New York, Sep 14 — After clinching his second major of his career and second Garnad Slam of the year, Alexander Zverev, who deafeated Ben Shelton in the final, said he did not realise he had won championship point and clinched his first US Open title.
Zverev, who was contesting his sixth Grand Slam final and third this year, defeated American Ben Shelton, who had never before reached that stage in his career, 6-3, 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-2.
After winning the championship point, the 29-year-old German stayed behind to the baseline, preparing to receive Shelton’s serve. It was only when he looked around the stadium, with his team telling him the match was over and he had become the US Open champion.
"In that moment, I was in the zone a lot. I didn't hear noise at all," Zverev shared during the post-match press conference. "I was in this kind of tunnel where I just didn't hear anything. Also, when the crowd is loud, it's impossible to hear the umpire, so I didn't hear that she said, ‘Game, set, match’. At the end of the day, I just forgot the score. I just thought it was 5-1 instead of 6-2."
After winning his first major title at Roland Garros in June and following it up with US Open, the world No. 2 German believes those old scars of suffering a heartbreaking defeat in 2020 final finally disappeared.
"I think the scars of the 2020 final, they kind of disappeared after I won in Paris," Zverev admitted. "I said it at Wimbledon. Even though I lost the final, I enjoyed the match. I enjoyed being in the Grand Slam final, I enjoyed playing on Centre Court, and I enjoyed playing in front of an amazing crowd, in front of some celebrities and all that. I enjoyed doing that.
"Whereas before winning in Paris, I felt a lot of stress all the time, because there was always a question mark: ‘Will I ever win one?’ What I think now is just more of a joy to play those kinds of finals."
Zverev also praised 23-year-old Shelton, who has won four ATP Tour titles this year and was competing in his first Grand Slam final.
"I think he's very talented, but he's very close to the hard work as well," Zverev said of Shelton. "You see him and his father all the time after matches, before matches, working on different things, and every single year he keeps improving something. I just played him today. I think this was the best backhand he's ever hit against me, the most consistent power. There was everything there.
"I remember a couple of years ago when I first played him, he was always dangerous, he always had that serve, and he always had that forehand. But if you played three, four balls back, there would be an error, and that was absolutely not the case today."