US Open 2026 Wrap - Rybakina Beats Sabalenka to Claim Second Major of 2026 as Zverev Wins Second Slam Over Shelton Plus Who Will Be the Next Non-European Men's Grand Slam Champion?

Speaker A: 00:00:27

Welcome back to the Talk and Tennis Podcast.

I'm Chris, joined by Adam and Adrian.

The U.S. open is done, the trophies have been handed out, and we've got two champions who leave New York with very different stories.

On the women's side, Alina Rybakina has beaten Ariana Sabalenka to win her first U.S. open title, capping off a massive season and adding another chapter to what is becoming one of the biggest rivalries in women's tennis.

On the men's side, Alexander Zverev has beaten Ben Shelton to claim his second Grand Slam title of the year.

And this one probably says as much about experience and composure as it does about pure tennis.

So today, rather than just running through the score lines, we're going to look at what actually stood out from both finals and what these results mean going forward.

Did Rybakaner's composure end up being the difference between her and Sabalanka?

How much of an ass clan did Sabalanka make of herself by telling the cameraman to off?

What does Shelton need to learn from his first Grand Slam final?

Does Varev still need to be Alcaraz or sinner at a Slam for people to fully respect these titles?

And after another European Grand Slam champion who is actually going to be the next non European man to finally break through.

Before we get into it, we first just need to take a breath, settle down, and just soak in the fact that it's been a lifetime since the three of us have been together.

In the recording studio, we are joined by Adam, who as of late has been on an absolute tear on X lately, going semi viral with his posts.

Adam, great job.

How are you doing this evening?

Speaker B: 00:02:02

I'm very good, Chris, Happy to be here this evening.

Yes, I'm a. I'm a social media influencer these days.

Almost as big as Arena Sabulanka blowing up the X page, mate.

Having cracks at all sorts of players.

So follow us x.com forward/talking tennis if you want to join in the fun.

Can't wait to jump in and talk about the two finals, the one that took place today and the women's yesterday, which was a cracking match as well.

Speaker A: 00:02:32

Yep, we're thrilled to have you here.

There's a lot to unpack and before we do, we are also joined, as I said, with Adrian, who he only needs to bounce the ball three times before he rifles down an ace.

Adrian, glad to have you here, mate.

How you doing?

Speaker C: 00:02:46

Glad to be here and once again a pleasure to be here with as a three amigos back Again.

And you're right, you know, sometimes you don't need to bounce the ball 50 times like Zverev or Djokovic, particularly in his early days.

I remember going to the ao, doing the serve.

The serve contest ruled it would measure how fast you would serve.

I remember breaking the machine one time.

So, you know, I mean, it's that.

That.

That's my version of events.

Anyway, you can ask Chris if it really happened or not.

But let's not get facts get in the way of a good story, shall we, boys?

Anyway, keen to get ahead, get stuck into what's.

What's just transpired.

Speaker A: 00:03:28

Yeah, maybe don't ask me because I was probably 28 beers deep at the time, but if Adrian says it happened, it happened.

All right, fellas, we're going to start with the women's and rybakina, she's the US Open champion.

Being in Sabulanka, 6, 4, 5, 7, 6 2.

And I thought this was just an incredibly complete performance from Rabbakina.

Something that immediately stood out for me was the first set.

Ken saying in the quarterfinal, she lost the opening set.

Gough in the semifinal, she lost the opening set both times.

She had to work her way back into the match.

There was none of that here for Bakkenna.

Came out ready to go.

And what impressed me the most was just how clean her ball striking was.

We talk about a lot with Rybakaner, his serve, and we're going to get to that.

But from the back of the court, I thought she was brilliant forehand back, and it didn't really matter when these two got into those heavier baseline exchanges where both of them were absolutely unloading on the ball.

Robin, I did not look uncomfortable at all.

She wasn't just hanging around those rallies either.

She was redirecting the ball, taking it early and just hitting through Sabalan.

Not many people can say they can do that.

And the numbers refle how clean she was.

She finished with 36 winners and only 24 unforced.

There is.

Against someone who puts you under as much pressure as Sabalanka does, that's a seriously impressive ratio.

The serve, she only landed 47% of her first serves, which normally you'd look at and think that's something Sabalenka could attack.

Except when the first serve did go In, Rabakana won 85% of those points.

12 Aces as well.

So even though the first server sentence wasn't particularly high, the effectiveness of it was enormous.

