NEW YORK.- He US Open that ended on Sunday left three images to remember: Alexander Zverev lifting his second trophy grand slam, Carlos Alcaraz back on the slopes and Elena Rybakina taking over the reign of Aryna Sabalenka.
Three finals, two titles for Zverev
Zverev’s persistence has been doubly rewarded this year. The German risked going down in history as one of the best tennis players without ever having won a Grand Slam, but in 2026 he has gotten rid of that label.
The one of New York It was his third consecutive Grand Slam final: Zverev was crowned for the first time in Roland Garroswas one step away from the title in Wimbledon after losing to Jannik Sinner and this Sunday he triumphed in the US Open knocking down the local Ben Shelton.
The most critical will point out that the current champion, Alcaraz, was absent from Paris, injured in his right wrist, and the world number one, Sinner, was absent from New York due to a knee problem.
Zverev, in any case, has become the only alternative to the Sinner-Alcaraz duopoly, to the point that, after his victory in Flushing Meadows, It is just under 2,000 points behind Sinner’s world number one.
An exciting end to the season is thus approaching, since Sinner has more than 3,000 points to defend after having won last year in Beijing, Vienna, Paris and the Turin Masters.
Alcaraz delights and calms
In addition to the identity of the winner, the big unknown in this US Open was checking the physical condition of Alcaraz, who had been inactive for more than four months due to the wrist injury.
The defending champion performed at a better level than expected and made the New York public enjoy even in the epic duel against Shelton, who emerged as the winner after three-thirty in the morning.
The image of his US Open will surely be his farewell to the public on the court Arthur Ashe with a smile from ear to ear, happy to have returned to the competition on the scene of his greatest exploits.
Rybakina sweeps everything
Zverev, the only player from the World Top 5 present in the semifinals, was saved from the shipwreck of the rest of the title contenders as Novak Djokovicknocked down for the first time in his debut.
The opposite happened in the women’s team. The semifinals were won by the top four in the world ranking: Sabalenka, Rybakina, Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauffa plenary session that has not occurred since 1975.
The final was between Sabalenka and Rybakina, the great rivalry of women’s tennis, and the Kazakh emerged victorious as at the beginning of the year in the Australian Open.
Rybakina ruined the three consecutive championships in New York that Sabalenka longed for and this Monday also the ousting of world number one, which the Belarusian had held since October 2024.
“We have a great rivalry. We have played a lot of great games, nice finals this season,” commented Sabalenka, anticipating the challenges to come: “If she keeps playing like this, I’m in trouble.”
