Zverev beats Shelton to win US Open title

BREAKING: Alexander Zverev beats Ben Shelton to win the US Open title.

Alexander Zverev is finally a Grand Slam champion.

He beat Ben Shelton in the US Open final in New York, and after years of being the best player without a major, the man from Hamburg has his trophy. There he is, fist clenched, letting it all out on the hard court he's chased this thing on for so long.

And spare a thought for Shelton. The young American, on home soil at Arthur Ashe Stadium, with the crowd behind him, comes up one match short of the biggest night of his life. That one will sting for a while.

But tonight belongs to Zverev. He's been in slam finals before and walked away empty handed every single time. Not this time. The ball striking was there, and you can see the level here, that forehand doing the damage all fortnight.

The nearly man of men's tennis just stopped being nearly.

This is Angel Manalo, reporting for HIT.