By Richard Pagliaro | Sunday, September 3, 2023
Ben Shelton blasted 16 aces, including a pair of 149 mph missiles, topping Tommy Paul 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 4-6, 6-4 to reach the US Open quarterfinals for the first time.
Photo credit: Mike Lawrence/USTA/US Open
NEW YORK—The flaming ball embedded on the back wall looked like a bulls-eye to Ben Shelton.
Lasering his lefty serve with menacing intent, Shelton torched the target.
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In an electric all-American clash, an explosive Shelton blasted 16 aces powering past Tommy Paul 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 into his maiden US Open quarterfinal.
The 20-year-old Shelton is the youngest American man to reach the US Open quarterfinals since a 20-year-old Andy Roddick did it in September 2002—a month before Shelton was born. After strong-arming Paul on with that incendiary serve and flamethrower forehand, Shelton paused for a second and flashed his biceps to the crowd.
“It’s just different being at home here in front of an American crowd,” Shelton told ESPN’s Mary Joe Fernandez afterward. “I felt the love all week playing against foreigners. I played another American today we had a great battle.
“It’s hard to believe that I’m playing on Arthur Ashe with the stands completely full, it’s hard to believe. God does wonders.”
Fist-pumping relentless and rocketing serve bombs in excess of 140 mph, Shelton rocked the back wall relentlessly, exuded more energy and sometimes dabbed deft drop shots to drag Paul from the baseline into the front court.
Wearing a sleeveless shirt, Shelton disarmed Paul with his disorientating power. Shelton saved 11 of 14 break points and hit 11 more winners—36 to 25—in a two hour, 49-minute victory.
"He's got a super jumpy serve. He was going after his second serves really aggressive today, which wasn't fun," Paul said. "He gave me, like, no rhythm the whole match. You know, the normal stuff when you're playing a guy who is a server -- or, I mean, he's not just a server. He can obviously run down a lot of balls. He definitely earned the match today."
The Floridian not only bruised the back wall in Arthur Ashe Stadium, he turned fellow athlete into audience: Paul stood and applauded along with the other 20,000-plus fans packed into Ashe Stadium after Shelton launched a pair of 149 mph missiles—the fastest serves of the tournament—in the fifth game of the third set.
A smiling Shelton, who clearly thrives on the game’s biggest stages, credit the crowd excitement with bringing the gas on serve.
“I think straight adrenaline,” Shelton said explaining those 149 mph seismic serves. “Any other atmosphere I think my arm might fall off but it’s feeling pretty good right now.”
The former all-American at Florida had not won back-to-back matches since his inspired run to the Australian Open quarterfinals last January. That run, Shelton’s first trip outside of the United States, ended with a 6-7(6), 3-6, 7-5, 4-6 loss to Paul in Melbourne.
In a high-octane rematch that brought both of New York’s NFL signal callers—Giants quarterback Daniel Jones and Jets QB Aaron Rodgers—out to Ashe Stadium to see it, Shelton bounced back from a slow start dive-bombing serves into all areas of the box and ripping forehands with fierce commitment.
“I really learned how to be mentally tough when I was playing in Australia,” Shelton said. “After a long week I was saying to my box: my legs are dead I’m tired I can’t go anywhere so I realized how important it is to believe in myself believe emotionally and mentally.
“We don’t panic in this box over in the corner—there’s no panic there.”
The 47th-ranked Shelton, who improves to 8-1 in hard-court Grand Slams, will face 10th-seeded compatriot Frances Tiafoe for a final four spot. It's been 78 consecutive majors since Andy Roddick defeated Juan Carlos Ferrero to win the 2003 US Open. Roddick remains the last American man to raise a Grand Slam singles title.
The explosive Shelton, playing his first full season on the Tour and just the fifth Grand Slam of his life, owns the jolting serve, charismatic personality and aggressive game to remodel the back wall and maybe even reconfigure this US Open draw.
The 2022 US Open semifinalist Tiafoe topped Aussie wild card and former North Carolina standout Rinky Hijikata 6-4, 6-1, 6-4 on Louis Armstrong Stadium court.
