In short
2026 US Open men’s final recap and implications for the 2027 season. Alexander Zverev wins his second Grand Slam and first US Open, beating American Ben Shelton 6-3, 7-6, 5-7, 6-2. The episode also discusses Zverev’s tactics, Shelton’s missed chances, shot-clock/time-between-serve complaints, and broader “big three” future outlook. It ends with a positive tennis story: first pro men’s match between two openly gay players (Mika Brunel vs João Lucas Reyes da Silva) at the Toulon Challenger.
Guests
Catherine Mitiga, Matt Roberts, David Law (podcast hosts). No external guests appear in the transcript.
Key claims
Zverev “sucked the life” out of Arthur Ashe Stadium by shortening his service motion and playing error-extraction/passively enough; Shelton’s return and big-point execution fell short. Zverev’s “clock” management and maturity were decisive. Shelton cited fatigue and returning challenges; he also criticized long time between first and second serve. Zverev seemingly didn’t realize he’d won the title immediately after the final game.
Notable examples
Zverev’s tie-break aggression in the second set; Shelton’s only major break chance; Zverev’s ESPN quote that Carlos Alcaraz/Tiafoe erred by being too aggressive into Shelton’s backhand; the unusual ending where Zverev didn’t know he’d won.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOZverev's Historic Win
0:46 to 1:00
Discussion on Alexander Zverev's victory over Ben Shelton in the final.
“We try to be your one stop shop for tennis coverage and analysis.”
Match Analysis: Zverev's Performance
1:00 to 3:18
In-depth analysis of Zverev's tactics and emotional approach during the match.
“and first US Open title with a four-set win over American Ben Shelton, 6-3, 7-6, 5-7, 6-2.”
Assessing Ben Shelton's Game
3:18 to 6:16
Reflections on Ben Shelton's performance and expectations during the final.
“we all tried to factor in the Ben Shelton first Grand Slam final element to all this.”
Zverev's Tactical Masterclass
6:16 to 8:12
Exploration of Zverev's tactical approach and strategies against Shelton.
“But I can't say I was hugely surprised overall by how it went.”
Shelton's Challenges Against Zverev
8:12 to 11:18
Analysis of the difficulties Shelton faced in the match against Zverev.
“when he got tight and got broken by Shelton for him to take that third set, apart from that moment, it felt to me like Zverev was really comfortable throughout this match.”
Post-Match Insights
11:18 to 14:00
Discussion on post-match reflections and adjustments made by Zverev.
“Yeah, in that sense, it didn't feel like Shelton had actually closed the gap.”
Zverev and the Shot Clock Controversy
14:00 to 17:40
Discussing Zverev's service pace and the implications of shot clock rules.
“and that happened to be very good for this match-up.”
Unusual Match Ending and Zverev's Focus
17:40 to 21:05
Analyzing the surprising end of the match and Zverev's mental state.
“I think time between first and second serves is an underreported crime in tennis.”
Contextualizing Zverev: Allegations and Broadcast Ethics
21:05 to 26:58
Examining the importance of context regarding Zverev's past allegations in broadcasts.
“how long did you sit in the room waiting for him?”
Contextualizing Zverev: Allegations and Broadcast Ethics
28:06 to 28:21
Examining the importance of context regarding Zverev's past allegations in broadcasts.
“That's tours4tennis.com forward slash podcast.”
Show all 22 chapters
Zverev's Major Wins and Future Impact
28:21 to 31:07
Discussion on Zverev's achievements and future competition with Alcaraz and Sinner.
“The part two where we ask, what does it all mean for the future?”
The Competitive Landscape of Tennis
31:07 to 34:11
Analysis of the current and future dynamics between Zverev, Alcaraz, and Sinner.
“Yeah, and look, I agree with everything David said.”
Ben Shelton's Journey and Potential
34:11 to 40:09
Exploration of Ben Shelton's development and prospects in tennis.
“but I think there's a very deep-rooted insecurity there.”
Positive Tennis News from Austria
40:09 to 42:01
Highlighting the significance of the first professional men's match between openly gay players.
“I wouldn't say he definitely will win the US Open, but I think he can win the US Open.”
Historic Match Between Openly Gay Players
42:20 to 45:40
Discussion of the significance of the first professional men's tennis match between two openly gay players and its impact.
“a real good news, uplifting, heartwarming, positive bit of tennis news today.”
Thanking the Podcast Team
45:40 to 48:44
Hosts express gratitude to the entire team involved in producing the podcast during the US Open.
“We have a few very important thank yous, if you'll allow us a moment of indulgence, as we always do at the end of any Grand Slam because they are such a huge undertaking for us and the whole team.”
Reflections on the US Open Experience
48:44 to 52:35
The hosts reflect on their experiences at the US Open, discussing challenges and memorable moments during the tournament.
“They're our core team, but we would also like, on this occasion, well, always we thank our friends at The Athletic.”
Future Podcast Plans
52:35 to 53:28
Discussion on upcoming podcast episodes, including a review of the US Open and other future shows.
“plus two more editions of Tennis Relived.”
Leo the Mascot Celebration
53:28 to 55:11
Celebrating Leo the dog, the US Open mascot, and his contributions to the event.
“a dog whose work has been recognized by Mary Carrillo.”
Listener Feedback and Trivia
55:11 to 56:00
The hosts read listener feedback and share fun trivia related to tennis.
“Maisie and Roger, hello to our top folks and executive producers Greg, Chris and Jeff.”
Listener Insights and Trivia
56:00 to 58:12
Listeners share trivia and personal stories related to tennis.
“I feel like in the final she was wearing red.”
Farewell and Future Plans
58:12 to 59:14
The hosts reflect on the US Open and share plans for upcoming podcasts.
“And it's been great to chat to you, to chat tennis with you.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:10Matt Roberts:Hello and welcome to the tennis podcast, our final daily tennis podcast from the 2026 US Open here at Flushing Meadows, New York. Today is the end of a long, gruelling, thrilling three weeks for us here at the final Grand Slam of the season. If you're new to what we do, we are me, Catherine Mitiga, Matt Roberts and David Law. We produce shows at least weekly throughout the year, covering the men's and the women's tennis tours. And we travel to all four major tournaments to bring you daily shows wherever you get your podcasts, including YouTube. We try to be your one stop shop for tennis coverage and analysis.
