Ben Shelton became the first American to ever defeat Carlos Alcaraz at a Grand Slam, taking out the defending champion in the wee hours on Wednesday morning in Arthur Ashe Stadium, 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6(7).
It was the latest finish in US Open history, with Shelton hammering the clinching 146-mph ace at 3:33 a.m.
“That was a war, epic match, so physical,” shelton, who will face Frances Tiafore in an all-American semifinal on Friday, said.
“Carlos is one of the greatest champions in our sport already at 23 years old. It’s always fun being on the court against him. It’s ridiculous some of the stuff he comes up with sometimes.
“But, yeah, the most enjoyable match that I’ve had in my career, for sure.”
Alcaraz was bidding to become the first man to defend the US Open title since Roger Federer in 2008.
The Spaniard came to New York without having played a competitive match since April, after suffering damage to a right wrist tendon, but he raced through his first four matches at the Open to stretch his Grand Slam winning streak to 18.
“As I said before the tournament began, my expectation was to go there, compete, play in these kind of matches for me being healthy,” he said.
“It was close. It was close. So I’m just not going to be disappointed about not getting the win at the end. You know, I’m just happy. I’m just proud about myself, about how I fought.
“After the third set, physically I was really tired, but I found a way to push myself up and, you know, physically giving extra.”
The Spaniard gave full credit to Shelton, who never relented and played attacking, physical tennis from first ball to last.
“In the fifth set I just started to feel better and better, but I was playing against one of the — he is a beast. Shelton is an unbelievable player, powerful. He just managed how to play really, really well in every situation, so credit to him.
“I leave the court happy. I leave the court with a smile, healthy, and this is what I needed.”
Shelton’s victory will go down as one of the biggest wins by an American man in the last 20 years.
It opens the door for a second American men’s singles finalist to take a shot at becoming the first American man to win a Grand Slam title since Andy Roddick on 2003.
Alcaraz pulled a stunning turnaround to take the opening set in a tiebreak, breaking in the 12th game and winning three scintillating points to close the breaker, but Shelton hit back in the second to show that he wasn’t going anywhere.
“Once I got rolling the second set, broke him three times in that set, it was a lot easier to just play and swing more freely,”
In the end Shelton’s four hour and 28-minute upset is one of his greatest achievements, but he’d like to create more history for himself in New York.
Asked if he’d be ready to face Tiafoe in the semifinals after the latest finish in tournamanet history, he said:
“Two days, yeah, I think I’ll be all right,”
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