By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday September 6, 2023
Ben Shelton stunned Frances Tiafoe in an All-American showdown on Arthur Ashe Stadium to reach the semis at the US Open.
Photo Source: Getty
In an electric environment inside Arthur Ashe Stadium, 20-year-old phenom Ben Shelton took fans on a wild ride.
The bomb-serving southpaw, playing in his fifth Grand Slam main draw, survived a roller coaster battle with compatriot Frances Tiafoe to earn a 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(7), 6-2 triumph and become the youngest American to reach the US Open semifinals since Michael Chang in 1990.
He will face three-time champion Novak Djokovic in the semifinal.
In sweltering conditions on Tuesday night in New York, American fans packed Ashe to the rafters to celebrate the first time that two Black Americans had reached the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam in Open Era history.
The energy was swirling, and 20-year-old Shelton – barely a year removed from college tennis at the University of Florida – was better in the bigger moments claimed victory over his good friend Tiafoe, who was the far more experienced player on the court and the pre-match favorite.
“He just played better than me. I gave him a lot of chances to stay in the match, and he took advantage of it. Hats off to him,” Tiafoe said after the match.
Tiafoe, bidding to become the first American to reach back-to-back semifinals at the US Open since 2003, watched a golden opportunity pass him by in the third set, as Shelton saved a set point with a 105 MPH forehand winner to level for 7-7, then captured the set two points later.
It was a remarkable scene that saw Tiafoe save a pair of set points from 6-4 down, as he watched Shelton cough up back-to-back double faults to give him the 7-6 lead.
But Shelton doubled down and took matters into his own hands from there.
It was a memorable moment that topped off a topsy turvy set that featured three trades of breaks each from the normally stupendous servers.
“Kind of a roller coaster for me, serving for the set,” Shelton said. “t's one of my biggest weapons, my serve. So to lose two points the way I did was unfortunate and frustrated me.
“Honestly, at down set point I needed to let a little bit of that frustration out and kind of just let it go. I had been all set so uptight about things. Trying hard to hold serve. I had gotten broken a couple of times. I broke back a couple of times. There was just so much stress. I kind of needed a release and it ended up working out for me.”
Tiafoe was a bit stunned at that moment, and Shelton took advantage to claim the early break in set three.
"A little bit of a lull, played a bad game in the opening game in the fourth," a disappointed Tiafoe said. "Obviously after a tough set, after such an up-and-down set, we both broke each other a lot. Not common in men's tennis. How many breaks there was, pretty poor level both sides."
The 47th-ranked American never wavered, dropping just four service points in the set to finish off Tiafoe for his biggest career win in three hours and seven minutes.
“Just being tough and being relentless, and knowing that I could go the distance physically no matter how bad it hurt. That was just kind of what I was sticking with,” Shelton said.