"Frances as a player is electric," Shelton said. "He's kind of been like a brother to me since I've been out here on tour and a guy who has kind of told me that he believed in me from my first ATP tournament. Just a great guy off the court. But on the court a nightmare to deal with. He does so many things well. One of them being engaging the crowd.
"He's just one of those guys where it's must-see TV. You want to watch him play all the time. He kind of has that Carlos Alcaraz effect, especially here in New York. This is his place where he really wants to show up. To be able to play against him in the quarterfinals on Arthur Ashe is something that's pretty special."
The left-handed Shelton had held in 36 of 40 games entering this all-American fourth round match. That stat did not register with Paul who slid a backhand pass for the opening break and a 2-0 lead six minutes into the match.
Zipping an ace out wide, Paul backed up the break at love.
Paul had three break point chances to go up a double-break for a 4-0 lead, but Shelton found his opponent’s forehand compelling a couple of errors to hold for 1-3.
That initial hold sparked a surge that saw Shelton seize six of the next seven games. In an athletic duel that saw both men go nose-to-nose at net, Shelton won that electric exchange breaking for 5-4.
An amped up-Shleton slammed two aces, including a 113 mph slider out wide to take the opening set.
Explosiveness on the run is a scary Shelton weapon. The 6’4” Shelton clubbed several slap-shot forehands on the run—and his point-ending power proved pivotal in taking the second set.
A Paul double fault put forced him to face break point. Defending with vigor, Shelton waited for the right shot and rapped a running forehand strike down the lien breaking for 4-3.
Lasering a forehand down the line, Shelton smacked successive aces backing up the break for 5-3.
The 14th seed desperately needed to make a stand. As a fan yelled “Come on Tommy right now!” a Shelton smash and Paul double fault put the older American in a double-set point bind.
When Paul tripped a forehand off the tape that scattered wide, Shelton snatched a two-set lead after 88 minutes. Shelton saved nine of 10 break points through those opening two sets.
"I mean, when you have that many breakpoints and don't convert many, it's super frustrating and you feel like you're winning the whole match and nothing, you're not moving up in the scoreboard, it's super frustrating," Paul said. "Especially when you feel like you have a lot on your racquet. It wasn't like all aces or anything. It was in points.
"It's frustrating. Like I said, he played a good match today."
Both men left the court for a clothing change after a sweaty opening two sets. Shelton bolted through a love hold to start the third.
The ease with which the former all-American was holding put even more pressure on Paul’s service games. Paul netted his fifth double fault to give Shelton the break for a 3-1 lead.
That’s when Shelton brought a barrage of missiles as if trying to hit a hole through the blue back wall.
A crackling 149 mph ace brought gasps from some fans and prompted applause from Paul, who stood and clapped with his Yonex racquet.
In his 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 6-0 win over Aslan Karatsev, Shelton unloaded a 147 mph serve. In the fifth game today, Shelton rocked the radar gun at 149 mph twice in the same game. Shelton dropped a 149 mph bomb ending a three-ace game with a bang for 4-1.
At that point, the finish line seemed a formality, but Paul wasn’t done working.
Pressuring Shelton’s serve, Paul drew an errant forehand down the line breaking back for 3-4.
Pumping a passing shot right through the middle, Paul earned break point in the ninth game. Shelton serve-and-volleyed but could not control the low backhand volley as Paul scored his second straight break taking his fourth game in a row for 5-4.
Serving-and-volleying, Paul blocked a backhand volley winner sealing his fifth consecutive game to take the third set and force a fourth after two hours, nine minutes.
Six games into the fourth set, Paul slipped a break point, eventually holding for 3-3.
Piling up pressure with powerful service holds, Shelton made his move in the 10th game. Paul sailed successive forehands as Shelton broke to close his second Grand Slam quarterfinal of the year.
A fired-up Shelton paused and struck a pose flashing his biceps to fans to wrap a show of Slam strength.