ALEXANDER ZVEREV WINS US OPEN 2026 - DEDICATES THE VICTORY TO HIS MOTHER

Prajwal Hegde at the US Open - New York City - reports for The Times of India. 

Alexander Zverev (Sascha),29,  the 6 ft 6' tall temperamental German, out served and out returned the 23 year old power house Ben Shelton, the American finalist, to win the US Open title 2026.

It is a powerful redemption story. 

He had been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes as a child.

The talented younger child in a tennis family, diagnosed with a condition that could have limited his sporting ambitions, survives a career threatening injury, endures three Grand Slam final defeats, at last wins the French Open in June 2026. 

It was only the beginning.

He won the second Grand Slam in 2026 itself on 13th September battling the crowd favourite Ben Shelton at the US Open in four sets.

His victory speech resonates far beyond the tennis world. 

It is a mother and son story on  adversity, belief and the refusal to let a medical diagnosis dictate a child's future. It is the kind of a story sport is built for, capable of lifting millions of hearts, young and old. 

"I want to thank one more person who never actually watches my matches, but is the most important person in my tennis life and in my life in general."

"When your four year old son gets diagnosed with diabetes and doctors tell you that life and sports will be very, very limited for that child, it takes a very very strong mother to walk out and say, 'My son will be wherever he wants to be.'

"If he wants to be a tennis player he'll be a tennis player .. this illness will not define us."

"It takes an unbelievably strong woman to do what she did."

In one corner of the Arthur Ashe stadium, 66 year old Alexander Zverev(Sr), father and coach, bit back tears.

When I read the heart warming speech, I thought of the mother who quietly brought up our two children She had been with them  throughout  the thick and  thin of their lives. Whenever they needed guidance, she was there. She supported them when they failed. She lifted them up. She carried them through illnesses.  All along, she had a demanding job, to which she had always been true. She encountered everything with a smile. 

She never forced the children into an identity foreclosure.

She encouraged them to evolve. 

They have now grown up into fine gentlemen. Not worldbeaters. But they are street smart.  She has instilled in them survival instincts. They look at her for inspiration. They shower their love and  affection upon her.

I watched her all the time from sidelines. I have often wondered where our children would have been,  had she not sustained them.