Ben Shelton asks the ATP to quickly change an important rule right after losing the US Open final to Alexander Zverev.
US Open finalist Ben Shelton thinks there should be a big rule change after his loss to Alexander Zverev.
On Sunday, September 13, Germany’s top seed Zverev won his second Grand Slam of 2026 by beating America’s Shelton 6-3, 7-6 (7-2), 5-7, 6-2. Shelton missed becoming the first US-born player to win the last major of the year since Andy Roddick in 2003.
This was Zverev’s third consecutive final, after winning the French Open in June and losing to Jannik Sinner at Wimbledon in July. Shelton, only 23, has plenty of time to recover and learn from his first Grand Slam final experience.
During the match, Shelton got frustrated with how long Zverev took to serve. Zverev has a habit of bouncing the ball a lot before serving, while Shelton stayed ready to receive. Right now, players have 25 seconds for their first serve, but there’s no time limit for the second serve.
Shelton often told umpire Marijana Veljović how annoyed he was, but she just told him to stay on the baseline and wait for the serve. After the match, Shelton spoke openly about the issue and suggested changing the rules.
“I don’t think any athlete would be ready and waiting in a focused position for 30 seconds before starting,” Shelton said.
“I’m not going to stay all tense and ready with my knees bent for that long. I try to stay loose. He can do his routine, but I’m not going to just freeze waiting.
The umpire told me to get ready earlier, but I don’t think I should have to stand there while he bounces the ball 20-25 times. There should be some kind of rule, maybe about second serve timing.”
Shelton isn’t the only one who’s complained. Karen Khachanov, who lost to Zverev in the US Open semi-final, said the bouncing really messes with his timing.
“It’s annoying because you don’t know when the serve is coming. Then he bounces it again, so you get ready again. If it’s within the time allowed, I can’t say much. If he goes over time, then he should get penalties.”
Zverev later said he doesn’t do it on purpose.
“I’m not counting or doing it on purpose! I heard I bounced it 12,000 times or something, which is funny. I don’t know why it gets so many.”