Ben Shelton beat Carlos Alcaraz in a five-set battle. The match ended at 3.33am local time. It was the latest finish in US Open history.
Shelton won 6-7 (5-7), 6-1, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (10-7). The fight lasted four hours and 28 minutes. A loud Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd stayed with him all the way.
This was Shelton’s first win over a top-three player. He had lost all 17 previous matches against them. He now meets fellow American Frances Tiafoe in the semis. Tiafoe had won his own five-set match earlier that night.
“For me it’s always about the people in the crowd, whether it’s my coaches, team or friends and family, or the city of New York that showed up tonight until 3am with the USA chants, that’s what kept me going and what got me this win,” Shelton said. “It’s incredible. This is the greatest sports city and greatest stadium in the world.”
He added thanks to his sister and best friend. He hoped they would not face early work the next morning. Sharing the court with Alcaraz felt like an honor to him.
The win puts an American in the men’s final for the first time since Andy Roddick in 2003. No US man has won a major title since then. Shelton has now reached a third Grand Slam semi-final. He did so at the 2023 US Open and 2025 Australian Open too.
Alcaraz returned from a wrist injury that kept him out more than four months. This was his first event since April. He vomited before the final set. The match still went to a 10-point tie-break.
Shelton dropped the first-set tie-break. Then he took nine games in a row. He controlled the second and third sets. Alcaraz fought back to force a fifth set.
In the deciding tie-break Alcaraz led 5-3. He won four points in a row at one stage. Shelton turned it around. He closed with a 146mph serve that Alcaraz could not return. The crowd stood and cheered.