0:51Matt Roberts:Or in the words of Jim Currier, when we stopped by the World Feed commentary booth earlier, You guys watch all the tennis so we don't have to. And the tennis we watched today was top seed Alexander Zverev winning his second Grand Slam title and first US Open title with a four-set win over American Ben Shelton, 6-3, 7-6, 5-7, 6-2. A match with one of the weirdest endings I have ever seen in a major final. We will come on to that. David, what was the story of this match for you?
1:27David Law:The story of it, I think, was a man in Alexander's Verve who played this to perfection in terms of emotional approach and tactical approach. And he also played very, very well too. I just felt the most important thing was that he just sucked all the life out of the Arthur Ashe Stadium by not riling people up. He shortened his service motion so that he wasn't bouncing the ball as much as he had been. He was sort of watching the clock. He got caught once. He got overtime once. But he did everything within his power to not give Ben Shelton anything to get his teeth into, to not give the crowd anything to get the teeth into.
2:14David Law:He did elongate things where it does make you a bit so you almost nod off a bit you know and I think that that all worked to his his favor and he showed his maturity he showed his experience in these situations and I'm afraid from a Ben Shelton point of view he did some things well some things like he's done to get to this position of being in the final but he didn't execute on the big points and time and time again the few chances he set up to give himself the upper hand in a rally and to have to put away a forehand it was absolutely imperative that when he had a forehand to put away that he could do it time and time again he would he would blaze it long and I'm afraid you just can't get away with that you know he fought hard he it was a nice comeback in the third set but I mean I don't I think he's OK with it.
3:08David Law:He's reasoned that this is part of the process, and I think he's right. But on the day, I think he will have regrets that he couldn't do what he sent out to do.
3:17Matt Roberts:I think in our anticipation and our expectations of this match, we all tried to factor in the Ben Shelton first Grand Slam final element to all this. Whoever it is playing their first major final, we rarely expect them to win. It has to be somebody pretty special, I think, to feel like they're the favourite in a first Grand Slam final. And yet I think we all felt like Ben Shelton was the kind of character, if there is one, that might cope with it better than others do. Matt, relative to expectations, given all of that, how did Ben Shelton perform today for you?
3:58Catherine Whitaker:Look, it's really hard to say because I said on the show last night I did not expect Ben Shelton to win. Like, I did think Zverev would win this final. And yet, I do think Ben Shelton fell a little bit short of how I thought he would play. You know, like, the result is not a surprise to me. But I do think three of the sets and the way they felt were a little bit surprising to me. I kind of expected the match to be more like the third set, which was extremely competitive. And Ben Shelton actually won that set. And I wasn't expecting him to win more sets than Zverev today. But I expected it to look like that with Shelton applying pressure.
4:43Catherine Whitaker:And he did just about take his chance in that third set when it came. It was the first time he'd broken Alexander Zverev's serve in something like 67 service games, if you include their previous matches. And it was the first time all day. But I thought he was pretty flat at the start. I mean, losing your serve in the very first game of the match and in a manner that just showed up all the issues that he has in the matchup against a lefty. You know, like he missed the forehands in that game. He served into the backhand and it came back. He tried the drop shot and Alexander Zverev eats up the ground against him if it's not an absolutely perfect drop shot.
5:29Catherine Whitaker:And then in the second set, it was all about him not taking the chances. They weren't big chances. They weren't like break points and stuff, but it was 30 all points and 15, 30 points. He wasn't able to apply the pressure. Whereas on the other hand, you had Alexander Zverev who I think is showing just how much getting the monkey off his back and winning his first Grand Sam title has freed him up in Grand Sam finals. You know, the best two Grand Sam finals he's played by far have been the two most recent ones. The Wimbledon one that he lost and this one today. Someone comfortable in the matchup, looking pretty settled generally and just playing at a level and forcing Shelton to bring it in big moments.
6:16Catherine Whitaker:And Shelton just couldn't do that. But I can't say I was hugely surprised overall by how it went. As you say, very, very hard to win your first major title playing someone who's already won a major. You know, like, that's a really hard thing to do. And with, yes, the support of the crowd, but also the weight, the pressure, the general fatigue of Ben Shelton carrying that mantle through the tournament, you know a four set win for Alexander Zverev is is not hugely surprising to me even if some of it played out a little differently to what I was expecting.
6:54Matt Roberts:Yeah he did say in the press conference just now I was tired before I took to the court today he talked about the the cumulative fatigue of the tournament which is obviously just something he's never experienced before that's not a fitness thing he's one of the fittest guys out there it's just something you can't really prepare for. There was some analysis from Jim Currier and the World Feed broadcast at the end of the second set when things were just getting tight. It was still on serve at this point. And he said, I'll tell you what Zverev is thinking here. Zverev is thinking, how passively can I get away with playing?
7:33Matt Roberts:And I tell you what, the answer is very. He said, Zverev is in error extraction mode here and it's probably going to work. It just struck me that today was kind of a perfect symphony of the right tactic, which was that that's being described there by Courier, and it was the right tactic. It was a tactical masterclass, really, against Ben Shelton, but it's also the way that Zverev is most comfortable playing. That's his default setting. Like it was perfect harmony of those two things today. He just seemed, apart from at the end of the third set, when he got tight and got broken by Shelton for him to take that third set, apart from that moment, it felt to me like Zverev was really comfortable throughout this match.
8:25David Law:Yeah, I'd agree with that. And I think he, for the most part, I totally agree, that's where he is most comfortable and he sort of developed this other side of his game this year to be aggressive and attacking and kind of play like i think most of us have thought well why don't you try and do that more he's developed that because of sinner and alcaras um and against the vast majority of players he doesn't actually need to try to do that it's more of a high wire act anyway and if you're a bit off you may end up a load of unforced errors against the vast majority He can be a backboard and use his pretty extraordinary movement and reach and dexterity.
9:06David Law:He is actually a really good player and probably a lot better player than I realized he was going to be. And and sort of suffocate these opponents, draw the errors out of them. And yet today I think he was playing well. That's the difference is it's taken him a long time in this tournament to play well. and he was very close to going out in the first two rounds, a couple of points against Lorenzo Sonigo. Today, he had the timing. He was able to hit out at times when he decided to and those moments stung Shelton a little bit. But, yeah, he used his experience. It was a masterclass and I'm just a bit surprised that Shelton didn't have more from the start.
