US Open: Ben Shelton suggest rule change over champion Alexander Zverev's ball-bouncing habit

The 2026 US Open will go down as a triumph for Alexander Zverev. With some grumbles along the way.

The German defeated Ben Shelton 6-3, 7-6, 5-7, 6-2 on Sunday to capture his second career Grand Slam title, a few months after his first such trophy at Roland-Garros. It was a brilliant performance, especially on a serve Shelton only managed to break once across four sets.

That serve perturbed many opponents this tournament, but not just because of its 130-plus mph speeds and the backhand often following it. It was also the waiting.

Throughout the tournament, Zverev kept opponents on indefinite standby with his serve. There is a 25-second serve clock in between points for exactly this season, but no such limit exists on second serves.

So Zverev was seemingly bouncing the ball upwards of 10 times on every single second serve. Sometimes in excess of 20 times. It bothered his opponents, the crowd and the broadcasters, with everyone speculating what could be done about it.

That includes Shelton, who suggested a a time limit for second serves while speaking with reporters after the match:

“For a first serve you should be able to do whatever you want and use the full 25 seconds every time. I think that there should be some sort of rule — I’m not sure exactly how you would do it — limiting time on second serves. You shouldn’t have unlimited time. For our sport, for the fans. I think it’s tough to be sitting there for that long for the next action to happen.

“I’m sure at some point it will be something that these tournaments look at just because there is such a delay in play in some matches.”

“For a first serve you should be able to do whatever you want and use the full 25 seconds every time. I think that there should be some sort of rule — I’m not sure exactly how you would do it — limiting time on second serves. You shouldn’t have unlimited time. For our sport, for the fans. I think it’s tough to be sitting there for that long for the next action to happen.

“I’m sure at some point it will be something that these tournaments look at just because there is such a delay in play in some matches.”

The ball-bouncing was addressed at one point in Sunday’s match. The chair umpire gave Zverev a time violation in the fourth set after such a delay, to the loud delight of the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd. Zverev appeared to argue he was actually waiting for a crowd clearly partial to Shelton to settle down.

Karen Khachanov, Zverev’s semifinal opponent, had a similar issue with the ball bounces in their match but conceded it was within the rules:

“The way he bounces the ball, look, it annoys not only me, of course, but a lot of players, because it takes so much time. You don’t know how to prepare for the serve. You are ready, and then it’s another 12 bounces.

“Every point like that. At the end of the day, if it’s within the rules with the time between points, I cannot say anything against that, because it’s within the rules. If he extends the time, he gets a time violation, so it’s pretty simple as that.”

“The way he bounces the ball, look, it annoys not only me, of course, but a lot of players, because it takes so much time. You don’t know how to prepare for the serve. You are ready, and then it’s another 12 bounces.

“Every point like that. At the end of the day, if it’s within the rules with the time between points, I cannot say anything against that, because it’s within the rules. If he extends the time, he gets a time violation, so it’s pretty simple as that.”

This stuff isn’t particularly new with Zverev — you can see him bounce the ball 12 times before his first second serve in this 2026 Australian Open match — but the number of bounces definitely seemed to increase in this tournament. It is also the kind of scrutiny players start experiencing once they become multi-time Grand Slam champions.

“I’m not counting in my head. I’m not getting a certain number or anything like that. I don’t know why it increased so much.

Today it decreased again, becuase I saw it before the semifinals so I was like, ‘OK, it’s gotta go less,’ but then I forget about it every once in a while and it goes up. I don’t know what number it is.

“I’m not counting in my head. I’m not getting a certain number or anything like that. I don’t know why it increased so much.

Today it decreased again, becuase I saw it before the semifinals so I was like, ‘OK, it’s gotta go less,’ but then I forget about it every once in a while and it goes up. I don’t know what number it is.

Whatever is done about the ball-bouncing, 2026 stands to go down as a career season for Zverev. He entered the year as the consensus best player to never win a Grand Slam and proceeded to go 25-2 in Grand Slams that year, losing to only Carlos Alcaraz (Australian Open semifinal) and Jannik Sinner (Wimbledon final).

Questions remain about his ability to beat modern tennis’ new duopoly, but it’s clear his legacy has changed this year.