ATP Alexander Zverev US Open 2026

Zverev: "I waited 30 years to win a Grand Slam and I have achieved two in three months"

Andrés Tomás Rico - 14 Sep 2026
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Zverev: “I have waited 30 years to win a Grand Slam and I have achieved two in three months.” Photo: Getty Images

Alexander Zverev dominated Ben Shelton in the US Open final to lift his second Grand Slam of his career and the second of the season. Before Roland Garros, the German carried the heavy burden of not having achieved any Grand Slam, with some even starting to label him as the greatest tennis player in history without a major win. But rather than give up, he kept pushing forward, and now that effort is bearing fruit.

And the Hamburg native did not forget this in the trophy ceremony, where before lifting the title that crowns him as the US Open champion, he grabbed the microphone to remind everyone: “I have waited 30 years to win a Grand Slam and I have achieved two in three months”, he said with a laugh.

Alexander Zverev sent a beautiful message to his mother after winning the US Open

He also took the opportunity to speak about Shelton, as well as his team and family: “Ben, you are an incredible player, it’s your first final, but I’m sure you’ll play more finals and win this tournament. I also want to thank his team and his family because they remind me a lot of mine, because you are very united.

And it was then that he moved on to the most emotional part of the speech: “I want to thank one person who never watches my matches, but is the most important person in my tennis life and in my life in general. When your 4-year-old son is diagnosed with diabetes, and the doctors in the office 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 that office and say ‘My son will be wherever he wants to be’.

“If he wants to be a tennis player, he will be a tennis player. If he wants to do something else, he will do something else. But this disease will not define us.’ My mother is the most important and strongest person I know. It takes an incredibly strong woman to do what she did,” stated Alexander Zverev, remembering his mother at such an important moment.
 

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