9:57And on one hand, I thought,
10:01David Law:given that he lost the first set 6-1 of the tournament and he lost the first set in two other matches, that element wasn't necessarily surprising. I just thought by the time he got to the final that he might be a different beast. And then you've got the fact that it is a final, it's his first Grand Sam final, so maybe that's asking a little too much. and it seemed to affect him more than I anticipated that.
10:24Matt Roberts:I also think possibly, and I don't think anything we said about Ben Shelton's return game up to this point has been wrong about the strides that he's made on it. If you go back and watch Ben Shelton from, what was it, four years ago, three years ago, when he first made the semifinals here and he looked so raw and it was all so built around the serve and he barely had a return game, he has made tremendous strides on it. But we were drawing a lot of conclusions on the basis of match-ups against Francis Tiafoe, not one of the ATP's best servers, and Carlos Alcaraz, who was serving way below the speeds and the levels that we saw pre-wrist injury.
11:08Matt Roberts:It was a different kettle of fish against Alexander Zverev today, and the returns were shown up, as a lot of good players would have been facing that serve.
11:18Catherine Whitaker:Yeah, in that sense, it didn't feel like Shelton had actually closed the gap. You know, it looked like him returning Zverev's serve as in their previous matchups. And as I said, he only had that one break that was only his real chance, really. He wasn't getting to break point even. And Zverev was winning an extraordinary percentage behind his first serve. and it also, you know, it flips the dynamics for Shelton because he's so used to being able to be comfortable in his service games but when he plays Zverev, some of his own strengths on the serve are negated by the match-up and by the fact that Zverev likes to hang back so he can make more returns and Shelton's natural angle of attack is going into the Zverev backhand and Zverev has one of the very best backhands in the world, if not the best, on the men's tour.
12:17So that's tricky for Shelton.
12:20Catherine Whitaker:And I think for me, you know, there's this quote going around that Alexander Zverev gave on ESPN, where he's calling out the tactical mistake that Carlos Alcaraz made and Francis Tiafoe made.
12:32Matt Roberts:He said, against Ben, you don't need to be aggressive all the time. the more pace you play to his backhand, the better he plays. I think that's the mistake Carlos and maybe Francis made.
12:43Catherine Whitaker:And look, it said something, I think, about his ego, that he is prepared to, you know, say that about some fellow players, one of them being Carlos Alcaraz. But I, you know, I do think the analysis is probably quite good there in that what struck me most about Shelton against Alcaraz was how well he stood up to the baseline exchanges. And, you know, it obviously wasn't peak Alcarez, but there were times where it felt like Alcarez was throwing everything at him and they were having these quick-fire exchanges. And Shelton was often coming out on top. And we just didn't see barely any of those sorts of exchanges today because Zverev didn't allow them to happen.
13:28Catherine Whitaker:You know, like there were times where he would take the forehand on, up the line, particularly in the second set tie break. He did step up his aggression there, Zverev, and really wrenched that from Shelton after a long, tight set. But a lot of the time, he was not having to play all that aggressively, and he was hanging back, and he was forcing Shelton to come up with the shots and shrinking the court with his movement and suffocating him with his depth of strike, doing all the things he's very, very comfortable doing and that happened to be very good for this match-up. and Shelton was not able to solve that over the course of the match.
14:11Matt Roberts:The ball bouncing maybe wasn't as big a feature of the match as we were expecting. It wasn't not a feature. In the words of Shelton in his post-match press conference, everyone wants that to be the story. And he didn't say, look, it's not the story. He didn't say it's not a thing. He did talk in quite a lot of detail about the challenges of returning against somebody that is playing at the pace that Zverev is playing at. But it definitely, as you've said, wasn't egregious as it has been in previous matches. There had, I think, been an adjustment on Zverev's part.
14:48David Law:Yeah, I think so. I think he was aware of the fact that this had gained traction and was becoming a talking point. And he didn't want it to be one. You know, he wanted it to be an irrelevance, really, from the outside. And I think he made a conscious effort to keep his eye on that clock because sometimes he came to the line when there were only like 10 seconds to go. And he was releasing the ball after like seven bounces because he knew he hadn't got much time left. So he showed he can do it. He, it's become a thing. He's become aware of it. I think he was clever today. I think he was really clever in the way he kept the crowd out of it.
15:39Matt Roberts:Yeah, I mean, I do think Shelton made a very good point about how he was getting a couple of soft warnings from the umpire about not being ready when Zverev was starting his service motion. so the umpire is judging that the shot clock stops when Zverev starts bouncing the ball i.e. the service motion begins when Zverev starts bouncing the ball. Shelton is saying I'll be ready when he serves like I am playing to the service place even if I'm not ready when he starts bouncing the ball and I think that is I think that's a very fair point yeah and he and he
16:25Catherine Whitaker:mentioned the difficulty in you know if he's in his ready position which is you know crouched down in his proper grip focused on the ball probably that's you can't be doing that for 20 plus seconds every single time it's tiring you know he's in a he's in a crouched position that's going to put tension in his legs so he was he was kind of standing in a in a pretty loose manner at the back of the court until you know right up until Zverev was about to serve and then the other point he made was that there's no shot clock between first and second serve and that was something that really frustrated Shelton I think you know it's it it's all very well on the in the first serve and you know I guess technically most of the times Zverev was was within the 25 seconds but But then he's taking a very long time between first and second serve, way longer than anyone else.
17:18Catherine Whitaker:And, you know, I think Shelton was, I think, quite rightly calling for there to be some kind of rule change. And I don't have the answer. I don't know what it is. But there needs to be some sort of regulation because it's not good for fans either, you know, when it's taking so long for the next bit of action to happen. It is a real drain on a match like that.
17:38Matt Roberts:It will surprise nobody that I'm totally with him on that. I think time between first and second serves is an underreported crime in tennis. I mean, Laura Siegmund, sorry to bring it back to the worst offender, but she is, I mean, it's criminal what she's doing between first and second serves, but she's not alone because there's no real rule about it.
18:03David Law:Should be a tipping point.
