• No 1 seed wins 6-3, 7-6 (2), 5-7, 6-2

• American’s hopes dashed in tense final

For a passing moment at the end of a rugged third set, hope sprung anew for Ben Shelton. He had been outserved and outplayed for nearly three hours, but at 6-5 in the third set, one game from defeat, the American finally broke through. He burst into the return game finally pounding his forehand freely and he willed himself into an unexpected fourth set.

After he had finished pumping his fist, cupping his ear to the crowd and admirably trying to initiate a drastic momentum shift, the next sequence was most revealing. Shelton opened the fourth set with a shaky game, immediately losing his serve at the start of the set. He worked hard until the end, but he was beaten by Zverev, the top seed, who closed out a 6-3, 7-6 (2), 5-7, 6-2 victory to lift his second grand slam title of the year.

New world No 1’s relationship with her previously banned coach, Stefano Vukov, remains under spotlight despite her rise to the top

In the bitter aftermath of her straight-sets defeat by Elena Rybakina at the WTA Finals last November, an inconsolable Aryna Sabalenka walked over to her courtside player box and slumped into a chair. She had been completely overpowered by her opponent, a strange and unusual feeling for such a powerful player, and she was seething. Sabalenka eventually settled on a popular Russian idiom to explain Rybakina’s untouchable form, which she believed was fortunately timed: “Once a year, even a stick shoots,” she said.

That stick, it turns out, has spent the past year shooting straight at Sabalenka in every significant match. Rybakina’s performance in Riyadh was a clear warning and she has dominated the hard‑court grand slam tournaments this year, beating Sabalenka in the Australian Open and US Open finals.

• Rybakina wins 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 despite first-serve problems

• Overcomes top seed and two-time defending champion

Even after she had won grand slam titles and conquered all surfaces, Elena Rybakina has always been considered lesser than the greatest players of her era. She has long been one of the most devastating shotmakers in the world, but there were always a couple more consistent and mentally tougher players above her.

She leaves New York, finally, as the undisputed best tennis player on the planet, the new standard bearer of the women’s game, after following up her snatching of the No 1 ranking from Aryna Sabalenka by succeeding her as the US Open champion. As she has done throughout this unforgettable week, the Kazakhstani showed her toughness in another spectacular tussle with her great rival, nervelessly closing out a 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 victory over Sabalenka, the top seed and two-time defending champion.

World No 4 will become the first Black American man to win the singles title at Flushing Meadow since Arthur Ashe if he can beat German for the first time

As Ben Shelton lapped up the explosion of joy and adoration from a full Arthur Ashe Stadium after reaching a grand slam final for the first time, one of his first thoughts was of his paternal grandmother, Regina, who died this year. Shelton credited his grandmother with ensuring that his father, Bryan, made it as a top professional, becoming one of a small group of Black men on the tour. “My dad lost his mom earlier this year and she’s the reason he was able to play tennis,” he said. “Without her, there’s no Ben Shelton standing here today. So this one is for her.”

Shelton stands on the verge of history. On Sunday, he will attempt to become the first Black American man to win the US Open singles title since Arthur Ashe in 1968, a feat he will attempt inside the stadium named after Ashe. Shelton would also be the first Black man to win any grand slam singles title since Yannick Noah at Roland Garros in 1983, and the third overall. He is also aiming to become the first American man to win a major singles title since Andy Roddick won the US Open in 2003.

• Zverev wins 6-3, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (6)

• German reaches third straight grand slam final

About 107 minutes into men’s semi-final day on Arthur Ashe Stadium, there was finally a touch of tension radiating from the court. After falling down a set and break, his semi-final meeting with his old rival Alexander Zverev swiftly turning into a beating, Karen Khachanov fought hard to force a second-set tie-break. Deep in that tension-filled tie-break, down 5-6 on his serve, Khachanov saved Zverev’s first set point with a bold forehand winner, and then at 6-7 he punctuated a screaming backhand passing shot winner with an imperious roar of his own.

There was a time when Zverev might have faltered under such pressure, but he has won too many big matches this year to allow such a small surge from a lower-ranked opponent to scare him. Zverev composed himself and he quickly regained control, navigating a second tense tie-break in similar fashion as he moved to within one match of winning a second career grand slam title in his last three major appearances by defeating Khachanov 6-3, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (6).

• Second seeded Kazakh comes from set down to win 3-6, 6-4, 6-4

• Sabalenka awaits in title decider after blitzing Jessica Pegula

One set may have already passed in her first US Open semi-final, but Elena Rybakina still had not arrived inside Arthur Ashe Stadium. While an inspired Coco Gauff blew through the first stanza covering every inch of the acrylic surface as their 22,000-strong audience screamed for the Kazakhstani’s blood, Rybakina was wild and erratic from the baseline and her peerless serve was nowhere to be seen.

Nobody reaches the summit of professional without being able to problem-solve through difficult days on courtthough, and Rybakina gave a brilliant showcase of the underrated toughness at the heart of her success as she coolly recovered from a set down to overpower Gauff and seal her spot in her first US Open final with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 win.

Veteran Frenchman bowed out in New York but the clash of two black players in the last four of the men’s singles is testament to his effect

The early days of this year’s US Open can be told in a series of farewells to competitors who plan to end their careers this year. The most moving of them all came in the form of Gaël Monfils’s grand departure inside Louis Armstrong Stadium against the wildly talented 20-year-old Learner Tien. Tien was competing in front of his home crowd, one of the Americans capable of a deep run, but for much of his straight-sets defeat the Frenchman had the American crowd in the palm of his hands.

Beyond the massive popularity he has garnered among tennis fans, one of the most striking parts of Monfils’s long farewell was seeing how highly nearly all of his fellow professionals, particularly his fellow black players, regard him. Frances Tiafoe says he spent his youth looking up to Monfils. Arthur Fils considers Monfils his older brother. Naomi Osaka’s nickname for Monfils, one of her idols, is simply “the Goat”. They all hold Monfils in such great esteem, and for good reason.

• Winner claims 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (7) victory

• Epic quarter-final ends after 3.30am in New York

As the official 10th day of play in New York moved deeper into the remote hours of the new morning, every passing game imbued Carlos Alcaraz with greater despair. From his focused start, Alcaraz’s intensity had flatlined and he could barely put a ball in court. He lost nine consecutive games against Ben Shelton and seemed to have nothing left.

Instead, the defending champion improbably dragged himself back into a contest that soon developed into one of the most remarkable matches of the year. The latest attempt by Alcaraz, the second seed, at orchestrating a monumental comeback was denied by a brave, defiant Shelton, the eighth seed, who refused to be shaken by his legendary rival or the looming prospect of securing the greatest win of career.