Alexander Zverev Beats Ben Shelton To Take The US Open Men’s Singles Title In a gripping four-set match, Zverev wins his second Grand Slam , in Arthur Ashe Stadium to take the US Open men’s singles title 6-3, 7-6, 5-7, 6-2. The match was both hard-fought and historic: Shelton was the first Black man to play in the final of the US Open since the stadium’s namesake, Arthur Ashe, in 1972. The packed crowd cheering Shelton on included Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez Bezos, Katies Holmes, Rami Malek, Eiza González, Camila Cabello, Tate McRae, Martha Stewart, Adam Driver, Brad Pitt and Ines de Ramon, Lauren Bush Lauren and David Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Sombr, Chris Pine, a trio of Knicks , and a host of tennis legends including Stan Smith, four-time US Open women’s champion Martina Navratilova, and five-time US Open men’s champion Jimmy Connors, who presented the Tiffany winner’s trophy to Zverev.It’s Zverev’s second Grand Slam title , and was Shelton’s first time playing a major final . Zverev struck early, breaking Shelton’s serve in the very first game of the match, and he didn’t much let up after that, taking the first set, 6-3, behind the kind of monster serve Shelton hadn’t seen much of yet in this Open. Changeovers in the second set featured something most tennis fans were probably seeing for the first time: Zverev, who has Type 1 diabetes and checks his glucose levels throughout his matches, gave himself an insulin injection on two occasions—in the midst of holding down 12 consecutive points on his serve.But that second set was a war of attrition, and it came down to a tiebreak—which Zverev won easily, 7-2, putting the title seemingly within his grasp, yes? Perhaps—only one player at the US Open since 1949 had jumped to a two-sets-to-none lead and then lost the match. But that player was, yes, Zverev, in 2020. And the third set seemed to open the window on that possibility.With two players serving this big, service breaks were extremely rare in this match, but alas: With the crowd increasingly willing him on, Shelton broke Zverev’s serve, and he did it at the perfect moment, stealing the third set, 7-5.What momentum Shelton was riding dissipated early in the fourth set, as his serve was broken, again, in the very first game, and again later in the set, all but assuring that Zverev would serve out the victory, which he did, in odd fashion: After winning what turned out to be match point, Zverev retreated to the baseline, seemingly waiting for Shelton to serve the next game, before realizing in a moment that he’d just won one of tennis’s grandest titles. to Shelton’s father, former pro Brian Shelton, who coaches his son—just as Zverev is coached by his father, Alexander Sr. Shelton was quick to thank his family and his coaching team—what he called “my squad” before turning to “the volunteers, the drivers—my driver Xavier is up there somewhere, I appreciate you man! To the umpires, the ballkids, all the security guards who make me smile every day: This is my happy place, and I wish this tournament never ended.” Next up was Zverev.“We went thirty years without winning a Grand Slam title, and now we’ve won two in a few months,” the newly minted champion said, by way of thanking his team, before thanking the tournament directors, staff, and support teams before getting much more personal.“I want to thank one more person who’s never actually watching my matches but who is the most important person in my tennis life and my life in general,”he said, “because when your four-year-old son gets diagnosed with diabetes and doctors tell you that life and sports will be very very limited for that child, it takes a very very strong mother to walk out of those offices and say ‘My son will be whatever he wants to be. This illness will not define us.’”Corey edits fashion features and profiles—and writes about culture, sports, and travel—for