18:04Matt Roberts:Yeah, absolutely. Should we talk about the last game, how the match ended? I've never seen anything like this, David. We see players forget the score. You see it in a tie break quite, not often, but it's not that unusual to see a player not realise quite what the score is, not realise it's a change of ends, will stand on the wrong side to receive serve, you know, not realise what the score within a game is. I have never seen a player serve for a Grand Slam title and it become evident immediately after winning that game that they did not know they were serving for a Grand Slam title.
18:44David Law:No, I don't remember that either. I remember the slight awkwardness when Federer hit an ace in the 2017 Australian Open final, and there was a Hawkeye challenge, and they had to go through the whole sort of process of that and stand at the net and wait. But this was different. I mean, he won the point, and he sort of just turned around ready to go for the next game. and Shelton's walking towards the net. The crowd are kind of, you know, remarking the moment of victory. I mean, they're obviously disappointed, the vast majority of them, but they were applauding. And, you know, the whole match is, the score is being announced by the umpire, game, set and match.
19:28David Law:I was in commentary at that moment saying, well, Zverev's won the title. He doesn't appear to know it. And so the whole thing was just a very strange situation. and I think his support team were shouting, because he was walking towards them, and the support team was shouting, no, no, you've won. And he's like, oh, have I? It was genuine. He did not know. He had no clue. But I think that that tells you what a trance he'd got himself in for this match to not be bothered by external elements. And I don't think I've seen him do that any better than he did it tonight. Like you think of all the times that he has got ratty or he has got irritable with somebody in the crowd or something that an opponent's doing or something the umpire has called.
20:19David Law:He wasn't even getting upset about line calls. You know, he'd managed to get himself into this zen-like state where nothing was bothering him. And he wasn't, he was just as focused as I think you could possibly be on a tennis court. And it was kind of Djokovician in that way. When Djokovic gets into that mindset, you think of that 2015 US Open final against Federer when the whole crowd was against him and he just took them all on and he just took them all out. And I think that that's where we were tonight with Zverev. And yeah, to the point where seemingly he didn't even know he was about to win the title.
20:59We could have asked him about it in the press conference, but he was an hour late to that.
21:05Matt Roberts:how long did you sit in the room waiting for him?
21:07David Law:we sat on the front row, I sat on the front row for 30 minutes and eventually just thought ok, I've had enough of this and left the room because we needed to record this show before the last bus goes and then he was another half an hour late after that so people were leaving all the time frankly from the room but there we are
21:29Catherine Whitaker:I've just seen the WhatsApp group with the new time and I saw that someone's done an eye roll reaction to the new time and I thought, which legend is that? Catherine Whittaker, everyone.
21:45Matt Roberts:Can't believe that I'm the only person I'm approaching. I will add to that if you like. Okay, great. I'd appreciate that. I feel it's lonely out here. Folks, if you were, I mean, lots of broadcasters have their own commentators on this match. A lot of people will have had the world feed commentary. Mary Carrillo, Jim Currier, Robbie Koenig, courtside were the world feed commentary team for this match. It is great world feed coverage that they do at this tournament. It's fantastic. I mean, Lindsay Davenport, Jim Currier, Andrea Petkovic, Laura Robson. I mean, I could keep going. There's a lot of great commentators, obviously all led by Mary Carrillo, who is the best of the best.
Read the full transcript
22:32Matt Roberts:She's a Hall of Famer for a reason. Mary mentioned during the first set of the World Feed broadcast the two women, Olya Sharipova and Brenda Patea, that have accused Zverev in the past of domestic abuse and violence. He denies those allegations, as Mary also stated on the broadcast. To my knowledge, no other TV broadcaster is bringing this information to the attention of audiences. David, I know you did in your BBC radio commentary today. And look, it's up to the audiences what they do with that information. But it is our belief here among the three of us that audiences should be made aware of the full context of what they're watching and who they're watching.
23:17Matt Roberts:And while there is legal framework that we all have to operate within that can make it delicate to raise as a topic, it is possible to do it if you think it is important enough, which Mary Carrillo does to her great credit. But she is increasingly, David, an outlier, certainly in the broadcast world.
23:39David Law:Yeah, that's right. And it is more than two years now since Zverev's court case, which was settled. out of court. And I know there are absolutely people out there and fellow broadcasters, colleagues of ours who believe that it should be left now, you know, and time to move on and things like that. Personally, I don't think that. I think it's particularly with the nature of this particular set of accusations, two sets of accusations, one of which went to court, one of which didn't. I think absolutely it's important that audiences should be told what the backdrop is, what the context is, what the history is, and absolutely be told that he's always denied those accusations and that no verdict on innocence or guilt was ever reached, but that they are out there that they were out there and that uh that they weren't proven either way um to me that's important because we're we're required and i think it's absolutely right that we're required to also tell the story of say alexander's verev's um type 1 diabetes and and and the the insulin that he's injecting and things like that these are all part of of his history um known known history in terms of the fact that there was a court case i think that that should be communicated to people so that they can get a picture of who they're watching and and decide where they stand on it what they feel about it and no i'm not going to just pretend those accusations were not made and that that
25:30Catherine Whitaker:court case didn't happen yeah and i think especially when you know zverev's just been in a wimbledon final for the first time and that for a lot of people in the uk who only watch wimbledon they may have been very unaware of alexander zverev before that tournament and and that final and you know i think i think the viewers deserve to know who they're watching and and their history and same here okay he's been in a he's been in a u.s open final before but it was it was before those allegations were made and again there could there could well be a you know a new audience here and yeah i i i feel for the individual broadcasters you know like in a way i think i think you know some probably don't care and are probably quite pleased to not mention it but I think probably lots do and may well be being told by producers that they shouldn't mention it now or people higher up.
26:35Catherine Whitaker:And it takes a lot to defy that and say something anyway. So I think all power to those broadcasters like David and like Mary who are saying that.
26:48Matt Roberts:Absolutely. That is it for part one. We'll be back in part two to talk about the big picture, throw forward to 2027. But just before we hit you with part two, folks, a word from our sponsors, one last word from our sponsors at Steve Fergal's International Tennis Tours, the premium hospitality and experience provider. You're going to miss saying that tomorrow, David. Steve Fergal's David can sort you out with your dream trip to the Miami Open from March the 14th to the 28th of next year. Combined men's and women's events are always the best kind. We are always saying that. And Miami, I can vouch for this, is one of the biggest and the best outside of the slams.
