by Flagg Taylor ’27 on September 24, 2026
Sports
The 2026 U.S. Open wrapped up with the men’s final, as the German Alexander Zverev grabbed his second major after winning the French Open in June of this year, marking this season as the most successful of his career. This U.S. Open was promising for American tennis, with four Americans reaching singles semifinals and two winning doubles titles.
In men’s doubles, Christian Harrison (U.S.A.) and Neal Skupski (Great Britain) defeated the sixth-seeded German duo of K. Krawietz and T. Puetz in straight sets, 6–4, 7–6, to win the U.S. Open. In women’s doubles, Taylor Townsend (U.S.A.) and Katerina Siniakova (Czech Rep.) defeated the American duo Ashlyn Krueger and Robin Montgomery in three sets, 5–7, 6–0, 6–2. Finally, Czech duo Jakub Mensik and Karolina Muchova defeated Flavio Cobolli (Italy) and Belinda Bencic (Switzerland) in a tiebreaker, 6–3, 1–6, (10-6).
In the women’s singles draw, Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) defeated Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova (Czech Rep.) in the quarterfinals. She went on to face third-seeded Jessica Pegula (U.S.A.) in the semifinals. On the other side, second-seeded Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan) claimed the world No. 1 ranking after winning her quarterfinal match. She defeated fourth-seeded CoCo Gauff (U.S.A.) in the semifinals. Sabalenka and Rybakina met for a fourth time this year after defeating their respective American opponents. Just like the Australian Open final, Rybakina was victorious, 6–4, 5–7, 6–2.
In the men’s singles draw, first-seeded Alexander Zverev (Germany) found himself in the semifinals against an unseeded Karen Khachanov (Russia), advancing to the finals in straight sets.
On the other side of the bracket, two Americans battled for the chance to end the Americans’ 23-year men’s U.S. Open title drought. Eleventh-seeded Frances Tiafoe was ultimately defeated by eighth-seeded Ben Shelton in four sets. Zverev went on and defeated Shelton in four sets, 6–3, 7–6, 5–7, 6–2, extending the American drought at least one more year. The highlight of the tournament came with Shelton’s quarterfinal match against the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, who has seven major titles. An instant classic, five sets ending at a record 3:33 a.m. Playing at his peak, Shelton prevailed 6–7 (5-7), 6–1, 6–3, 1–6, 7–6 (10-7). Defending U.S. Open champion Carlos Alcaraz returned to tennis after a four-month break due to injury for the tournament. Post match, he left the court with a smile and went around thanking the U.S. Open staff for their hard work, showing no disappointment in losing a major quarterfinal. He thanked the U.S. Open director “for the stage.”