It has been a very profitable 2026 for the US Open champion, Alexander Zverev. He has ended the year by finishing in three straight Grand Slam finals and going on to win 2 of them. This article is related to a pretty unique thing that happened with the 2-time Grand Slam champion at match point in New York.
No Jannik Sinner. Novak Djokovic was eliminated in the opening round. Carlos Alcaraz knocked off in the quarters. Surely, title number 2 was loading for the 2020 Olympic gold medallist. This tournament was staged for him. Or at least, felt the rest of the world.
The German, though, maintained his professional approach. You still need to play well to win. He maintained his composure and literally breezed through to the final. Come D-Day, Zverev took control immediately, denying even a single break point to Ben Shelton till the third set. He did lose that set but quickly regained control in the fourth. And then came the magic moment – a pretty comical one.
Serving for the championship at 5-2, 40-15, Zverev fired a missile which was returned long by Shelton. The crowd started to cheer, but Sasha calmly got ready to receive the next game’s serve! That was because the German had lost track of the score and believed that he had won the 6th game of the set, with the scoreline now reading 5-1.
It took Alexander Zverev a while to realize that he had actually won the match, and he could not help but laugh. A few days later, Alcaraz made a friendly joke at him, stating that he was shocked while watching Zverev’s reaction to winning the match, chiding him for how he failed to realize. Zverev was equally witty and replied that staying dumb helped him focus on the points rather than the result.
We can take this incident as a jest, but in reality, it shows the intensity and the focus of the German. Many times, in intense matches, the pressure can be so high, and the crowd can be so distracting that the players struggle to get their focus back. Lack of focus affects your serve and even your return capabilities.
Of course, a Grand Slam player is used to such stuff, but let’s put ourselves in Zverev’s shoes for a moment. The 29-year-old had made his Grand Slam debut in 2015 and, a year later, had defeated Roger Federer at the Halle Open ahead of Wimbledon, in his teens, sending shockwaves throughout the world. From 2015-2025, Zverev had featured in just 3 Grand Slam finals, seeing both the previous and the future era.
In 2026 alone, he has featured in 3 Grand Slam finals. He was there when ‘The Big Three’ were there – Nadal, Djokovic and Federer - he is still around, but the likes of Alcaraz and Sinner have already gone past him. A guy with so much potential had to wait for 11 years to win his first Grand Slam.
So, it is understandable that Zverev does not take things for granted. The German knows he has to work immensely hard for every point. And for that, focus is paramount. A terrific example of this was given to everyone by the one who is lovingly called ‘Sasha’.
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