She was constantly getting those cheap points and avoiding having to play Another brutal baseline exchange every time she stepped up to the line.

Sabanka deserves plenty of credit for the second set because she found a way back into it.

Rybakina actually improved her first serve percentage considerably in that set, but she couldn't take either of the two break points.

She created Sablanca hang around.

She kept applying pressure and eventually broke a 6:5 to take us into a third.

And at that point, I thought the momentum of the match had changed.

Sabalanka, she was fired up.

You could see the emotion, you could hear it.

She just forced a deciding set in a US Open final.

She's won this tournament the previous two years.

And I thought, this is where Sabalanka has to take that energy straight into the third.

But strangely, I didn't feel like she did those opening few games of the third.

Just, just didn't have the same ferocity from Sabalanka that we've seen at the end the second and against Rybakina.

I'm not sure you can afford that little reset because Rybakina doesn't really give you much emotionally, and we know that from the Ice Queen.

Same expression whether she's up five two up in US Open final or waiting for her coffee order.

But there's something incredibly valuable around that.

Sabalenka's level and emotion seemed to fluctuate during the match.

Rybakane's.

Obviously it didn't.

It never does.

Even after losing that second set, there was no visible panic.

There was no frustration spilling over.

She just went back to work.

There was no conversations with Vukov.

It was just her doing what she does best.

She broke for 21 in the deciding set, broke again for 5 2, and then, appropriately enough, finished the whole thing with an ace.

That's probably my biggest takeaway for the match.

I don't think Rebaka necessarily played every point at exactly the same level.

Nobody does.

But emotionally and tactically, there were very few dips.

Sabalenka had periods where she dragged herself into the contest through sheer intensity.

Rebakena didn't seem to need to drag herself anywhere.

She just maintained a level and it was a high level.

And against Sabulanka in particular, that composure seems to be becoming a pretty useful weapon, because while Sabulanka still leads their overall head to head, Rubak has now beaten her in five of their seven finals.

The last time Rybakane has beaten Sabulanka have been the WTA Finals, the Australian Open, and now the US Open final.

So this is becoming more than just a good matchup.

When there's a major trophy sitting next to the court.

Rabakana seems incredibly comfortable seeing Sabalanka on the other side of the net.

Adam, after winning the Australian Open and the US Open this year, beating Sabulanka in both finals, are we now looking at Rybakaner as the best women's player in the world rather than simply the player ranked number one?

Speaker B: 00:08:04

Good wrap up there, Chris.

I think when it comes to Grand Slams, Masters, sort of the big events, it's hard to argue that she's not.

She seems like she's the big time player when it comes to, yeah, Grand Slams and Masters event.

She's had a really good 20, 26, obviously, as you said, Australian Open winner earlier in the year beating Sabalanka, now US Open winner as well.

Picked up another tournament throughout the year, can't remember which one, but it was sort of in the middle of the year.

It escapes me but.

And the two final finals in the Masters earlier in the year where she lost to Sabanka both times.

So she's a big match player and well deserving of the world number one ranking.

She's number one by a fair margin as well.

So it's going to take a little bit to, to catch her.

So I wouldn't be betting against her for the rest of the year, particularly when it's going to be on her favorable service surface.

When we caught up last, Chris, we were previewing the final.

My worry on Rybakina was always going to be the serve.

And if you had said to me that early in the match she was going to be serving at about 27%, I would have been really worried for her on that, on that first set.

But she served terribly but she was still able to win that first set, which is a big surprise because we've seen throughout the tournament she'll play well for a particular set and then just have a poor set where she just serves badly.

It goes off the rails, but then she turns it around.

I think it was the golf match and I think one other as well along the way where that happened.

But she was solid throughout the match.

It took six and a half games before she registered her first unforced error.

So as soon as the ball got into play, she was just, she was more polished and had more finesse than what Sabalanga had.

And on the, the weight of the match, yeah, she was deserving.

She was deserving of winning the whole.

Speaker A: 00:10:03

Thing and being the champion.

Speaker B: 00:10:05

As soon as we got to that second set, again, you know, bad first Set from a serve perspective still won it.

But then it jumped to 61% her first serve percentage points in the second set, albeit she couldn't get that one.

It was a tight, tight sort of second set.

She couldn't convert a pair of break point opportunities that she had.

But then Sabalanka was able to and then pinch that second set.

