NEW YORK, United States, September 13, 2026: The most recent American to lift a US Open singles trophy was Coco Gauff in 2023. The most recent American man was Andy Roddick in 2003.
Those two dates tell very different stories about American tennis.
Gauff’s championship is recent enough to remain part of the current generation. She was still trying to win another New York title this week before Elena Rybakina stopped her in the semifinals.
Roddick’s victory belongs to another era.
Twenty-three years have passed since an American man won the US Open or any Grand Slam singles title. That drought can end Sunday because Ben Shelton has reached the 2026 US Open final against Alexander Zverev.
For the first time in years, the question “When was the last time an American won the US Open?” has become more than a piece of tennis trivia.
It could have a different answer within hours.
Follow the tournament through The Sports Encounter’s tennis coverage and our US Open 2026 section.
When Was the Last Time an American Won the US Open Singles Title?
Coco Gauff was the last American to win a US Open singles championship.
She defeated Aryna Sabalenka 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the 2023 women’s final at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The victory gave the then-19-year-old Gauff her first Grand Slam singles title and made her the first American teenager to win the US Open women’s championship since Serena Williams in 1999.
The official US Open account of Gauff’s championship documents the night that turned one of American tennis’ brightest prospects into a major champion.
| Category | Last American Champion | Year | Final Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Women’s singles | Coco Gauff | 2023 | Aryna Sabalenka | 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 |
| Men’s singles | Andy Roddick | 2003 | Juan Carlos Ferrero | 6-3, 7-6(2), 6-3 |
That means the United States has not been waiting decades for any singles champion.
The long drought belongs specifically to the men.
Andy Roddick Was the Last American Man to Win the US Open
Andy Roddick defeated Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3, 7-6(2), 6-3 in the 2003 US Open final.
He was 21 years old.
The championship became Roddick’s only Grand Slam singles title and helped propel him to the world No. 1 ranking later that season.
It also turned out to be the end of an extraordinary period of American men’s dominance in New York.
Between 1992 and 2003, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and Roddick combined to win eight US Open men’s singles championships.
Roddick was supposed to represent the continuation of that tradition.
Instead, his victory became the dividing line between two eras.
The US Open’s official historical record confirms Roddick as the 2003 champion, while the tournament now identifies him as the last American man to win not only the US Open, but any Grand Slam singles championship.
Why Has the American Men’s Drought Lasted So Long?
The simplest answer is that the drought overlapped with one of the strongest periods in men’s tennis history.
Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic dominated Grand Slam tournaments for most of the two decades after Roddick’s breakthrough.
Andy Murray joined them as another multiple-major champion, while players such as Stan Wawrinka, Juan Martin del Potro, Marin Cilic, Daniil Medvedev, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz also claimed major titles.
American players did not disappear during that period.
What disappeared was the final step.
Roddick returned to the US Open final in 2006 but lost to Federer. Andre Agassi reached the championship match in 2005 and also lost to Federer.
Years later, Taylor Fritz became the next American man to reach the US Open final in 2024, where Jannik Sinner stopped him.
Deep runs kept returning.
The trophy did not.
Ben Shelton Now Has the Best Chance Since Fritz
Ben Shelton enters Sunday’s final against Alexander Zverev with the opportunity to end the entire drought in one match.
The 23-year-old defeated Frances Tiafoe 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 in an all-American semifinal to reach his first Grand Slam final.
That victory also made Shelton the first Black American man to reach a US Open singles final since Arthur Ashe in 1972.
His path to the final has included the most important victory of his career.
In the quarterfinals, Shelton eliminated defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in a five-set match that finished at 3:33 a.m., the latest finish in US Open history.
The Sports Encounter’s analysis of Shelton’s victory over Alcaraz examined how he combined his explosive serve with far greater composure under pressure than earlier versions of Shelton had shown.
He then carried that control into the semifinal against Tiafoe.
Shelton Is Playing for More Than His First Major
Every first Grand Slam final carries pressure.
Shelton’s carries an additional national storyline.
