Alexander Zverev of Germany celebrates with the winner's check after defeating Ben Shelton of the United States in their Men's Singles Final match on Day Fifteen of the 2026 US Open at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 13, 2026 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images/AFP)
Doha, Qatar: Alexander Zverev held off Ben Shelton to win the US Open on Sunday, September 13, 2026, claiming the second Grand Slam title of his career months after winning the French Open.
The 29-year-old then touched hearts as he paid tribute to his mother for refusing to let diabetes define his future.
At the trophy presentation, the top-seeded German said, "I want to thank one more person who is never actually watching my matches but is the most important person in my tennis life and in my life in general.
He went on to reveal that he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the age of four, saying, "When your four-year-old son gets diagnosed with diabetes, and 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 those office and to say, 'My son will be whatever he wants to be.'"
To loud cheers, he added, "If he wants to be a tennis player, he will be a tennis player. If he wants to do something else, he'll do something else. But this illness will not define us and I am happy that we worked through it and we're doing things that we are doing right now."
His tribute left his father and longtime coach, Alexander Zverev Sr., in tears.
Zverev then went on to thank his coaching team, including his brother Mischa. “We went almost 30 years without winning a Grand Slam title and now we’ve won two in a span of three months,” he added.