But watching it in that third set, I, I just rabbit re looked like she had control and I wasn't surprised to see the wheel sort of fall off a little bit by Sabalanka.

And to be frank, I feel like it kind of gave up at the end in that last game.

It was sort of, she just, she just resigned to the fact that she was well beaten by a better player on the day and yeah, well deserved win for Rebukina.

Three grand slams now in England, in America, in Australia and she's one off a career grand slam so she can learn how to play on the clay.

She'll have the full set.

Do you think she can adjust maybe to clay Chris, seeing as you're her biggest fan girl?

Speaker A: 00:11:11

Well, why not?

If she wants the career slammed, then she's going to need to adapt to her game style so she can be successful on the clay.

But there's one point you brought up with Sabalenka and how you said she looked a bit, you know, resigned from that last set.

And it just seems to me that I guess with Rebaken and having playing all those three setters and coming from behind, she probably would have been a bit accustomed to, you know, reaching or playing to another level when she's up against it.

And Sabalanka, how many times did she have to play three sets and probably come from behind?

Probably fewer than Rubak did.

So I guess having that recent exposure and going that another level, probably, you know, blessing in disguise for Rebakana because when she needed it, she found it.

And you're right because after that second set her emotions, Sabalenka's emotions were quite high.

And the fact that she couldn't really just rein it in and stay focused and composed to that last set.

Yeah, well, it could have been a lot, lot tighter.

I feel that last set.

Adrian, did you catch much of the Rybakina Sabalanka game?

Speaker C: 00:12:24

I did and look, you boys have done a marvelous job in and summing it all up.

Something that caught my attention though was left of center were the celebrity visitors in Sabalenka's box.

Yes, Jake Paul and I saw another picture of Dave Portnoy.

I don't know if he was there or if it was just a separate.

A separate shot of him.

But the Jake Paul now I don't know if there was anyone else there.

I'm not too.

Oh, is that who it was?

There you go.

Didn't even recognize her.

There you go.

Yes.

I thought that was interesting.

Speaker A: 00:13:02

Yeah, well, it's whoever maybe, I guess,.

Speaker C: 00:13:05

You know, there were some, some questionable points raised at the beginning of the tournament about if she's ready or.

And, and we've mentioned that on the pod as well about busy doing.

Working on her tiktoks and all that.

All the extra nonsense instead of focusing on tennis.

Maybe that was maybe a bit of a distraction.

Bring in a few clowns to watch you play tennis and maybe worrying about wanting to impress them.

Speaker A: 00:13:31

Who knows?

Speaker C: 00:13:32

Who knows?

Speaker B: 00:13:33

Yeah, maybe clown Adrian Portnoy or Jake Paul.

Speaker C: 00:13:38

Well, I don't know much about Portnoy.

Why is he so controversial for giving pizza reviews?

I don't know much about.

Speaker B: 00:13:48

He's very, he does streams online.

He'll.

He'll just say controversial things.

During the pandemic, I think he was like live trading on YouTube and he was just like day trading bitcoin and all this sort of stuff and it's just very loud.

He's just very, you know, controversial and you know, he's had allegations against him and stuff.

I don't know, it's just the type that would be in the subalika box, I guess.

Speaker C: 00:14:12

Or maybe he should have been.

Speaker B: 00:14:14

All this stuff is.

Speaker C: 00:14:15

Should have been his vera's box if he's had allegations against him.

Speaker B: 00:14:18

Wow.

Speaker A: 00:14:18

I want to move on.

I want to move on to this Verand Shelton game or else this podcast can get severely sidetracked and with turns for another podcast very quickly.

So fellas, we're going to talk about the men's final and zvere, he's a two time Grand Slam champion.

He beats Ben Shelton 637-65-762 to win his first U.S. open title.

And I thought one of the biggest differences between the two was pretty simp Zverev, he looked like someone who had been there before and Shelton looked like someone playing his first Grand Slam final.

And that's understandable for Zverev.

This was Grand Slam final number six.

He's now played in the final of the last three majors alone.

So he's accumulated a lot of experience on these stages, including some pretty painful experiences along the way.

And I thought that showed Zverev stepped up to the occasion.

His serve was excellent.

He landed 69 of his first serve serves.

And when the first serve went in, he won 85% of the points as well.

That's 67 of 79 first serve points.

1.

Shelton had one of the biggest serves in tennis, but Zverev was actually the guy getting considerably more value from his delivery.

Shelton won 71% behind his first serve.

