He is the only man who wasn’t born in Europe to win a Grand Slam in the last 17 years

Alexander Zverev has continued a long-running theme in men's tennis by emerging victorious at the US Open.

Zverev edged out Ben Shelton in the final of the hard-court Grand Slam in New York, winning their clash in five sets.

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And with his impressive US Open run, the German has just completed a clean sweep for European players in the 2026 men's Grand Slam season.

He also won the French Open, while his fellow Europeans Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner won the Australian Open and Wimbledon respectively.

In fact, the ATP records must go back a full 17 years to find the last Grand Slam champion who wasn't born in Europe; Juan Martin del Potro.

Juan Martin del Potro is the last non-European men's Grand Slam champion

Hailing from Argentina, Del Potro's longstanding record reaches back to 2009, when he lifted the trophy at the US Open.

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The ATP icon, who officially retired from tennis in 2004, defeated fellow legend Roger Federer to claim the top prize in New York.

Del Potro also reached the final of the US Open in 2018, but he was beaten that time around by Novak Djokovic.

The Argentine finished his glittering career with 22 ATP titles, having risen as high as third in the ATP rankings.

He retired with 439 wins and 174 losses to his name, with prize money of $25,896,046 across singles and doubles.

Juan Martin del Potro's Grand Slam finals

Alexander Zverev extends American men's Grand Slam drought

While Del Potro's record is very hard to believe, the monumental efforts of a handful of players played a key role.

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The Big Three of Djokovic, Federer and Rafael Nadal dominated the men's game for several years, leaving very little space for other major champions.

But even longer and even more remarkable is the American men's Grand Slam title drought, which has just been extended.

READ MORE: Juan Martin del Potro shares what Novak Djokovic is really like as a person

Shelton had a fantastic chance to end the nightmare run, but his US Open final loss means Andy Roddick remains the last American men's major champion.

He went all the way at the US Open back in 2003, with that 23-year drought now set to continue into 2027.

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