27:28Matt Roberts:It's in one of the U.S.'s most vibrant cities. It's really reflected that in the tournament site. It has a cool festival vibe about it. Lots of food trucks, lots of color, lots of atmosphere. It's such a cool place. So if you want to check the Magic City off your tennis bucket list, you should definitely do it with Steve Fogles. They can sort you out with awesome tickets, premium accommodation, plus VIP hospitality at the 72 Club. I don't know what that is. I've never been invited. I'm quite sure it's wonderful and has air conditioning. All of that with no faff in sight. Just head to tours4tennis.com forward slash podcast.
28:06Matt Roberts:That's tours4tennis.com forward slash podcast. Click the Miami Open banner and use code DEUCE5. That's D-E-U-C-E-5 for 5 % off your choice of official travel packages. Welcome back to part two of today's tennis podcast. The part two where we ask, what does it all mean for the future? Alexander Zverev is now a two-time major champion. He's won both those titles this year. He's won more this year than Carlos Alcaraz or Yannick Sinner. He has been fit for the whole year, which Carlos Alcaraz and Yannick Sinner have not. He leads the race. He is on course to end the year as the world number one, something which he has stated as a massive goal, which is no great surprise.
28:55Matt Roberts:It's an incredible achievement. Assuming, David, and I know this is a big assumption, especially given what we've seen this year, but let's assume that Carlos Alcaraz and Yannick Sinner are fully fit for the duration of 2027. Do you expect this year and what Zverev has achieved this year to change the complexion of how he fits within their duopoly in the future? No.
29:26David Law:I do feel like he is closer. I feel like he has made major strides this year. I thought the moment he played the match he did against Alcraz in Australia, that we were looking at a guy that had got something else, had got something else on top of what I thought he'd got. I realise Alcraz cramped in that match, but I also think Zverev hurt him at times with his game. But to this point, he hasn't beaten either of them this year. he has lost several times to Sinner and mostly quite heavily I do think the Wimbledon final was a bit of a moment the fact that he got ahead by a set and that he played so well and he played absolutely the right way I thought that day and he wasn't far off so I'm absolutely fascinated I kind of hope that they come in obviously fully fit for the year I hope he can bring his best level and then we can find out because it is compelling to see this guy who's trying to close the gap and who seems to have added and has broken through and won two grand slams, which certainly I didn't think he was going to do.
30:40David Law:So all power to him for achieving that. But now I want to see if he can do it when they're there because so far he hasn't shown that. And that's what we've got to find out. I still think that they are another level above him. and I think they always will be if they're fully fit but he's quite welcome to go and prove me wrong. So let's find out, shall we? Matt?
31:07Catherine Whitaker:Yeah, and look, I agree with everything David said. I think the ranking situation is quite interesting because, you know, if he's going to be one or two for a significant portion now, that means that he only you know like he doesn't have to go through both of them necessarily you know like he might be able to win slams by only beating one of them picking up the pieces maybe they've played each other exactly so I think that's that's important for him if if you're if I'm plotting a grand slam route for Alexander Zverev that includes going through Carlos Alcaraz in the semis and Yannick Sinner in the final I don't think he's made the strides to be able to do that like I think that is still too tall in order for him but given how close he was in that fifth set against Alcaraz in Australia given how well he played in the Wimbledon final I think he's shown that he could be a threat to them but it I wouldn't be predicting it I don't feel like he's better than them I think he's won his slams because they've been injured you know I and look Sinner wasn't injured at Roland Garros he lost because of the heat there and Alcaraz wasn't injured here.
32:39Catherine Whitaker:He lost to Ben Shelton, but he was undercooked and I think he's going to need that going forward. He's going to need one of them not in the draw or them to take each other out or something or not have to play either of them like's happened at his slams because, you know, they're different. They're a different level and they've shown that repeatedly over the last few years. So to me, it all depends on whether Alcaraz and Sinner are back as a combined force, you know? Like if one of them's back but not the other, that's a world I think where Zverev can still win majors. But if they're both back and both at full pelt like we saw in 2024 and 2025, to me, they shut Zverev out.
33:34Matt Roberts:and I do think he has a very understandably a bit of a chip on his shoulder about the fact that he's not beaten either of those two to win that Grand Slam title as much as he'll tell you that doesn't matter I think it does matter to him I think he wants to prove that he can do it beating at least one of them along the way I have my doubts about whether he can but I certainly think that's a
33:59David Law:goal I think it is a goal I think he does want to beat them next year, but I don't think he has that chip on his shoulder. I think he believes that he is one of them now.
34:10Matt Roberts:I think his brain does, but I think there's a very deep-rooted insecurity there.
34:22David Law:I'm not sure I do. I think he looks at people who are saying that and wonders what their problem is. why aren't they giving me unfettered praise here?
34:33Matt Roberts:But don't you think that the amount that he brings them up and sort of mentions makes the... I don't know.
34:44David Law:I think he thinks he's part of a big three and he mentions it because we're part of a big three. That's my sense.
34:51Matt Roberts:I don't know. I just think there's a... I think there's something deep in there that gnaws at him. a lot of very arrogant people are also very insecure people the two things tend to go quite hand in hand
35:08David Law:well it would certainly be a way to shut everybody up if he goes and thrashes them all next year
35:15Catherine Whitaker:clap with that
35:17Matt Roberts:let's see what about Ben Shelton as you said David he talked very reassuringly I thought it was a really good Ben Shelton press conference after this defeat. And he did talk about this as gutted as he was as part of the journey. You know, he said, I'm a late bloomer. I've always been a late bloomer. I don't think I'm anywhere near the level that I want to be right now. But he believes he has a lot more level in him. You know, I think the title of the pod a couple of days ago, when he reached the final, is Ben Shelton the guy? i.e. the guy we've all been waiting for to be part of a big three. Zverev thinks it's him.
36:01Matt Roberts:But assuming if you're not accepting that it's Zverev, do you still think it could be Shelton? Is this part of a journey?