And Zverev wasn't just standing behind the baseline grinding this one out either.

I liked how he was willing to come forward and finish off the points.

And that's been a bit of a Achilles heel for Zverev over his career.

In with his volleys, he won 24 of 28 points at the net and that gives him 86%.

That's a massive number and I think it's an important part of what we're seeing from Zerve now.

He doesn't necessarily have to sit back and wait for the rally to finish itself.

When he got Shelton stretched, he was prepared to come in and put the point away.

But from the baseline he was, he was rock solid.

That backhand was an absolute rocket Scholten.

We know he has so much power off both wings, particularly with that lefty forehead.

But Zverev was completely comfortable going toe to toe with him.

And that's where I thought another difference between them emerged.

Shelton produced more spectacular tennis.

He actually hit 47 winners compared with Zverev's 33.

But he also made 47 unforced errors compared with Zverev's 31 unforced errors.

So Shelton was giving you the highlights, but Zverev was giving you the scoreboard.

And that third set was really important for Shelton.

His two sets of love down in his Grand Slam, his first Grand Slam final.

The crowd is obviously desperate to get get him involved.

And he hangs around before eventually breaking late and taking it 7 5.

Suddenly we've got a match again.

But this is where I'm going to be critical of Shelton.

And it is probably, it's probably a flaw.

And I know this is Ben Shelton we're talking about.

The emotion, the celebrations playing to the crowd, looking at the box.

That's part of what makes him entertaining.

He wins the third set and there's that celebration, the extended glance looking towards the box, grinning like a fucking douchebag as he walks to the chair.

And I'm watching thinking, mate, you're still down.

Get that stupid smirk off your face and lock in.

You've won a set.

You haven't won the U.S. open.

You've still got a mountain to climb.

So, yeah, sure.

Enjoy the moment.

Absolutely.

Get the crowd involved.

But now you've got to get back, straight back to work, because the other bloke at the net, he's played five Grand Slam finals before on this one, and he's not going to go anywhere.

And that's exactly what happened.

Zerv comes out in the fourth and completely locked in.

No emotional hangover from dropping the third, no panic.

Immediately put Shelton under pressure, gets the early break, and suddenly all of that positive emotion Shelton had five minutes ago that he had generated by winning the third set, it disappears.

And now he's looking at the scoreboard again and he's behind and it's.

He's running out of time.

Charlton, he never really recovered.

Zverev eventually breaks twice in that fourth set and takes it 6:2.

And that's probably the biggest lesson I take out of this final for Scholzen.

I don't think he needs to lose the personality, but there is probably another level of emotional maturity required to win seven matches at a Grand Slam.

There were a few points in that fourth set where I thought Shelton looked indecisive or maybe slightly rushed, and there were concentration lapses that you simply cannot afford against someone as experienced and solid as Verif.

We've just watched him beat Carlos Alcaraz at the US Open and reach his first major final at 23.

But the next step is learning that when you're in these enormous matches, winning a big point isn't the finish line.

Sometimes it's just the next point.

Zverev understood that better on this occasion.

He wasn't necessarily more spectacular than Shelton.

He was just more composed, more consistent, and much better at recognizing the moments in the match where he needed to put his foot down.

Now he's got Roland Garros in the US Open in the same season.

Adrian, I'll ask you, buddy, what did you make of the final between Shelton Zverev?

Did anything catch your eye?

Speaker C: 00:19:38

Yes.

And you did just make me remember a point that you mentioned, I think, in our last pod after the Shelton Alcaraz game, how you thought it was very impressive the way Shelton kind of changed his attitude in the way he approached the game against Alcaraz.

I know you said that he obviously won, but you.

You made a strong point about how he wasn't.

All the theatrics weren't there, the grunting wasn't there, a lot of the showboating, the playing to the crowd.

He kind of let the crowd do it, do that for itself, and he was just kind of locked in.

And yeah, it makes me think did that have an influence or an impact on, on the result?

Is he letting.

Is the other theatrics getting in the way of his game?

Yeah, I thought the other thing with Sverivers, it was just really, really impressive.

Finally rewriting: 2020

ominic Thiem and the infamous: 2020

Or infamous for him anyway, that time he was two sets through, up again and.

Or sorry this time.

And he, he could have very easily just fallen into the same.

, he didn't let the ghosts of: 2020

He stayed composed and just was completely locked in.

So locked in that he didn't even realize it was match point.

