TENNIS: Zverev honors mother for unfaltering belief after US Open triumph

NEW YORK- Family was at the heart of Alexander Zverev's US Open triumph on Sunday as the German saluted the members of his inner circle and paid a heartfelt tribute to his mother for refusing to let diabetes define his future.

The top seed beat American Ben Shelton 6-3 7-6(2) 5-7 6-2 at Flushing Meadows to finish a spectacular year at the Grand Slams in which he proved his doubters wrong by going from perennial nearly man to two-time major champion.

Shortly after his victory, Zverev reserved special praise for his mother Irina, a former professional tennis player, and credited her with ensuring type 1 diabetes never limited his ambitions in life.

"When your 4-year-old son is diagnosed with diabetes and doctors in the office tell you that life and sports will be very limited for that child, it takes a very strong mother to say 'my son will be whatever he wants to be'," Zverev said.

"'If he wants to be a tennis player, he'll be a tennis player. If he wants to do something else, he'll do something else, but this illness will not define us'.

"I'm happy that we worked through it and we're doing the things that we're doing now. My mother is the most important and strongest person I know because it takes an unbelievably strong woman to do what she did."

The 29-year-old thanked his team, which includes his father Alexander Zverev Sr and his brother Mischa, for their hard work that had delivered him another Grand Slam trophy to add to his Olympic gold medal from the Tokyo Games five years ago.

"We went almost 30 years without winning a Grand Slam title and now we've won two in a span of three months," Zverev said.

"I think God has seen how hard we've worked, how much we've suffered, how much pain we went through and I think that 2026 is the outcome of all the years that happened before."

SCARS OF 2020

Zverev had come agonizingly close to capturing his maiden Grand Slam title in New York in 2020, leading Dominic Thiem by two sets to none and later serving for the match in the fifth set before losing.

He finally won his first major crown at this year's French Open after defeating Flavio Cobolli in five sets, and the German doubled his tally in New York despite making a shaky start to the fortnight.

He also reached the Wimbledon final this year, falling to Jannik Sinner in four sets.

"The scars of the 2020 (US Open) final, they disappeared after I won in Paris. I said at Wimbledon, though I lost in the final, I enjoyed the match ... enjoyed playing on Centre Court in front of an amazing crowd," Zverev said.

"Before winning in Paris, I felt a lot of stress all the time, because there was always a question mark. 'Will I ever win one?' Now it's more of a joy to play those kinds of finals."

With Sinner sidelined by a knee injury and Carlos Alcaraz having just returned from a wrist problem, Zverev reluctantly accepted that he was the man to beat in men's tennis after a strong finish to the Grand Slam season.

"Four or five months ago, when both of them were healthy, I wasn't. I was losing to Jannik all the time," he added.

"So if everyone is healthy, Jannik is still ahead. It's as simple as that."

Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar and Janina Nuno Rios in New York; Editing by Toby Davis, Peter Rutherford/Reuters