36:12David Law:I definitely feel like there's more improvements for him to make. He's young enough, 23. He has made bigger strides than I expected over the last year. I think his backhand has been a revelation. Even today, I think it was pretty good. The forehand let him down. Moments let him down. So I think he's got more improvement to make. I still thought he would do better than he did today. But absolutely, I take the point that he's probably going to get better as a result of this. But I still don't think he's going to be part of a big three with those two. The same way I don't think Zverev is. They are so much better than all of these guys, really, when they're at the best.
36:57David Law:They've proved it time and time again. So there's a lot of proving for everybody else to do. But I definitely think he can keep becoming a factor, and maybe more than that. And I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up winning a Grand Sam title, because he beat Alcaraz this fortnight, even if it was a diminished version of that man. But we don't know how fit Alcraz is going to be going forward. So there are going to be opportunities out there, I would have thought.
37:31Catherine Whitaker:Yeah, Zverev gave it the classic tennis relived. You will win this title one day. I would put all my money on it. And I was thinking, oh, no, don't say that. The thing is, again, completely agree with David. I think what 2026 has made me realise is how much more fragile a two at the top is than a three at the top that we had for so long in men's tennis and a four with Andy Murray, you know? Like, it doesn't take much for these tournaments, these fields to suddenly become a lot more open. You know, once you've only got one of Sinner and Alquaz in the draw, anything can kind of happen you know and therefore i do think shelton's in a good place to potentially nick a slam over the next few years and i've i've changed my mind on that you know if you if you'd asked me a few months ago will ben shelton win a grand slam i'd have said no probably not but now with everything we've seen in 2026 and multiple slams in a row without both al kras and Sinner.
38:45Catherine Whitaker:Maybe this will be the outlier, but I have to think at some point over the next five to ten years, the bulk of Shelton's career, it's going to happen again. We're going to have these sorts of draws again. And I think he's shown enough Shelton here to show that he can step up, you know, and he's really rebounded well from what happened to him at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, and he has made enough strides in his game. And that point about him being a late bloomer is a key one. You know, I've I've seen footage of Ben Shelton playing as a sort of early teenager. He is nothing like the Carlos Alcaraz that you see playing as an early teenager.
39:26Catherine Whitaker:Ben Shelton's more like my mates playing when they were teenagers. You think, God, he's made so much progress in 10 years and he's behind a lot of these other guys and he is playing catch-up. You know, he's the answer to the question, what happens if you give the quarterback a tennis racket?
39:42Matt Roberts:He was an athlete first and a tennis player second.
39:45Catherine Whitaker:Right, and we're finding that out. And he's an amazing athlete, and he's now catching up with the tennis skills, and he is improving all the time. And I do think here he's going to continue to be a real threat. He's already reached a semifinal a few years ago, a final now, and he's got that home slam. And, yes, I think there was some home slam pressure today, but I think generally he rose to that really well and carried that really well. So, look, I definitely think he can. I wouldn't say he definitely will win the US Open, but I think he can win the US Open. But to the wider point of where he fits into Sinu and Alcaraz, if they're both fit and healthy, it's just hard to see Shelton being there with them in a similar way to it's hard to see Zverev being there with them.
40:35Catherine Whitaker:They're better. And that's the reality, I think.
40:40Matt Roberts:Just before we move on from this match, this final, to talk about a couple of other things. David, how did you get on with identifying celebrities in the crowd today?
40:50David Law:Not very well. No, no, it was a bad day on the old celebrity identification front.
40:56Matt Roberts:Who was the most famous person you didn't recognise?
40:59David Law:I mean, there could have been loads of them for all I know. I couldn't tell who they were. But, I mean, there was a moment where two celebrities were shown back to back who I did recognise and they got a good cheer. and then a third one got shown, who got a way bigger cheer, and I had no clue who it was. So there we are. That's kind of how it went.
41:19Matt Roberts:Michelle Obama was back.
41:20David Law:Oh, yeah, I know who she is. So, yeah. I saw pink again.
41:26Matt Roberts:Yep, some New York Knicks.
41:28David Law:Yes.
41:29Matt Roberts:You know them.
41:29David Law:I know. I've forgotten his name now, Jalen. But anyway. Bronson. Yes, that's it. Catherine's nailed it. Yeah, Matt Futterman seemed very excited about his presence. and I did see some of the NBA finals so I saw how good he was. So yes, I know him. But apart from that, it didn't go particularly well. What can I say?
41:51Matt Roberts:Did well in all other respects, David. Okay, that is it for part two. We'll be back in part three to wrap things up and talk about a couple of other bits of business. Welcome back to part three of today's tennis podcast, our final tennis podcast from Flushing Meadows for 2026 before we run to get the bus one last time. Are we up for that?
42:13David Law:Yep. Haven't got much choice if we want to go home.
42:17Matt Roberts:Just before we do that, a real good news, uplifting, heartwarming, positive bit of tennis news today. A story that came out of Austria. The first professional men's tennis match between two openly gay players took place in Austria today. It was Switzerland's Mika Brunel facing Brazil's João Lucas Reyes da Silva in the final of the Toulon Challenger. And it was Brunel who won in two straight sets, 6-4, 6-3. Brunel was the second player to come out in men's tennis. He followed João Lucas Reyes da Silva and he talked about that in his speech on the court. He said, one year after your coming out, I did mine and you were a big inspiration for me and I'm really proud of us.
43:14Matt Roberts:He said, we can be role models for so many people who struggle with their sexuality, so thank you so much and good luck for your future. Yeah, I mean, it feels so kind of wild and regressive to talk about, to even use the word sort of openly gay, and yet that is where we are in men's tennis, isn't it? And this, sadly, given where we are, this is a massive deal and an incredibly uplifting story today.
43:48Catherine Whitaker:Yeah, and just an example of why representation is so important. And, yeah, there's something very, very heartwarming about the fact that Reis de Silva came out a year before Bruno and anyone who's ever come out will have someone that they've looked up to who's done it and you've thought I wonder if I could do that and maybe I could do that, maybe I could be that, I want to be that and it's amazing that for Bruno, Reis de Silva is one of those people and now here they were sharing the court together yeah, very very special and definitely something that that should be celebrated right now in his um in his instagram
44:34Matt Roberts:post which was last november bruno when he when he came out um he said it means he said this is where he said the line about we can be role models for so many people who struggle with their sexuality he said um it also means dealing with things that most people never have to think about the fear of not being accepted, the pressure to stay quiet, the feeling of being different, but I've grown and I'm proud of who I am today. So congratulations to Bruno and, yeah, all power to both he and Reyesh to Silva. And, yeah, I hope the positive response to this story. I'm yet to see anything about it on ATP channels.
