Alexander Zverev has won the US Open, but was apparently just about the last person in the packed stadium in New York to realise it.

The crowd rose to applaud as Zverev held serve in the eighth game of the fourth set to beat Ben Shelton 6-3 7-6 5-7 6-2 at Flushing Meadows on Sunday (Monday AEST).

But the German appeared unaware the match was over, hitting balls back to ball hids and heading for his towel at the back of the court.

“He doesn’t know he’s won,” the American commentators said.

It took a stadium of applauding tennis fans – and Zverev’s brother and former world No.25 Mischa, helpfully seated on the court in the new coaching boxes – to make him realise the match was over and he’d won his second grand slam.

Nine Network commentator Jelena Dokic said Zverev was simply so “locked in” hadn’t realised he’d been on championship point amnd on the brink of a $US5.5 million ($A7.7m) victory.

“I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anything quite like that,” Dokic’s co-commentator, Australian tennis legend Todd Woodbridge said.

“That will go down as one of the great reactions of a grand slam champion.”

After shaking hands with Shelton, Zverev laughed about it to the crowd.

“I know that today 99.9 per cent of the people wanted Ben to win, so I’m very sorry first of all,” Zverev he said.

“But second it was an incredible atmosphere to play in even though I know that the crowd was against me, the crowd was always incredibly fair. We as players appreciate it, you guys brought the noise and energy. Thank you for that.”

It was Zverev won his second major championship after he finally broke through in the majors by winning this year’s French Open.

The No.1 seed in a Grand Slam for the first time, he capitalised on Shelton’s shaky start in his first major final, played a nearly flawless tiebreaker on serve and then turned back Shelton’s comeback attempt in front of a crowd that desperately cheered him on.

Shelton was trying to win the first title by an American man since Andy Roddick won at Flushing Meadows in 2003, as well as become the first black player to win the men’s crown since Arthur Ashe in 1968.

“You’re one of the very best players in the world, maybe the best player in the world this year,” Shelton told Zverev.

Zverev improved to 25-2 in major matches this year and won $US5.5 million, matching the prize earned by women’s champion Elena Rybakina on Sunday AEST as the largest in Grand Slam history.

He thought this title would come in 2020 and still acknowledges it should have. He won the first two sets against Dominic Thiem and got within two points of victory before becoming the first man to blow a two-set lead and lose in the final since 1949.

Whatever ghosts were left from then are long gone now.

Zverev also reached the final at Wimbledon, falling to Jannik Sinner, and became the No.1 seed in New York when the top-ranked Sinner had to withdraw with a knee injury.

“I think God has seen how hard we worked, how much we suffered, how much pain we went through and I think 2026 is the outcome of all the years that happened before,” Zverev said, addressing his team.
Shelton had already eliminated the defending champion when he beat Carlos Alcaraz in a five-set quarterfinal that ended at 3.33am, the latest finish in US Open history.

But he fell short on Sunday in his attempt to become the first man to beat the No.1 and No.2 seeds en route to the US Open title since 1975.

The No.8 seed fell to 0-6 against Zverev, winning a set on Sunday for only the second time.

The 23-year-old Shelton figures to get more chances, but Americans who have grown tired of waiting to celebrate a men’s title wanted it now.

-with AAP