Alexander Zverev won the US Open on Sunday, beating home favourite Ben Shelton 6-3, 7-6 (7-2), 5-7, 6-2 in New York.
The German top seed did not immediately realise he had won, thinking the score was 5-1 and that another game was to come. "I thought it was 5-1!" he later told Sky Sports. "I knew I had broke twice, he had only held once so like it's 5-1." He only realised he was champion when he looked up at the scoreboard and the upper deck of Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Zverev will pocket $5.5m in prize money. The victory also comes six years after he lost the 2020 US Open final to Dominic Thiem from two sets up.
Shelton, 23, overcame a nervy start and broke Zverev late in the third set to force a fourth, but Zverev claimed the opening break in the fourth and served out the match. It was his sixth consecutive win against the world No 9.
Zverev won his first grand slam title at the French Open in June and reached the Wimbledon final in July. He is now the fourth man in the Open era to win his first two grand slam titles in the same year.
He faced jeers during the final over the slow pace of his service play and was given a time violation by chair umpire Marijana Veljovic in the fourth set. Stats showed he spent around three hours of his 23-plus hours on court this fortnight bouncing the ball between serves.