Zverev Wins U.S. Open, Extends American Men's Grand Slam Drought

On a Sunday evening at Flushing Meadows, Alexander Zverev claimed the 2026 U.S. Open men's singles title, defeating young American Ben Shelton in four sets and quietly extending one of sport's more melancholy streaks: no American man has lifted this trophy on home soil since Pete Sampras did so in 1995. The victory belongs to Zverev's craft and composure, but the story that will linger belongs to an absence — thirty-one years of a nation waiting at its own tournament. Elena Rybakina took the women's title, yet it is the men's final that holds the deeper echo.