ATP Tour

Zverev didn't know it was championship point! 'I was in the zone'

Alexander Zverev was so locked in during his US Open final victory against Ben Shelton that did not realise he had won.

After winning the championship point, the 29-year-old stayed behind to the baseline, preparing to receive Shelton’s serve. It was only when he looked around the stadium, with his team telling him the match was over, that he realised he had just become the US Open champion.

"In that moment, I was in the zone a lot. I didn't hear noise at all," Zverev shared. "I was in this kind of tunnel where I just didn't hear anything. Also, when the crowd is loud, it's impossible to hear the umpire, so I didn't hear that she said, ‘Game, set, match’. At the end of the day, I just forgot the score. I just thought it was 5-1 instead of 6-2."

The bizarre moment also helped Zverev avoid the nerves that had troubled him in his previous US Open final. In 2020, the German was just two points away from beating Dominic Thiem for the title, serving for the championship in the fifth set, before suffering a heartbreaking defeat.

Now, after winning his first major title at Roland Garros in June and following it up with another major crown in New York, the No. 2 player in the PIF ATP Rankings Zverev believes those old scars have finally disappeared and now he plays more freely when is in a Grand Slam final.

"I think the scars of the 2020 final, they kind of disappeared after I won in Paris," Zverev admitted. "I said it at Wimbledon. Even though I lost the final, I enjoyed the match. I enjoyed being in the Grand Slam final, I enjoyed playing on Centre Court, I enjoyed playing in front of an amazing crowd, in front of some celebrities and all that. I enjoyed doing that.

"Whereas before winning in Paris, I felt a lot of stress all the time, because there was always a question mark: ‘Will I ever win one?’ What I think now is just more of a joy to play those kinds of finals."

Zverev is now enjoying the most successful stretch of his career at majors. After losing his first three Grand Slam finals, the 29-year-old has now won two of his last three, while also reaching the Australian Open semi-finals this year.

For the 29-year-old, however, his success has never been about relying on talent alone. Zverev believes his success has been built primarily through years of relentless work.

"I think I'm up there, because I've said it before, I don't think I'm the most talented in any way," Zverev admitted. "I don't think I'm a God-given talent like some other guys are. I think most of my tennis is through hard work, through a lot of hours spent on the court, and through a lot of hours spent in the gym and on the track. That's how I play tennis."

It is a quality that Zverev also sees in 23-year-old Shelton, who has won four ATP Tour titles this year and was competing in his first Grand Slam final. The German was particularly impressed by how much Shelton’s game has evolved.

"I think he's very talented, but he's very close to the hard work as well," Zverev said of Shelton. "You see him and his father all the time after matches, before matches, working on different things, and every single year he keeps improving something. I just played him today. I think this was the best backhand he's ever hit against me, the most consistent power. There was everything there.

"I remember a couple of years ago when I first played him, he was always dangerous, he always had that serve, and he always had that forehand. But if you played three, four balls back, there would be an error, and that was absolutely not the case today."