Which was, which was very interesting.

Speaker A: 00:21:16

You thought it was 5:1.

Speaker C: 00:21:18

Yeah.

So I mean it just goes to show how much he was just concentrating.

He was completely locked in and you gotta, you gotta give it.

He was, yeah, very impressive.

Shelton's third set was the danger point.

He lost the first two as you mentioned, Chris.

He really wanted to get the crowd involved.

You were right though.

That grin, that smug smirk was.

It was something that little, that nod.

Oh, it was, it was hard to watch.

I have the same thought.

But he did a good job in that, you know, it was aggressive.

He was attacking, took the ball early, won at 7 5.

The whole stadium was ready for the comeback.

But Zverev's response was just clinical and very, very impressive.

That brings me to my next interesting point which is about.

In the post match interview, Zverev disclosed some tactical knowledge about playing Shelton.

And we spoke about this in our last podcast about players revealing tactics about other players.

He mentioned something along the lines of redirecting pace, particularly to Shelton's backhand, not hitting hard, to Shelton's background backhand, just giving him the time and allowing for the right time in the moment.

And he was critiquing Alcarazm Tiafo and saying that perhaps they weren't, they weren't doing that and that's why they had lost to Ben Shelton, which I thought was very interesting.

So I have a question for you, Adam, in a second.

But I just want to address this with both of you just really quickly.

What are your thoughts on that?

On Zverev making a point about that critiquing other players on tactics towards another player?

Speaker A: 00:23:06

I think I want to.

Sorry, I'll answer this quickly.

I think it was very, he speaks very candidly and I liked it about him in his press conference.

Well, he's German.

He doesn't beat it around the bush.

He just speaks his mind and he, it's as if like the cameras aren't there.

And even when he was asked about do you think you're the best player in the world right now?

He.

He answered that very well.

It's like, obviously, I mean, you got, you got Sinner and Alcaraz injured and yeah, at this point in time, yeah, I do think I'm the best player in the world, which is a fair statement.

So I, I appreciate his candor.

Speaker B: 00:23:45

Adam, I think you can leave the names out of it.

I don't know if you need to mention Tiafo and Alcaraz.

I mean, do you really want to fire up Alcaraz?

Speaker C: 00:23:56

That's a good point.

My other question for you, Adam, is relating to Zverev's now a two time Grand Slam champion.

And for the true tennis fans, there might be a little asterisk next to that because he's won it under some differing conditions.

My thought is that I think of Stan Marinka.

Is he a two time Grand Slam champion as well?

Speaker A: 00:24:24

Of course.

Speaker C: 00:24:25

Now he did it during the Big three era.

He was up against some hefty opponents to take those Grand Slams.

So Adam, my question for you is, does Verif need to be Alcaraz or Sinner at a Grand Slam for these wins to really mean something?

I know at the end of the day it's not going to matter.

He'll be noted as a two time Grand Slam champion unless he wins more.

Nothing can take that away from him.

But for the true tennis fans, will they hold that against him?

Speaker B: 00:25:00

First of all, you've both been very harsh on Ben Shelton.

I think I'm just going to put that out there.

I think I'm the new Ben Shelton fan.

Overly, overly critical.

It's very.

Wants to take pot shots at Alcaraz in press conferences afterwards.

Then he better beat him then next time they play each other because Rev's acting like he's the tactical genius by all this.

By the sounds of it.

And for the record, Rinka, three Grand Slams, not two.

He's short champion.

The US Open victory back in: 2016

So three.

So he's just that little bit better than Zverev right now.

To answer your question, Adrian, I mean, if, if we want to talk about Zverev, I don't know if anyone's actually talking about that, but if we're Saying he's the best player in the world and he's in the same caliber as Alcaraz and Sina, then yes, I feel like he needs to beat them, one of them at least, if not both of them, on a big stage, either a Masters final or a Grand Slam semifinal or Grand Slam final.

I don't think anyone would argue with me.

If you do want to argue with me, fine, but you're an idiot.

I don't think anyone would argue that Zvere had a very soft draw this tournament and at Roland Garros.

Extremely, extremely soft draw.

You look back to his whole: 2026

Two wins, he's two and seven against top 10 players.

He's got wins against Fritz at Wimbledon and Shelton today, U.S. open.

Now, in fairness, five of those seven losses are against Sinna.

So he's just come up against Sinna every time, if we remember, at the start of this year.

And he's lost.

