Ben Shelton Beats Tiafoe in 4 Sets to Reach First US Open Final

Q: After surviving a historic 3:30 a.m. marathon, can Shelton overcome exhaustion to break a 50-year American tennis drought?

Yes — Shelton can, but recovery will be the decisive factor. The encouraging part for Shelton is that his semifinal is not until Friday, giving him more than a day to reset after the 3:33 a.m. finish. In tennis terms, that is not ideal, but it is enough time for a 23-year-old with his physical profile to recover if there is no injury. His win over Carlos Alcaraz also suggested he still had enough explosiveness late, closing the match in a deciding super tiebreak with 146 mph serving and strong movement. There are real reasons for caution. Former players and current stars have warned that these overnight finishes disrupt sleep, meals, treatment and training routines. Shelton himself called the match “a war,” and recovery does not begin when the handshake happens; players still have cooldown, media duties and nutrition afterward. That can leave the body and mind flat two days later. The matchup with Frances Tiafoe is also not simple. Tiafoe had his own nearly five-hour quarterfinal, but he finished earlier and has extensive semifinal experience at Flushing Meadows. Shelton does lead their head-to-head 3-1 and beat Tiafoe at the 2023 U.S. Open, which is a meaningful edge. If Shelton manages the turnaround, he has a genuine opening not only to reach the final but to push toward ending the long American men’s major drought, which dates to Andy Roddick’s 2003 U.S. Open title. The marathon has made his path harder, not impossible.

3 articles · Updated · ESPN · Sep 12

4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 — Shelton rallied past Frances Tiafoe on Friday to book his first Grand Slam final and become the first Black American man in a US Open final since Arthur Ashe in 1972.
20 aces powered the No. 8 seed after a shaky opening set, while Tiafoe won just 28% of his second-serve points after the first set and dropped a 20-point final game of the third set.
Sunday's final pits Shelton against No. 1 Alexander Zverev, who beat Karen Khachanov in straight sets and owns a 5-0 career record against Shelton, including the past 10 sets.
A Shelton win would end the United States' wait for a men's major champion since Andy Roddick's 2003 US Open title and make 2026 only the second season in 20 years with multiple first-time men's Slam winners.