"A heavy favourite and has been there done that": Rick Macci sees clear US Open men's winner with 'match to lose' tag
ATPSunday, 13 September 2026 at 16:00
The men's final is on the docket tonight at the US Open and for Rick Macci, he sees a clear favourite in adding to the annuls of the legendary tournament and that being the current French Open champion, Alexander Zverev.
Quite an easy pick some would say due to the fact that Zverev came into the tournament the defacto top name given that Carlos Alcaraz has been injured and Jannik Sinner is not playing.
Novak Djokovic also suffered the blow early on of being forced to depart against Mariano Navone. Zverev will play his third consecutive Grand Slam final of 2026. He also reached the showpiece at Wimbledon in July losing to Jannik Sinner in four sets.
It is a sixth major final as he also finished runner-up at the US Open in 2020, Roland Garros in 2023 and the Australian Open in 2025. On the opposite side is a player with great expectation, but one that is appearing in his first final. Shelton fell at the penultimate hurdle in his previous two semi-finals.
Zverev also leads Shelton in their Head-to-Head in dominating fashion. He leads 5-0 having dropped only one set so far to Shelton and that was all the way back in 2024. Macci who has been involved with Venus and Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and Andy Roddick sees it as Zverev's to lose.
“The US OPEN MENS FINALS is 100% a ZVEREV match to lose,” he wrote on social media. “He is a heavy favourite and has been there done that.
“His serve is the Z FACTOR OR X FACTOR. His cutter on the deuce court is world-class, and German Jackhammer up the T delivers 138mph with gas.
“Most people want Big Ben to be last one standing at the end. If he pulls a rabbit or Gator out of his hat will be the first American since Roddick to win it and get off the mat.”
How can Shelton do it?
How can Shelton prevail?
Macci also gave the route that is needed for Shelton to upset the apple cart and for him to pull it off with Zverev sometimes struggling with the pressure.
“Shelton has to fire up the American crowd to be wild and loud, jumping and pumping. He has a real shot to win this Slam; holding serve is the key and getting out of a jam,” Macci wrote.
“Zverev stands on MADISON AVENUE to return serve so Benny the Blaster has to go monster kick serve and volley and have unreal nerve. The Benny slider on the ad court should open up the court like the RED SEA and if he serves well he might rewrite history.”
He added: “Shelton has improved a lot mentally. He is more focused on most points and as a result competes better start to finish.
“Shelton has to fire up the American crowd to be wild and loud, jumping and pumping. He has a real shot to win this Slam; holding serve is the key and getting out of a jam,” Macci wrote.
“Zverev stands on MADISON AVENUE to return serve so Benny the Blaster has to go monster kick serve and volley and have unreal nerve. The Benny slider on the ad court should open up the court like the RED SEA and if he serves well he might rewrite history.”
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He added: “Shelton has improved a lot mentally. He is more focused on most points and as a result competes better start to finish.
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Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of TennisUpToDate.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces across the TennisUpToDate network, playing a central role in the daily operation and development of the site.
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