At the U.S. Open, interminable ball bouncing and a debate about the serve clock

Alexander Zverev won the 2026 U.S. Open men's singles title, defeating American Ben Shelton 6-4, 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-2 in the final on Sunday. The 29-year-old German bounced the ball approximately 12,000 times across his first five matches, totaling roughly two and a half hours of ball-bouncing throughout the tournament. Shelton and others have called for rule changes to limit the time allowed between second serves, highlighting a gap in current regulations where only first serves are subject to a 25-second clock.