If he beats Zverev, he will become:
- the first American man to win the US Open since Andy Roddick in 2003;
- the first American man to win any Grand Slam singles title since Roddick;
- the first Black American man to win the US Open singles championship since Arthur Ashe in 1968;
- a first-time Grand Slam champion at age 23.
The official US Open described Shelton as one victory away from breaking a 23-year American men’s Grand Slam drought after his semifinal victory.
That historical weight has been building throughout the tournament.
Before New York began, our complete US Open 2026 preview identified Shelton as one of the American players with the explosive upside required to make a serious run.
Later, our men’s title-race analysis examined Shelton alongside Zverev and Novak Djokovic as the draw began to take shape.
Now Shelton and Zverev are the final two players standing.
The 2026 US Open Has Already Been an Exceptional Tournament for American Tennis
Shelton’s run did not happen in isolation.
American players filled the second week on both sides of the draw.
Frances Tiafoe reached the men’s semifinals. Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula both reached the women’s semifinals.
Six Americans reached the singles quarterfinals across the men’s and women’s draws, the highest total at the US Open since 2002.
That concentration of home players gave the second week a distinctly American character.
TSE’s analysis of Black American athletes on the global stage explored how Gauff, Shelton and Tiafoe became central figures in that story during this tournament.
The comparison with earlier eras is unavoidable.
American tennis once arrived at Grand Slams expecting championships.
The current generation has spent years trying to turn depth back into dominance.
New York 2026 may be the clearest evidence yet that the process is working.
Coco Gauff Remains America’s Most Recent US Open Singles Champion
Whatever happens in the men’s final, Gauff’s 2023 championship remains an important marker.
She arrived in New York that year carrying enormous expectations and lost the opening set of the final 6-2 to Sabalenka.
Instead of allowing the match to disappear, Gauff changed the rhythm.
She extended rallies, defended relentlessly and repeatedly forced Sabalenka to hit additional shots under pressure.
Gauff won the final two sets 6-3, 6-2.
Three years later, she returned to the latter stages of the tournament with another championship opportunity.
She defeated Mirra Andreeva after saving two match points in the quarterfinals, a comeback examined in our Gauff-Andreeva analysis.
Her attempt to reclaim the title ended in the semifinals, where Elena Rybakina recovered from losing the opening set to win 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Our semifinal breakdown showed that Rybakina’s first-serve efficiency and return pressure eventually separated the two players.
Gauff therefore remains the last American woman to win in New York, but 2026 added another deep run to her US Open record.
American Women Have Avoided the Drought Facing the Men
The contrast between the men’s and women’s records is striking.
American women have continued winning US Open titles during the period since Roddick’s championship.
Serena Williams won multiple championships. Venus Williams had already established herself as a New York champion before Roddick’s breakthrough. Sloane Stephens won in 2017, and Gauff followed in 2023.
Jessica Pegula reached the 2024 final. Amanda Anisimova followed with another American appearance in the championship match in 2025.
Pegula came close again this year before Sabalenka eliminated her in the semifinals.
TSE’s Pegula-Sabalenka semifinal analysis found that Sabalenka’s pressure on Pegula’s second serve turned a competitive opening set into a much more one-sided finish.
The United States therefore has not lacked elite women capable of reaching the final weekend.
The men have been searching for the breakthrough that the women continued producing.
Why Roddick’s 2003 Title Still Feels So Important
Twenty-three years can distort how a championship is remembered.
Roddick’s victory is sometimes treated primarily as the beginning of the American drought because nobody followed him.
It deserves to be remembered first as an exceptional tournament.
Roddick entered the 2003 US Open during the strongest season of his career.
He survived a five-set semifinal against David Nalbandian after dropping the opening two sets and saving a match point.
Then he defeated Ferrero in straight sets in the final.
That combination of survival and authority was supposed to announce the arrival of America’s next long-term Grand Slam force.
Federer’s rise changed the landscape almost immediately.
Roddick still reached four additional major finals, but Federer defeated him in every one.
The 2003 US Open consequently became both Roddick’s greatest achievement and the final American men’s major of an era.
