Ben Shelton rolls past Frances Tiafoe to reach US Open final with chance to end American drought
The crowd couldn’t choose sides, so they cheered at every chance, like proud and conflicted parents.
The ties went deeper with Frances Tiafoe, who is 11 years removed from his U.S. Open debut, and the embodiment of the American dream, whose parents escaped civil war in Sierra Leone and had their children sleep in the Maryland tennis facility where his father was a maintenance worker. The 28-year-old believed his moment had finally arrived, making his third semifinal appearance in Queens — the first American man to do so since Andre Agassi — using his athleticism, relentlessness and craftiness to produce the loudest possible pops from the world’s largest tennis stadium.
Ben Shelton offered rebuttals that broke brains, eliciting thousands of gasps with some of the most powerful serves humanity has ever seen. The 23-year-old was fresh off his star-making, early-morning upset of Carlos Alcaraz, showcasing the highest ceiling America has seen in years.
So many shots seemed certain to change momentum, only to be silenced a second later. The countless screams and fist pumps served as reminders of the stakes. It could become a defining moment or a haunting regret. It was the one that couldn’t get away.
In just the second All-American U.S. Open semifinal in the past two decades and the first-ever meeting between black men at this stage, Shelton seized his chance at history, defeating Tiafoe, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-5, to set up Sunday’s final against No. 1 Alexander Zverev.
With one more victory, Shelton — the No. 8 seed and highest-ranked player in the nation — would break the seemingly never-ending domestic drought to become the first American man since Andy Roddick to win a Grand Slam title since the 2003 U.S. Open. It would also make Shelton the first Black men’s U.S. Open champion since Arthur Ashe won it in 1968.
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Shelton, who is winless against Zverev in five career meetings and hasn’t taken a set off him since their first encounter in 2024, joins Taylor Fritz as the only active American man to reach a Grand Slam final, three years after becoming the youngest U.S. Open semifinalist in 31 years.
“It’s a lot of emotion,” Shelton said. “I’m going to need you guys on Sunday to bring your energy. I’m going for it here. I’m going to leave it all out there. Let’s do this for the USA.”
Roughly 40 hours after leaving the stadium with the greatest win of his career, Shelton came out shaky, giving away a break on a double-fault, while committing twice as many unforced errors (14) as winners in the first set. But Shelton continued to take chances, keeping Tiafoe on defense, as he delivered 25 winners and nine unforced errors over the next two sets combined, finishing with nearly twice as many winners (47-27) and a 20-3 edge in aces.
Tiafoe, the No. 11 seed, worked so much harder for every point, but seemed capable of trading punches as long as necessary. He had split his two previous matches with Shelton in Flushing Meadows. He was coming off a miracle comeback against fellow American Alex Michelsen, having won five straight matches against top-10 opponents. In his previous two semifinal losses (against Djokovic and Fritz), Tiafoe took the match to five sets.
But on the verge of a tiebreaker to send the match the distance, Shelton took control, winning the match on Tiafoe’s serve.
The two friends embraced at the net, sorry that one would be left behind.
One more time, the crowd stood and cheered.
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