{"id":2782,"date":"2026-09-12T17:18:56","date_gmt":"2026-09-12T17:18:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/?p=2782"},"modified":"2026-09-12T17:18:56","modified_gmt":"2026-09-12T17:18:56","slug":"us-open-final-between-alexander-zverev-and-ben-shelton-predicted-by-former-champion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/?p=2782","title":{"rendered":"US Open final between Alexander Zverev and Ben Shelton predicted by former champion"},"content":{"rendered":"

The men\u2019s singles final at this year\u2019s US Open between Alexander Zverev<\/a> and Ben Shelton has been predicted by former champion Andy Roddick, who believes the showpiece match will be \u2018exciting\u2019 for fans.<\/p>\n

Zverev<\/a> and Shelton<\/a> will contest the showpiece match at the final Grand Slam of the season, in what will be their sixth meeting on tour.<\/p>\n

The German defeated Karen Khachanov in straight sets in the semi-finals, while the American overcame fellow countryman Frances Tiafoe in a highly entertaining four-set clash.<\/p>\n

In their previous five meetings, it is the world No 2 who has come out on top, with 10 of their 11 sets also going his way.<\/p>\n

Zverev will enter the match searching for a second Grand Slam title of the season, while Shelton will contest his maiden showpiece match at such an event.<\/p>\n

Additionally, the eighth seed is looking to become the first American man to win a singles Grand Slam title since Roddick at the 2003 US Open.<\/p>\n

The former champion weighed in with his analysis of the final and heaped praise on the younger star following his match against Tiafoe.<\/p>\n

More Tennis News<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Andy Roddick demands drastic rule change after Alexander Zverev US Open controversy<\/a><\/p>\n

Ben Shelton\u2019s father reveals Rafael Nadal call that helped American reach US Open final<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cBen\u2019s focus the last two matches has been different,\u201d said Roddick during an episode of his Served with Andy Roddick podcast.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has been head down, he has been a little mean looking, not as jokey, not as much of a laugh. He has been a full adult in the last two matches.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s smouldering intensity. I love it. He had his head down against Alcaraz. He had his head down against Foe.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was weird. I don\u2019t know if I have been to a sporting event where there was more excitement about the event with less clarity about how we were going to act.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think they were both trying to manufacture some energy, but it was this weird thing where [the crowd] was full of pride and hope. We definitely were not cheering against anyone.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou were cheering for good tennis, and you like both of them, but it will be different on Sunday!\u201d<\/p>\n

Even if he does not ultimately lift the coveted trophy, Shelton has already made history by becoming the first Black American male to reach the final in New York since Arthur Ashe in 1972.<\/p>\n

As a result of the 23-year drought, Shelton will have overwhelming crowd support, a dynamic which Roddick does not believe will affect Zverev.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think Sascha is going to care much about the crowd,\u201d claimed the former US Open champion.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe finished winning a Slam this year. I think him winning in Roland Garros will help him deal with this.<\/p>\n

\u201cBen is going to have to be situationally smart when he uses the crowd. I don\u2019t think he needs to use every single point throughout this match. I think he needs to use them when he wants Sascha to hear them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis will be exciting. It\u2019s two of the biggest servers in the game and I think he can do it.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe went to college, made the quarters of Australia the first time when he had been a professional tennis player for three months.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a process, and he\u2019s had to go through those stages.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I agree [he is a Grand Slam champion in waiting] and it would be pretty fun that if it is on Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n

The post US Open final between Alexander Zverev and Ben Shelton predicted by former champion<\/a> appeared first on Tennis365<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The men\u2019s singles final at this year\u2019s US Open between Alexander Zverev and Ben Shelton has been predicted by former champion Andy Roddick, who believes the showpiece match will be \u2018exciting\u2019 for fans. Zverev and Shelton will contest the showpiece match at the final Grand Slam of the season, in what will be their sixth […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2782"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2782\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}