Arthur Ashe Adds Another Historical Layer to Shelton’s Final
Shelton’s place in Sunday’s final has another connection to American tennis history.
Arthur Ashe became the first Black man to win the US Open in 1968.
The tournament’s main stadium now carries his name.
Shelton will attempt to become the first Black American man to win the men’s singles championship since Ashe while playing inside Arthur Ashe Stadium.
He is also the first Black American man to reach the final since Ashe did so in 1972.
Those facts give Sunday’s match historical depth that exists independently of the Roddick drought.
Shelton is playing for his own first major.
He is also playing inside several different American tennis histories at once.
What Stands Between Shelton and the Title?
Alexander Zverev.
The German enters the final as the No. 1 seed and an established Grand Slam contender.
He reached his previous US Open final in 2020 and has since added further major experience, including winning Roland Garros earlier this season.
Shelton will need to protect his own service games while preventing Zverev from settling into the controlled baseline patterns that make him so difficult to dislodge.
The serve offers Shelton his clearest weapon.
He has already reached 149 mph during this tournament, the fastest recorded serve of the 2026 US Open through the semifinals.
The challenge is what happens after the serve returns.
Against Alcaraz and Tiafoe, Shelton showed that his development now extends beyond raw power. His shot selection has improved, his emotional control has become more reliable and he has been increasingly willing to construct points rather than trying to finish every exchange immediately.
Those improvements have taken him to the final.
They will now be tested against the tournament’s top seed.
TSE Analysis: American Tennis Has Already Changed Before the Final
Sunday’s result will determine whether American men’s tennis finally has its champion.
It will not determine whether the broader revival is real.
That evidence already exists.
Fritz reached the 2024 US Open final. Tiafoe has now made three New York semifinals. Shelton has reached his first major final. Tommy Paul, Brandon Nakashima, Alex Michelsen and others have added depth across the rankings.
The women remain even stronger at the top, with Gauff and Pegula repeatedly reaching the final stages of major tournaments.
What American men’s tennis has lacked is the trophy that turns competitive depth into historical proof.
Roddick supplied the last one in 2003.
Gauff supplied the most recent American US Open singles title in 2023.
Shelton now has the opportunity to connect those two stories.
If he beats Zverev, Americans will no longer need to look back 23 years when asked about their last men’s US Open champion.
If he loses, the drought will continue, but the question surrounding American men’s tennis will still have changed.
For years, it was difficult to identify who might end the wait.
On Sunday, there will be a name, a court and one match separating the United States from the trophy.
Frequently Asked Questions
When was the last time an American won the US Open singles title?
Coco Gauff was the most recent American singles champion, winning the women’s US Open title in 2023 by defeating Aryna Sabalenka 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.
When was the last time an American man won the US Open?
Andy Roddick was the last American man to win the US Open, defeating Juan Carlos Ferrero in the 2003 final.
Who was the last American man to win a Grand Slam?
Andy Roddick remains the most recent American man to win any Grand Slam singles championship. His 2003 US Open title was his only major.
How long is the American men’s Grand Slam drought?
The drought has reached 23 years in 2026. No American man has won a Grand Slam singles title since Roddick’s 2003 US Open championship.
Can Ben Shelton end the drought in 2026?
Yes. Shelton faces Alexander Zverev in the 2026 US Open men’s singles final. Victory would make him the first American male Grand Slam singles champion since Roddick.
Who did Ben Shelton beat to reach the 2026 US Open final?
Shelton defeated fellow American Frances Tiafoe 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 in the semifinals.
Who did Shelton beat in the quarterfinals?
He defeated defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in five sets, winning 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6(7).
When did Coco Gauff win the US Open?
Gauff won her first US Open and first Grand Slam singles championship in 2023 at age 19.
Was Coco Gauff the last American woman to win the US Open?
Yes. Gauff remains the most recent American women’s singles champion after reaching the semifinals in 2026.
Who was the last Black American man to win the US Open?
Arthur Ashe won the men’s singles championship in 1968. Ben Shelton can become the first Black American man to win the tournament since Ashe.
