Alexander Zverev believes he is currently the best tennis player in the world following his US Open victory.
German Zverev beat Ben Shelton in the final on Sunday to the bitter disappointment of the home crowd in New York.
Zverev was playing in his sixth major final and Shelton his first, and it showed in a 6-3 7-6 (7-2) 5-7 6-2 victory that extinguished America's hopes of a first male winner since Andy Roddick in 2003.
The 29-year-old has been the dominant player in Grand Slams in a season that has seen Carlos Alcaraz, who won this year's Australian Open, exit the US Open in a quarter-final defeat by Shelton after a long injury lay-off while world No 1 Jannik Sinner pulled out injured before the tournament began after winning Wimbledon.
Zverev finally broke through to win his first major at the French Open, then reached the final at the All England Club, losing to Sinner.
He is 25-2 in Grand Slam matches in 2026 and Zverev believes he is currently the best in the world.
"You have to take everything into consideration," he said. "With Jannik Sinner being injured and Carlos Alcaraz coming back from injury after four months, right now, probably yes. Both of them healthy and both of them at the top of their game, maybe not.
"But if we say right, right now with Jannik being injured and Carlos coming back from injury, maybe. I mean, four, five months ago when both of them were healthy, I wasn't. I was losing to Jannik all the time. So if everyone is healthy, I think Jannik is still ahead. It's as simple as that."
Zverev was so focused on the job at hand, he did not even realise he had won the title when Shelton smacked a service return long.
As the umpire announced 'Game, set and match Zverev', the German headed back to the baseline, ready to receive Shelton's serve.
It took him a few seconds to register why the cheering fans were giving him a standing ovation - as he belatedly cracked a smile and ran to the net to embrace Shelton.
Speaking to Your Site Tennis, he said: "I thought the score was 5-1! I knew that I had broken him twice, but I thought he only held once.
"I was thinking: 'Okay, I'm going to have a relaxed service game here and then I'll get tight on the next one.' It was lucky for me!
"It's actually funny, teachers in tennis say play each point and forget about the score. Well I forgot about the score and it helped me!"
Shelton said he was eager to get another taste of the spotlight on tennis' biggest stage.
"It's such a cool moment. Walking out on that court today, there's nothing like it. I've never felt anything like that before. Yeah, it's an addictive feeling being in positions like this," said the 23-year-old.
The USTA previously pointed to Taylor Fritz's 2024 campaign as a sign of progress, after announcing a massive overhaul to its player development programme in 2008.
The sport's national governing body has also moved to diversify its talent in a partnership announced last year with American Tennis Association, focusing on building Black representation in an overwhelmingly white sport.
Shelton made history just by stepping onto the court on Sunday as the first Black American man to play in the New York final in 54 years - since Arthur Ashe, the man for whom the tournament's showpiece court was named.
"I don't think I'm anywhere near the player that I want to be. I think I'm a great competitor. I think I compete really well out there on the court," said Shelton.
"I'm able it stay focused and stay there on the court for many, many hours. I think that's going to help me in the future moving forward."
"The perseverance and the way Zverev's game has improved over the last 12 months," said the 2004 US Open semi-finalist.
"I was looking back at his Grand Slam results, and his game was going backwards.
"But he has transformed himself to be more aggressive, and when you reflect on this matchup, Zverev had beaten Shelton five times in a row.
"Shelton had to change the narrative, but Zverev looked so comfortable.
"Shelton did a great job getting that third set, but losing his serve first game of the fourth settled Zverev down and gave him more energy. He coasted to the line from there."
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