2026 US Open Men's Final: Zverev vs. Shelton

[PhiEaglesfan712]

@El Dude , you probably posted this already, but how many players outside the big 3 had better major seasons than Zverev's 2026? 1 semi, three finals, two titles, lost the semi in the fifth to the eventual champion. Not too shabby...

You don't have to go too far back. Sinner's 2025 was better. He made all 4 finals.

 

[mrzz]

You don't have to go too far back. Sinner's 2025 was better. He made all 4 finals.

I figured Sinner and Alcaraz would be part of the list as well (should have mentioned them as well), but still, apart from them...

 

[El Dude]

@El Dude , you probably posted this already, but how many players outside the big 3 had better major seasons than Zverev's 2026? 1 semi, three finals, two titles, lost the semi in the fifth to the eventual champion. Not too shabby...

Well, that depends upon how you value Slams vs other tournaments. If you look at slams only, and you convert all years to 2026 ATP points, Zverev earned 6100 ATP points from Slams (2x 2000 Wins = 4000, 1 x 1300 Final, 1 x 800 SF = 6100). There aren't a huge number of seasons that are better than that, in terms of Slams only.

But that is really not a great way to assess the greatness of seasons, because for much of the Open Era, the tour wasn't quite as "Slam-centric" as it has been in the last couple decades. John McEnroe's 1984 is without a doubt one the very best seasons of the Open Era, and he only played three Slams, earning 5300 points by today's system. But he was MUCH better than Zverev in 2026. Where Zverev has won no other tournaments, Mac won the Tour Finals, the WCT Finals, five Masters equivalents, four minor titles, and two Davis Cup final wins, with a 96.5 W%.

In my (unpublished) 100 Greatest Seasons list, Zverev's 2026 is currently around #70--very close to Rafa in 2022, which by my accounting was Rafa' 9th best season. But there are still two 500s, two Masters, and the Tour Finals still left to be played, so let's revisit this when the season is done. If he fizzles out and doesn't win anything else, he'll be stuck around #70. But with a strong finish, he could jump into the top 50. A possible comparable season might end up being Agassi's 1999, which I have ranked at #52.

 

[El Dude]

Either way, this Slam title has separated Zverev from guys like Medvedev and even Roddick and Chang, I think. Of two Slam winners, the only one who was clearly greater than Zverev was Ilie Nastase. I'd say Zverev's resume is right there with Smith and Hewitt, and probably better than everyone else (Safin, Rafter, Kafelnikov, Bruguera, Kriek). The surly German is moving up in the world!

 

[Fiero425]

Either way, this Slam title has separated Zverev from guys like Medvedev and even Roddick and Chang, I think. Of two Slam winners, the only one who was clearly greater than Zverev was Ilie Nastase. I'd say Zverev's resume is right there with Smith and Hewitt, and probably better than everyone else (Safin, Rafter, Kafelnikov, Bruguera, Kriek). The surly German is moving up in the world!

If he had just finished off Alcaraz "down under," it might've changed the course of history; at least w/ him making all 4 Major Finals & giving Djokovic a better chance at #25 since Sascha's been his doormat for years! I'm still happy for the guy & I think this can only elevate his confidence, m/b making more noise the rest of the reason trying to attain #1 status!