Shelton's big mistake in the US Open final

Ben Shelton experienced the bitter side of defeat in the 2026 US Open final against Alexander Zverev. The German tennis player executed an impeccable strategy to greatly surpass the American, who faced his first Grand Slam final in front of his home crowd. Beyond the result, the renowned coach Brad Gilbert pointed out the major mistake Shelton made that prevented him from competing on equal terms with 'Sascha'.

Firstly, it is evident that Shelton's serve was not up to par with his previous matches. Zverev, on the other hand, only dropped serve once (in the third set), and had hardly any complications when facing break points. Furthermore, his strategy of playing to Ben's backhand worked perfectly. These two factors are what Gilbert emphasized on 'The Big T Podcast', in addition to his lack of aggression when going for the match.

"I felt that in the first set, Ben had too many serves that allowed Zverev to win the points. And once he gets into the points, there tend to be cross rallies where Zverev's forehand, despite lacking power, against Ben's backhand causes problems, and then many of Ben's backhands go to the center of the court. I think he should have taken a few more risks, run, and look for some forehand shots,” he acknowledged.

Shelton needs to improve his serve

Even though Shelton is a great server, Gilbert states that he has not yet reached the point with his serve where he can stand up to Alexander Zverev, Jannik Sinner, or Carlos Alcaraz when they are at 100%. In fact, 'Sascha' broke Ben's serve four times, showing that the American was not sharp. It's true that Shelton had a higher percentage of first serves than the German, but in points won on the first serve he managed 71%, compared to Alexander's 85%.

"Ben always shows his great variety; he is a great server. But I think to beat Sinners and Zverevs, to consistently beat Alcaraz or Djokovic, you need to bring the fire and hit 25 or 30 aces, which I believe would help him significantly. He maintains his serve very well, but against these guys, he needs that and more serve plus one. I felt that Zverev, by the way they planned the match with his team, simply had a strategy to play against Ben, against whom I have a record of 5-0. It’s not about winning the US Open, it’s about keeping things simple and planning the match against a player I enjoy facing," Gilbert concluded.

It is also important to note that Shelton is 23 years old, and it was his first Grand Slam final. This defeat surely helped him realize what he needs to improve in order to elevate his tennis and compete for Grand Slams. If he can be more efficient with his serve and refine his backhand, he will be a player to watch against the big names in the rankings.

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, El gran error de Shelton en la final del US Open