​Alexander Zverev will play Ben Shelton in the 2026 US Open men’s singles final.He’ll walk onto Arthur Ashe Stadium searching for his second major title of the year, having already won the French Open on clay.After Zverev won the French Open, his first major, many believed he would play with more freedom at future Grand Slam events.John Isner believes Zverev is playing ‘freely’ at the US Open, but Sam Querrey strongly disagrees.Sam Querrey doesn’t believe Alexander Zverev is playing with freedom at the US OpenDuring the latest episode of their podcast, Isner, Querrey, and Steve Johnson discussed Zverev’s US Open performances.“I feel like for him [Alexander Zverev], the monkey is off his back, and he is playing so much freer in these Slams,” said Johnson.“I don’t think he is playing freer, though,” argued Querrey.“I think he is,” added Isner.Querrey continued to argue his point against Isner and Johnson.“When I’ve watched him the last two days, he’s just back there retreating making balls,” he said.“I think it’s freer in the sense that he’s done it. He can win ugly. Before, when it was ugly I thought he was flustered and annoyed. He’s winning these ugly matches, knowing he’s going to win them anyway. He may not be playing his best tennis, but he’s playing free,” explained Johnson.“I feel like the big moments today, even in the tiebreaker, the balls that were there to hit, he wasn’t stepping up and ripping them,” said Querrey.“But that’s freedom to me,” Isner suggested.“I disagree,” Querrey replied.Isner tried to explain his point of view.“That’s his base level, but the difference right now is these tight matches, especially earlier in the tournament, they’re not anxiety-riddled matches, he’s calm out there,” he said.Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images“He’s calm playing his game, where he is essentially pushing from the back of the court, whereas before he was so tense playing that game. And he’s also freer on the serve as well.”The Americans couldn’t agree, and the truth is probably somewhere in the middle.Zverev isn’t as tense as he was before winning Roland Garros, but he perhaps hasn’t adopted the free-flowing style many expected.Querrey also took the time to analyse the Zverev/Shelton match-up.“He’s 5-0 against Ben… The Ben that I have watched the last three days is a different Ben,” he said.“I’ve never seen him hit returns like this, I’ve never seen him hit his backhand like this. He’s always been an incredible athlete and physically strong, he doesn’t get tired. This is the best Ben has ever looked. The decision-making, the backhand return – those things specifically are so good right now; the serve is always good.“If he does that against Zverev, if the first serve is firing, he’s got it around 70%; if he steps in on the backhand, steps in on the forehand, Ben can beat him. I trust that Ben is going to go out and take his chances, tak