Top seed Alexander Zverev dashed Ben Shelton’s hopes and ended American dreams by defeating him in four sets on Sunday to claim his maiden US Open title. German top seed Zverev proved too strong for American eighth seed Shelton 6-3 7-6 (7-2) 5-7 6-2 in the final at Flushing Meadows. Zverev added the New York title to his collection after winning the French Open earlier this year.

In a bizarre ending, Shelton's return sailed long on match point, but Zverev, seemingly unaware that he had won, hit the balls back to the other end of the court, ready for another game. Only when Zverev glanced up to the big screen did he realise he had actually won. Shelton was bidding to become the first American man to win a Grand Slam singles title since Andy Roddick in 2003, while also aiming to become only the second Black man to triumph at this level after Arthur Ashe in 1975.

He walked onto the court to a rapturous reception from the partisan crowd of 23,000 spectators inside the stadium named in Ashe's honour. A star-studded crowd included actors Brad Pitt, Rami Malek and James Bond star Pierce Brosnan. Despite spending 19 hours and 38 minutes on court en route to the final - the fourth-longest total recorded by a player reaching a Grand Slam final since 1991 - Zverev made a blistering start, breaking in the opening game before breaking again on set point to take control.

Shelton could not even earn a break point in the opening two sets, as Zverev, the No 1 seed at a Grand Slam for the first time, used his powerful serve to keep the American at bay.