45:17You know, there's still time.
45:19Matt Roberts:Watch this space. That is a shame. and a terribly missed Open goal, you'd have to think. But I hope that the positive coverage that this is receiving elsewhere can empower other tennis players in a, unfortunately, very difficult position still. And that just about wraps up our coverage for the 2026 US Open. We have a few very important thank yous, if you'll allow us a moment of indulgence, as we always do at the end of any Grand Slam because they are such a huge undertaking for us and the whole team. They're our absolute favourite thing in the calendar. We love coming to these things. We love doing them.
46:02Matt Roberts:It is a privilege and a thrill to be here, but it's a lot. It's a lot. We couldn't do it without everybody else involved in the project and those people, those heroes are Jib, our editor Jib in the Philippines and his trusty companion Pan Pan.
46:19David Law:Hooray! Hooray for Jib and Pam Pam.
46:22Catherine Whitaker:Yeah, Jib's been editing the pod, uploading the pod, and also, like, organising social tennis events in the Philippines and getting people involved in recreational doubles. We love Jib so much, and I do think a real all-time pod highlight was when David and I had done the show at God knows what time it was the other morning and there was no bus so we had to we had to track down an uber and while we were in the uber back to manhattan jib had edited and uploaded the pod and i just cannot tell you how much of a lifesaver that feels like in that moment and how without jib that would have been david or i editing and uploading that pod when we got back to the apartment at sunrise and not
47:17Matt Roberts:that long ago that is exactly what it was yeah so yeah jib has now done a uh calendar slam of of helping us saving our lives and we love him thank you jib uh same also applies to hannah to vicky to gorona i don't know where to start with with these three hannah who captains the barge does all sorts of things on social media for us vicky too um they work as a team with gorona as well our designer it's wonderful to see everybody working together kind of more than ever before it's so heartwarming for us on this time zone in particular we get to wake up to about a hundred messages of them all discussing all the work they've done while we're asleep yeah they've just
48:01David Law:picked it up and sorted it all out and then suddenly clips are on instagram and quote graphics are everywhere the newsletter's already ready to send it's unbelievable yeah one of the things
48:12Catherine Whitaker:about being in the US when you're from the UK is that when you wake up, you always feel like you're catching up. You know, you wake up and you've got a load of messages. But, you know, I would see the WhatsApp notification with 165 texts. And yet I knew that it was fine. I knew that it was Hannah, Vicky and Goran chatting away and getting the work done and having a good time and making us look good. And yeah, we genuinely could not do it without any of them. And we love them all. very much.
48:43Matt Roberts:Hear, hear. They're our core team, but we would also like, on this occasion, well, always we thank our friends at The Athletic. We miss Charlie this time around, but it was wonderful to have Matt and James and Ava and everybody else on that team, Lucas and Oscar. They're great company. They're great colleagues. And we're very glad to have them. Yeah, it feels like they're part of the wider team, really. And I hope they feel the same way about Ask Pam, too. We love you, Pam. We love her visits to the media centre.
49:18Catherine Whitaker:Always iconic.
49:20Matt Roberts:Incredible. Pam Shriver's here. My favourite thing. And on this particular occasion, we would like to thank Mary Carrillo and the Hall of Fame for starting this trip off in the most memorable possible way.
49:36David Law:Yeah, that is a lifetime memory, I think, for all of us. and just a total highlight of all the 23 years that I've been covering this event, had the fortune to come to New York. But that one is something that will always stand out and I feel really touched and privileged to have been invited to attend. I loved the fact that Pam was with us, kind of showing us where to go and getting us into places we probably shouldn't have been. It was awesome. so yeah the the tournament has been quite challenging in some some ways I think so much because of the late nights have just been I've taken a bit of the rhythm away from the tournament but the high points have been really high for this tournament yeah I I have felt like I've
50:27Catherine Whitaker:you know been on battery saving mode on your phone which sort of shuts down certain apps and just gets your phone through it. I felt a bit like that this tournament from a very early on. But like, yeah, the high points have been magical and nothing more so than our trip to Newport and getting to celebrate Mary, who deserves to be celebrated and sharing that moment with her was so, so special. Yeah.
50:57Matt Roberts:Thank you, Mary. In terms of our plans, David, can you bear for me to talk about future podcasts right now.
51:06David Law:If I leave, you'll know it's gone over the edge. If we've lost David.
51:10Matt Roberts:It all falls apart. We have our US Open review show. We haven't had time to meet about when we're going to record this. It's usually in the couple of days after we get back. We're flying tomorrow night. We land Tuesday morning. I'm going to float Wednesday out there as a probable day to record this show. Maybe Thursday.
51:29Catherine Whitaker:I was going to float Thursday. Let's see how we do.
51:31Matt Roberts:Wednesday or Thursday this week, folks, if you're a friend of the pod, you'll be getting our final Grand Slam review show of 2026. They are really special shows. It gives us an opportunity to kind of reflect in a more considered big picture way on the tournament, which it's quite difficult for us to do in the moment when we're just, as Matt says, on power saving mode and reacting to everything. And, you know, that's a special thing in itself, just being present and in the Grand Slam moment. but it's also good to take a step back and reflect on it in a different way. And we do that with the help of voice note messages from our favourite people and some of the best, the very best voices in tennis.
52:13Matt Roberts:We haven't asked anybody yet, but we usually get Mary Carrillo, we get Pam Shriver, we get Team Athletic, Matt Futterman.
52:21David Law:And we've not had a chance to speak to them much this time. So it makes me all the more interested to see how they viewed this tournament. So, yeah, the review shows where we'll get to do that.
52:33Matt Roberts:Absolutely. Can't wait for that. We also have six more live YouTube shows for friends of the pod coming in 2026, plus two more editions of Tennis Relived. Loads of other bonus content and benefits to being a friend of the podcast. If you want to become a friend, the link is in our show notes. And for everyone else, our weekly show will be back next Monday. You've got a week, David. And until then, we sleep. Some of it on the plane.
53:02David Law:Yep. And then I'll get asked, I need to go somewhere, Dad. Can you take me? I'll be like, sure.