The other two losses were against Alcaraz and Fritz.

So I guess it's more the point that he's kind of avoided some of those other top 10 players.

He hasn't played Demon or he hasn't played Orge Eliasim.

Mercedes was top 10 at the start of the year.

He's not now.

No Djokovic.

So he's kind of skated by having not played those top 10 players and gotten to where he is.

But again, you can only play who's in front of you.

I said this to Chris a couple of podcast recordings ago.

You beat who's in front of you and you know, asterisks, no asterisks.

It doesn't matter.

He's the Grand Slam champion at the end of the day.

But if we want to talk about him, as you know, people are talking about him now as he's probably going to end the year as number one if he can keep this form up.

Sinner's going to be picky and choosy on the tournaments he plays.

Zera's probably thinking, I'm 29 years old now.

Here's my big chance to become a world number one and a two time Grand Slam champion in the same year.

So he's going to go hell for leather.

Does it make him a true number one?

I don't know.

dogs on the biggest stage in: 2027

And I feel like he still needs to do that.

He hasn't gotten over the sinner curse, so I feel like he needs to do that.

Adrian, I'm going to ask you about Ben Shelton.

I know you're not his biggest fan.

I know I'm his biggest fan based on this conversation.

He's 23 years old.

Do you think he can rebound next year and, you know, go one better, or does he follow sort of the same path as Verez followed?

ic team matchup going back to: 2020

He doesn't play another Grand Slam final for another four years.

He loses that one, makes another one the year after, loses that one.

It takes him six years before he can finally go one better and actually win one.

Is that what it's going to take for someone like Ben Sheldon who just needs to persist year after year after year and grind, or do you think he can go one better, say, next year?

Speaker C: 00:28:44

I think he.

He definitely can.

Given his age, his talent.

I think it definitely can.

A bit of foreshadowing for perhaps a question coming up.

So I don't want to reveal too much right now because then it'll just spoil maybe what I have to say regarding another question, but I think it definitely can.

And like you said, the fact that Zverev had to wait so long after that first Grand Slam loss and stayed really dedicated to his craft, playing for so long at a really competitive and consistent level, that's something Zverev has always done.

So, yeah, hats off to Min.

To Sveriv for doing that so well.

Can Shelton do the same?

I think so.

I think he has.

Speaker A: 00:29:35

The.

Speaker C: 00:29:35

The ceiling is there for him.

He can definitely do or win a Grand Slam.

Speaker A: 00:29:41

Yeah.

Speaker C: 00:29:41

Hopefully he doesn't have to wait as long as Verif did.

Speaker B: 00:29:45

He's got the raw talent, I think, just.

Speaker A: 00:29:47

Yeah.

Speaker B: 00:29:48

And himself.

One stat.

I didn't.

Well, I kind of knew about this, but I kind of forgotten about Chris Sierra's record against left handers.

He's 44.

One.

Speaker A: 00:29:57

Yeah.

Speaker B: 00:29:57

ss came against Nadal back in: 2023

And from memory, he retired Donnie's ankle.

And I was.

I was listening.

I was listening to a rival podcast.

Chris.

I won't name them, but the rival podcast made a mention.

Do you remember.

er brother that we watched in: 2017

Speaker A: 00:30:17

Yes.

Speaker B: 00:30:17

Australian Open.

Misha's very.

We watched him get his pants pulled down by Roger Federer.

It was a great day.

We watched vintage Federer.

We thought it was the end of Federer.

I ended up with that tournament.

Speaker A: 00:30:27

Destroyed him in 90 minutes, months.

90 Minutes.

Quarter.

Finally.

Speaker B: 00:30:31

I did not get our money's worth.

Speaker A: 00:30:33

Quarterfinal tickets.

Seeing Roger live, I'm like, this is a dream come true.

Absolutely dismantles Misha's verve in 90 minutes.

Pathetic.

Speaker B: 00:30:43

It was, it was amazing.

It was very.

It was Federer's first tournament in six months.

He ends up winning the tournament.

We think it was just like a, you know, farewell tour for Federer.

Misha Zverev, left hander Chris, if you can remember.

So I think Alexander Zverev just had that practice with left handers.

He's probably his whole life and his whole upbringing.

And had I known that, I might have changed my tip from Shelton Sverrev.

But I thought that was an interesting fact that I thought you would appreciate.

Speaker A: 00:31:13

I do, I do appreciate it.

