BEN SHELTON saw the American Dream die another day in front of a former James Bond as Alex Zverev banished his own US Open nightmares.
Zverev lived up to his role as the tennis villain, particularly in the eyes of the Arthur Ashe crowd, as he was crowned King of New York for the first time.
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The 6ft 6in German Giant struck down Big Ben in a 6-3 7-6 5-7 6-2 win after more than three-and-a-half hours of action on a hot and humid afternoon, with grey-haired Pierce Brosnan – who portrayed Bond in four films – watching from the VIP stands.
Shelton, 23, had been trying to become the first American man to win a tennis Slam since Andy Roddick was the 2003 US Open champion, a record drought of 8,407 days.
But that long wait for a home-grown conqueror will continue as Zverev – who banks a record cheque of £4.1million – was The Man with the Golden Racquet, silencing the local punters over four gruelling sets.
Shelton is the fastest server in the tournament – one ace he delivered was registered at 149mph – but he knew he had to serve the living daylights out of the ball to stand any chance against the reigning French Open champion.
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However, the Atlanta-born speedster disappointed home fans as he double-faulted on break point in game one.
This was the worst start imaginable and it is fair to assume nerves of playing in a match of this magnitude on US soil were a factor.
That advantage was something Zverev declined to surrender and he could not believe his luck when he claimed set one in 40 minutes as Shelton double-faulted again, this time on set point.
Tennis boffins at Sky Sports calculated that Zverev does 10 seconds of ball-bouncing per serve and this equated to a total of TWO HOURS and 30 MINUTES of ball-bouncing across the six matches before the final.
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In set two, the patience of the crowd and Shelton was stretched to its limit as Zverev, 29, did his usual trick of bouncing the ball on the line multiple times.
Only once did he get a time violation for his drawn-out antics and that was in set four.
Worryingly for Shelton, Zverev loves a left-handed opponent – he had won 44 of 45 clashes against lefties since the 2023 French Open.
For some reason, he has this knack of working out where the unorthodox serve will land and he was rock-solid in the second-set tie-break, dropping just two points.
Shelton, who eliminated the defending champion Carlos Alcaraz from the quarter-finals, had never before come from two-sets down to win a tennis match.
A door was opened when Zverev – who could be seen injecting himself with insulin – was broken in game 12 of the third set, as his forehand volley flashed wide.
But any thoughts of an escapology act were slammed shut in set four as No.1 seed Zverev held firm.
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Zverev has been a nocturnal animal during this event, with his first three matches finishing at 1.55am, 2.15am and 1.09am respectively.
So the fact it was all wrapped up before 6pm local time would have been a pleasant surprise and the chance to eat dinner at a reasonable time.
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Given that he had lost a five-setter to Dominic Thiem in the Covid-hit 2020 final, despite being two sets up, this would have gone some way towards excorising demons from six years ago.
He is the first German man to lift the singles Championships since Boris Becker in 1989.