Tennis-Shelton bids to end US men's major drought in final with Zverev

Tennis - U.S. Open - Flushing Meadows, New York, United States - September 11, 2026 Ben Shelton of the U.S. celebrates winning his semi final match against Frances Tiafoe of the U.S. with his father, Bryan Shelton REUTERS/Mike Segar

NEW YORK, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Ben Shelton ⁠steps into Arthur Ashe Stadium with 23 years of thwarted national expectations hanging over his head on Sunday and formidable ⁠U.S. Open final foe Alexander Zverev not interested in letting the American play hero for the home fans.

Eighth seed ‌Shelton is one win away from ending the nearly quarter-century-long American men's drought at the Slams, a dry spell that pundits have raisedadnauseam since Andy Roddick last lifted the trophy in Flushing in 2003.

That Shelton will be the first Black American man to play in the New York final in 54 years - since Ashe, the man ​for whom the tournament's showpiece court was named - only deepens the significance.

"For me, this ⁠whole tournament now at this point has been uncharted ⁠territory. I'm in positions I've never been in before," said Shelton, who will play in his first major final.

"I've beaten guys -- beaten ⁠a ‌guy or guys that I have never beaten before. I'm just excited to put it all out on the line."

The hard-hitting American with the monster serve has built up an inspiring body of work over the tournament, beating seven-times major winner Carlos ⁠Alcaraz in a five-set quarter-final thriller.

He recovered from a set down against compatriot Frances ​Tiafoe in the penultimate stage on Friday, ‌showing poise well beyond his 23 years in only his third Grand Slam semi-final.

"Problem-solving has been the name of the ⁠game here," said Shelton.

"I ​feel that I'm a different player. I feel like I have so many more tools. I feel like I know my identity, am comfortable in my own skin, and I know what it takes for me to be playing top-level tennis."

He has one of the trickiest puzzles of his young career ⁠against Zverev, the tournament's top seed who has triumphed in all five of ​their prior meetings and has far more experience on tennis's biggest stages.

The German endured his share of Grand Slam heartbreak before taking his maiden major title atRoland Garros this summer and suffered one of the most gut-wrenching defeats in U.S. Open history six years ago when he squandered ⁠a two-set lead against Dominic Thiem in the title match.

"It was my first Grand Slam final. I was inexperienced. I was still a young guy, I would say. Yeah, just different. Everything is different," said Zverev, who played in two more major finals before lifting the French Open trophy.

"There was question marks, there was doubts whether I was ever going to win one for sure. I talked about it ​quite openly before. Now that I've won one, it's okay."

Zverev appeared destined for more tears this ⁠time around with a shaky start to the tournament, with five-set marathons in the opening two rounds that stretched deep into the night.

The uninspiring ​early campaign led him to wonder whether his title attempt was "pointless" - but he quieted ‌those doubts quickly, winning his last four matches in New York in ​straight sets.

"Ben is just a big, powerful guy," said Zverev, who has 87 aces across the tournament to 71 from Shelton. "Massive serve, massive groundstrokes. Everything he does is just big."

(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; editing by Clare Fallon)

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网球——美国网球公开赛——美国纽约法拉盛草地网球中心——2026年9月11日，美国选手本·谢尔顿在半决赛战胜美国选手弗朗西斯·蒂亚福后，与父亲布莱恩·谢尔顿庆祝胜利。（路透社/迈克·塞加尔摄）

纽约，9 月 12 日（路透社）——周日，本·谢尔顿将带着 23 年来未能实现的全国期望，踏入阿瑟·阿什球场。而他强大的美网决赛对手亚历山大·兹维列夫也不打算让这位美国选手在家乡球迷面前成为英雄。

八号种子谢尔顿距离结束美国男子网球在大满贯赛事中近四分之一世纪的冠军荒仅差一场胜利。自安迪·罗迪克 2003 年在法拉盛最后一次捧起奖杯以来，美国男单一直处于冠军荒，评论员们对此津津乐道。

谢尔顿将成为 54 年来第一位在纽约决赛中亮相的非裔美国男子球员——自阿什以来，这位球员正是该赛事主球场的命名者——这更凸显了比赛的意义。

“对我来说，整个赛事目前都是一片未知领域。我正处于我从未经历过的境地，”谢尔顿说道，这将是他首次参加大满贯决赛。

“我打败了一些人——打败了一些我以前从未打败过的对手。我非常兴奋，迫不及待地想要全力以赴。”

这位击球强劲、发球威力十足的美国选手在本届赛事中取得了令人鼓舞的成绩，并在五盘大战中击败了七届大满贯冠军卡洛斯·阿尔卡拉斯，晋级四分之一决赛。

周五，在倒数第二轮比赛中，他先失一盘，逆转战胜同胞弗朗西斯·蒂亚福，展现出远超他23岁年龄的沉着冷静，而这仅仅是他第三次闯入大满贯半决赛。

“解决问题一直是这里的关键所在，”谢尔顿说道。

“我觉得自己像变了一个人。我觉得自己掌握了更多技巧。我觉得自己更了解自己，更自在，也更清楚自己需要付出什么才能达到顶尖网球水平。”

在他短暂的职业生涯中，他将面临最棘手的难题之一——对阵兹维列夫，后者是本次比赛的头号种子，在之前的五次交锋中全部获胜，并且在网球最高舞台上拥有更丰富的经验。

这位德国选手在今年夏天于罗兰·加洛斯赢得他的首个大满贯冠军之前，经历了不少大满贯的失利。六年前，他在美网决赛中挥霍了两盘领先优势，最终被多米尼克·蒂姆逆转，遭遇了美网历史上最令人心碎的失利之一。

“那是我第一次打进大满贯决赛。我当时缺乏经验，还很年轻。是的，一切都不一样了，”兹维列夫说道。在赢得法网冠军之前，他又打进了两项大满贯决赛。

“之前一直充满疑问，怀疑自己是否真的能赢。我以前也公开谈论过这个问题。现在我赢了，一切都好。”

兹维列夫这次似乎注定要再次泪洒赛场，他在本次赛事的开局表现不稳定，前两轮比赛都打满了五盘，一直持续到深夜。

赛季初期的糟糕表现让他开始怀疑自己冲击冠军是否“毫无意义”——但他很快就打消了这些疑虑，在纽约的最后四场比赛中均以直落两盘获胜。

“本（谢尔顿）身材高大，力量惊人，”兹维列夫说道，他在本届赛事中已经轰出87记ACE球，而谢尔顿只有71记。“他的发球势大力沉，底线击球也极具威胁。他做的每件事都气势磅礴。”

（纽约 Amy Tennery 报道；Clare Fallon 编辑）

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