New York - 09/14
Good morning and welcome back to TIE-Breakfast: all the tennis you need at breakfast.
Ace Cream's daily newsletter during Masters 1000s and Grand Slams, every morning at 8:30.
Today is Monday, September 14, in New York it's 2:30 AM and it's 22 degrees. OK, let's get started.
On the menu today
- 🇩🇪 Zverev beats Shelton to claim his first US Open
- 🇺🇸 Shelton loses the final and is now world number 4
WHAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY:
🇩🇪 Zverev Wins The US Open
Alexander Zverev beat Ben Shelton 6-3, 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-2 in three hours and thirty-three minutes, on Arthur Ashe with the roof open, and won his first title in New York.
It's his second Slam of the season after Roland Garros, and he's the second German to win here since Boris Becker, thirty-seven years ago. In major matches this year, Zverev closed the season with a 25-2 record. For years the conversation around him was about what he was missing, and now he has two titles, in a season where Sinner skipped New York with a right knee issue and Alcaraz stopped in the quarterfinals. Afterward he told it his own way: at certain points he was so deep in the match he stopped hearing the noise around him.
🇺🇸 Shelton Falls One Step Short
Ben Shelton lost the first Slam final of his career, and the American wait goes on: no US man has won a major since Andy Roddick's US Open in 2003.
Shelton is the first Black player to reach the final here since Arthur Ashe in 1972, with Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe watching from the stands. The break in the last game of the third set, Zverev's first dropped serve after sixty-six straight holds, was the moment the final looked like it might swing back open, and then the German opened the fourth set with another break. It's still a huge tournament for him, built in part on the quarterfinal win over defending champion Alcaraz, which puts him at world number 4 as of today. At the trophy ceremony he told Zverev he's one of the best in the world, maybe the best this year, and it didn't sound like a courtesy line.
Further reading
- Zverev wins the 2026 US Open: Shelton beaten in 4 sets
- LIVE US Open, men's final: Zverev wins in four sets for his second Slam
Enjoy your breakfast, and have a good day.
See you on October 8 at 08:30 with TIE-Breakfast
