Ending the Year With a Slam
The US Open Concludes With Two New Champions
On Sept. 13, the 2026 US Open tennis tournament came to a close. On the men's side, top seed Alexander Zverev won the men’s title, beating American 8th seed Ben Shelton in four sets. On the women’s side, 2nd seed Elena Rybakina defeated top seed and two-time champion Aryna Sabalenka in three sets to become No. 1 in the Women’s Tennis Association’s (WTA) world rankings.
In the men’s draw, the eventual champion Zverev survived his first two rounds, dropping two sets in both opening matches and coming within two points of defeat in his Round of 128 match. He then rolled through the rest of his draw, not dropping a set until the final against Shelton. Shelton encountered longer, harder matches in every round, losing six sets across his first five matches. In his quarterfinal match, Shelton shocked 2nd seed and two-time champion Carlos Alcaraz in five sets, winning 6-7 (5-7), 6-1, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (10-7) and finishing at 3:33 a.m. Entering the final, Shelton started slow against Zverev, dropping the first two sets as he failed to find his rhythm in the match. In the third set, Shelton clawed back, winning it at 7-5, but lost his momentum and serve early in the fourth set, losing the match 3-6, 6-7 (2-7), 7-5, 2-6. Zverev has won two Grand Slams this year, and now has added his first US Open title.
Meanwhile, in the women’s draw, top seed Sabalenka tore through her matches, dropping just one set before reaching the finals. 2nd seed Rybakina only dropped two, losing the opening sets of her quarterfinal and semifinal matches before storming back to win them both. In the title match between the pair, Rybakina took the upper hand to start, winning the first set 6-4 with Sabalenka angrily hitting a ball into the crowd. Sabalenka then rallied in the second, prevailing 7-5 to extend the match. However, Rybakina took an early lead in the third as Sabalenka struggled to keep her emotions in check, eventually smashing her racket after the match. Rybakina won 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 to claim her second Grand Slam title of the year. In both titles, she defeated Sabalenka in the finals. In winning this tournament, she denied Sabalenka from becoming a three-time champion at the US Open. Sabalenka was also fined $7,500 for racket and equipment abuse following her outbursts in the final.
In this year’s US Open, there were many notable upset victories by lower-ranked players. In the opening round, unseeded Argentine Mariano Navone shocked four-time champion and 4th seed Novak Djokovic in five sets. Also in the opening round, 10th seed Frenchman Arthur Fils fell to unseeded Greek veteran Stefanos Tsitsipas in four sets. Then, in the Round of 64, unseeded Russian Karen Khachanov upset 3rd-seeded Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime in four sets. On the women’s side, qualifier Qinwen Zheng upset 22nd seed Madison Keys in round three and 8th seed Iga Swiatek in round four. Zheng lost in the quarterfinals to eventual champion Rybakina in three sets.
Overall, this year’s US Open summed up the tennis season in a nutshell. Many players, such as ATP World No. 1 Jannik Sinner, No. 26 Joao Fonseca, and former top five players Holger Rune and Jack Draper were absent from the tournament with injuries, representing an injury-riddled year for many players. Djokovic’s shock upset in the Round of 128 aligned with Juan Manuel Cerundolo’s stunning five-set upset of Sinner at Wimbledon and unranked qualifier Maja Chwalinska’s fairytale run to the Roland-Garros final. With numerous upsets and surprises, the US Open was a fitting end to this year’s Grand Slam season.
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