No.1 Sinner in the rankings, trailing the Wimbledon champion by more than 5000 points.
That gap has since narrowed to 1810 points. It’s still a decent buffer for Sinner, but it’s ground that Zverev – who’s never been higher than world No.2 – could make up as Sinner will be defending points from four ATP titles he won after the US Open in late 2025.
Given the increasing freedom with which Zverev is playing, that could be his next milestone in what is a banner season.
"I'm just enjoying myself. I'm enjoying playing tennis,” said Zverev, only the fourth man in the Open era to win his first two major titles in one season.
“I was very stressed playing the French Open final and winning my first major, but today I was just enjoying being out there. It's a great feeling to have, and I'm happy to be a two-time Grand Slam champion.
“Three months ago, if you'd told me ‘you're going to win one in your career’, I would have signed the paper, and it's like yeah, perfect, great.
“But now sitting here with two trophies in three months? That's unbelievable, that’s undescribable.”