It's probably, you know, you could almost assume that just because Misha is the older brother, I'm.

Speaker B: 00:31:21

I suspect the older brother.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker A: 00:31:23

I, I would have suspected Alexander or Sasha when the first time he beat Misha.

That wasn't the last time they played each other.

Like when you and I played tennis.

The first time I beat you was also the last time we ever played.

No, but it's a fair assumption it.

Speaker B: 00:31:42

Was about 10 years between our next match.

I had to take a semi retirement when I let my 13 year old brother eventually beat me.

Speaker A: 00:31:49

Yep.

And I'm pretty sure you made me walk home as well.

You were my lift and drove.

Speaker B: 00:31:55

You left me at the club around the corner.

Speaker A: 00:31:58

I'm gonna leave that part out.

But yes, no fair.

That's.

That's a good thing you picked up as well that Misha is a left hander.

And yeah, he's no coincidence that Zverevs Sasha's record is that good against left hand, as he probably grew up playing against his brother for many, many hours.

Adrian, I think you know what I'm going to ask you, but I've got one of.

I've got one for you.

That becomes even more interesting after what Shelton did over the last fortnight.

Here's a bit of a stat for you.

88.

Excuse me, 88 of the past 89 men's singles grand slams have now been won by Europe Europeans.

Juan Martin del potro at the: 2009

Before this U.S. open, it was 87 of the previous 88.

And Zverev winning here has extended it again.

Think about how long ago: 2009

Fedora, Nadal, Djokovic obviously swallowed up an enormous chunk of that period.

But when their dominance finally started to disappear, instead of the rest of the world breaking through, along came Alcaraz and Sinner.

And now Zverev has won two this year as well.

The Americans have had their chances.

reached the US Open final in: 2024

on has now reached a final in: 2026

This time he actually knocked out Alcaraz on the way before running into Zverev.

So we're getting closer, but we're still waiting.

And there are a few different ways you can go with this.

Maybe Shelton has just shown us he's the obvious one.

Maybe Fritz still gets one.

Maybe it's someone younger coming through.

Maybe the answer isn't American at all.

So, Adrian, who will be the next non European man to win a Grand Slam?

Sorry, I'm not going to make you actually give me a name.

No sending, no sitting on the fence, no giving me fucking five blokes either.

I want one name.

Speaker C: 00:34:11

I will give you one name after I give you some honorable mentions.

Honorable mentions.

My man Taylor Fritz, who at one point this year has been so hot right now.

Not right now he isn't.

Or as you said already grandstand finalists probably the most proven outside of Shelton.

I think Lerner TN is one to keep note of in the future as well.

Still so young, but he's been doing well.

He did great things in, in this US Open as well.

Still largely unknown.

Fonseca is another one.

A non American answer as well.

So South American prospects.

Yeah, one of the stands of the, of the next gen players.

Most of the next gen players have all been European, so it is really hard to find a non European.

I think the answer is Ben Shelton.

And that was my foreshadowing for your previous question there, Adam.

He's shown us that the Americans can get there.

As Chris, you, you mentioned just before he's.

He beat Alcaraz to get there, which was probably the, the toughest challenge.

But obviously come up against veraven0 was too good.

But Tiafo made a grandstand final and Severe just said, nah, Europe still has.

Speaker A: 00:35:43

The wood over you guys.

Speaker C: 00:35:46

I think here Shelton's the best candidate to break the streak.

He's 23, as we mentioned.

He's got to serve the athleticism, the big forehand.

But I think now he's got the experience.

You mentioned before that he looked like a player who was playing his first Grand Slam final and you can't blame him for that.

But I think he will take that as a big learning experience.

Maybe he can learn from the way he approached the Alcaraz game and how he was more locked in during that instead, instead of letting the occasion get to him.

So I think he definitely has it in him.

You can turn those deep runs into actually winning one.

Yeah.

I think the other strange thing is that just when you think outside of Europe or particularly the Americas have such a strong talent pool, which they do, but then you're looking at the younger players like a learner Tien.

But there's just someone from Europe who is also there waiting as well.

For example, Rafahoda.

So like there's.

There's always an answer on the European side.

It's just so difficult.

So if you asked me to put money on it, I'd say I'm taking Shelton.

Not with a lot of confidence though.

But that's my answer.

And if it's not good enough, then fuck you, Chris.

Speaker A: 00:37:07

Definitely fuck me.