53:09Matt Roberts:No problem. But crucially, David, it won't be at three o 'clock in the morning.
53:15David Law:No, that's right. Yeah. I hope not anyway.
53:18Matt Roberts:Exactly. So those are our plans over the coming days and weeks. There is still lots more to come from the Tennis Podcast in 2026. In terms of the US Open, we have the very important bit of business of saying hello one last time to Leo, a dog whose work has been recognized by Mary Carrillo. That dog, she said to us earlier on today, to mark the end of Leo's incredible run as US Open mascot, for which we owe him and Cara a huge debt of gratitude. Here are not one, but two final photos. And trust me, if you're not looking at these photos right now, you want to be subscribed to the newsletter, the link in our show notes.
54:04Matt Roberts:They're on our Instagram. You want to see Leo, folks.
54:08David Law:Leo the legend.
54:10Matt Roberts:He's been raising the bar the whole way through for mascot photos. and I knew he'd have something up his sleeve for the final day and yet still my jaw dropped to the floor when I saw what Leo had for us today. Here he is with a trophy and with a champion's check for$5 ,500 ,000 made out to Leo, champion mascot. Just incredible stuff. And here we have Leo posing in front of a sort of makeshift Hall of Fame podium with the rackets and everything and a sign that says Tennis History, Mary Carrillo, Roger Federer, Leo. And I can tell you, Leo, that Mary is very, very pleased to have you alongside her in the Hall of Fame.
55:01Matt Roberts:Can't speak for Roger, but he would be a monster if he felt any differently. He likes his dogs. Quite frankly.
55:07Catherine Whitaker:We love you, Leo.
55:09Matt Roberts:Hello to our mascots, Bodhi, Maisie and Roger, hello to our top folks and executive producers Greg, Chris and Jeff. Matt, some final shout-outs?
55:20Catherine Whitaker:Yes, we have Joe Buskowski.
55:25Matt Roberts:Right, Joe. Hello, Joe. Is this a contour or a Salisbury?
55:32Catherine Whitaker:Salisbury.
55:33Matt Roberts:Yeah.
55:35David Law:J-O-E then.
55:37Catherine Whitaker:Yes, he, him, Joe says. Gotcha. My partner Emily and I got our first live tennis experience at the US Open women's semis and final the year Coco won. We've never experienced anything so electric.
55:52Matt Roberts:Those semis were incredible. Well, the final was awesome too. Wow.
55:58Matt Roberts:That fluorescent yellow highlighter pen outfit that Gough had, was that that year? Am I misremembering that?
56:07Catherine Whitaker:I feel like in the final she was wearing red. Yes, that rings a bell.
56:13Matt Roberts:OK, Jo, sorry.
56:17David Law:But she has worn that yellow outfit.
56:19Matt Roberts:That outfit was great. Thanks, David.
56:22Catherine Whitaker:Jo says, a little bit of trivia, he shares a birthday with Cockinacus. Wow.
56:31Matt Roberts:OK.
56:32Catherine Whitaker:And he's four days older than Roberto Bautista Agu. I really enjoyed these niche facts.
56:40Matt Roberts:That's a good stat. I'm really pleased that Joe's found an appreciative audience for those niche facts.
56:46Catherine Whitaker:You're welcome, Joe. Thank you very much for being a friend of the pod. And finally, we have Mark Hillman.
56:52Matt Roberts:Oh, hello, Mark.
56:55Catherine Whitaker:Who says I'm from just outside Philadelphia and also from The Predictions. He sure is. Yes, I stole. well, didn't steal, but I sort of borrowed Marta Kostyuk.
57:09David Law:I'm sure you're giving her back. I managed to convince Mark to sell Marta Kostyuk to me in the fantasy. And, yeah, she's performed brilliantly, so thanks, Mark.
57:21Matt Roberts:I don't know if Mark knows this, but there was a time during the darkest hours of Matt's journey to Chicago that he was thinking that... Wasn't Mark one of your accommodation options?
57:37Catherine Whitaker:Mark's parents, I believe. Mark's parents. Does Mark know that? I don't know. Mark had said, if you get stranded, consider my parents as an option.
57:49Matt Roberts:And it was a comforting thought in those dark, dark hours trapped on the plane on the tarmac.
57:55Catherine Whitaker:Yeah, yeah. And we've had lots of good tennis chats with Mark over the years. And he's always brilliant company in the predictions chat. And, yeah, shout out to everyone in that chat this year as well. It was a lot of fun.
58:10Matt Roberts:Yeah. Thank you, Mark. You're a legend. And it's been great to chat to you, to chat tennis with you. And for David, it's been particularly great to have you in the fantasy league.
58:21David Law:I've got to gloat. I'm still top, aren't I? so I've not had a very good US Open but still I had plenty of room to play with
58:30Matt Roberts:What a mic drop Folks we are part of the Athletic Podcast Network it has been our great pleasure and honour and exhausting thrill to bring you daily podcasts throughout this 2026 US Open Next Slam is January in Australia we will be there every day of every Slam in 2027 and we have plenty of podcasts coming your way between now and then we are or we try to be your one-stop shop for everything tennis we're gonna get on a bus then we're gonna get on a flight then we're gonna get home and then we're gonna start making podcasts about tennis again but not before we sleep thank you for listening we'll speak to you soon
From the publisher
For one last time at the 2026 US Open, Catherine Whitaker, David Law and Matt Roberts convene to discuss Alexander Zverev’s victory over Ben Shelton in the men’s final.
We start by analysing the match, including Zverev’s excellent management of the occasion and perfect tactics, as well as Shelton’s slow start and poor execution in key moments. There’s also chat about Zverev’s ball bouncing, whether we expected more from Shelton, and the bizarre moment where Zverev didn’t even realise he’d won.
We also discuss why Zverev, with two allegations of domestic abuse against him, both of which he denies, remains an uncomfortable champion for many people and why it feels important to keep talking about that.
Then, in part two, we throw it forward to 2027. Has Zverev made enough strides to overcome Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner if and when they’re back to full fitness? And where does Shelton fit into the landscape at the top of men’s tennis?
Thank you to Steve Furgal’s International Tennis Tours Tours4Tennis.com/Podcast, the Premium Hospitality and Experience provider for supporting our US Open coverage.
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