But it got me thinking of one question I don't know the answer to.

Maybe our viewers, wherever you are, can maybe find the answer to this, but when was the last time someone made the final and for the first time at a Grand Slam and won it on their first go?

When they're reaching the final, I want to know.

Speaker B: 00:37:28

Have to be team.

Speaker C: 00:37:29

It's funny, I was thinking that same thing when I was talking about Shelton and having the excuse of even reaching his first grandstand finally.

Yeah.

When would that.

Speaker B: 00:37:41

Yeah.

Speaker C: 00:37:42

When did that happen?

I wonder.

Speaker A: 00:37:44

Dominic theme you reckon Adam has to.

Speaker B: 00:37:46

Has to be.

I think he's only.

I think he made a runners up before that.

I'm pretty sure you can edit this out if that's incorrect.

Speaker A: 00:37:55

No, no, we'll leave it in.

But I'll have to look into it.

Speaker B: 00:38:02

As well.

Like if Rafael hotter.

If it's not hotter, it's Mensic.

It's fees.

Speaker C: 00:38:07

That's right.

Speaker B: 00:38:07

Kaboli.

It's like there's just.

The European side is just stacked and.

Speaker C: 00:38:12

Yeah.

Speaker B: 00:38:14

South American tennis just like Dire Straits at the moment.

I mean, I think Chris is putting all these eggs in the booze basket to be the guy to break.

Speaker A: 00:38:22

Yeah.

Speaker B: 00:38:24

Is there anyone you think Chris other than Boost, obviously, to answer that question.

Speaker A: 00:38:30

No one that really comes to mind.

I. Yeah, I. I think.

Yeah.

Shelton would probably be.

And I like your point.

You raised Adrian that, you know, with experience and the more exposure he has deeper in the Slams, the better he'll be in the final stages.

Even in the AO this year he played a really good AO campaign.

He got dismantled by Sinna, which obviously so many do.

But he.

He was looking very Good then and I I unexpected but I was thinking maybe he could push sinner at the AO this year then losing straight sets then that's what happened.

So yeah I'm in the same boat as you age I go Shelton apologizing.

Speaker B: 00:39:22

About Dominic Thiem I forgot to let all those French opens he lost.

Speaker A: 00:39:25

Yeah yeah.

Speaker B: 00:39:26

,: 2019

So you can just edit all that out that I said thanks, that'd be good.

Remember the year I backed him to get out of his quarter when Nadal was out?

I made an absolute monty that year.

That's story for another time.

Speaker A: 00:39:39

You did.

What were your odds?

Speaker B: 00:39:42

Sevens or eights and then Nadal pulled out.

I can't remember which French over it was.

Nadal pulled out of the tournament but the odds hadn't reflected yet on sports bet and it was like Nadal was like a $5 to win his quarter.

Dean was 7.

The Dalek pulled out that morning.

So I just put like $100 on Dominic theme to win his quarter.

An hour later he's come into like $2.

Speaker A: 00:40:06

Well if you pick the quarter winners for this US Open on the men's side, you're a genius.

Especially that top half because it would have been an absolute mess in quarter two.

But that's just the way the cook crumbles lately on the men's side that just about wraps up our U S. Open coverage.

Two new chapters added to the season.

Rebakana leaves New York with the world number one ranking and probably a much stronger claim to being the player everyone else on the women's tour is chasing right now.

Zverev leaves with his second grand slam of the year.

next to two major trophies in: 2026

And for Sabulanka, another huge season, another deep prime, but also another big final where Rybakina has gotten the better of her.

So while the US Open is finished, there are probably more questions coming out of New York than we were going in.

Adam, any parting words before we log off tonight?

Speaker B: 00:41:06

If you want to see where I do my best work, just follow us on x x.com talking tennis.

It's all happening on there, so get involved.

Speaker A: 00:41:15

Very good, Adrian.

Speaker C: 00:41:17

I'd just like to thank all of our listeners who have reached out to us and also just get the downloads and just getting out of viewership.

We really appreciate it.

You know, as we say, don't be a good for nothing freeloader, guys.

It's not how your parents raised you.

Speaker A: 00:41:37

I'm sharing the love I knew was there.

Speaker C: 00:41:41

Thank you.

Speaker A: 00:41:41

I'll let everyone have a go at sign it.

Speaker C: 00:41:46

That's all I wanted to say at deleting with some nonsense.

Speaker A: 00:41:50

Very good.

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