Friday night’s main event at Arthur Ashe Stadium pitted two of the top Americans against each other for the right to face Alexander Zverev on Sunday for the US Open title. No. 8 seed Ben Shelton and No. 11 seed Frances Tiafoe both made it to the semis in dramatic fashion.
The anticipation for the match was as high as any non-final in recent memory, as the winner would get a chance to snap the 23-year drought since the last American man won a grand slam title. It was the first ever grand slam semifinal to feature two Black American men, and the winner would become the first Black American man to reach the US Open final since Arthur Ashe in 1972.
With all that history at stake, the two delivered a tremendous, tense match that ended in Shelton winning in four sets (4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-5) to reach the first grand slam final of his career. Shelton spoke after the match about what’s been different this year for him, and he highlighted a maturity that’s been obvious in his play the last two matches — while also still being a 23-year-old.
“I’ve grown up. I’m more mature. More focused,” Shelton said. “I know what my goal is. I know what my job is out here. I’m 100% committed to those goals. It’s not easy playing here at Arthur Ashe, playing in front of all your favorite athletes and movie stars. Being able to keep your head down and focus for over three hours is not an easy task. I keep on looking up at the screen saying, ‘Oh, shoot, Jalen Brunson’s here.'”
While Shelton eventually found his top form, Tiafoe was the sharper player early on. The No. 11 seed was able to pick off the first break of the match in the ninth game of the first set and consolidated that with a hold at love to win the opening set and send a message to his young opponent.
That message was received loud and clear, and after making 14 unforced errors in the first set, Shelton composed himself and got back to the level that earned him the biggest win of his career over No. 2 seed Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals. Shelton began to lean on Tiafoe with his big serve and heavy groundstrokes, causing Tiafoe’s forehand in particular to break down.
Along with a shaky forehand, Tiafoe started to struggle to get his first serve in, creating opportunities for Shelton to step in and become the aggressor. Shelton took the second and third sets 6-3, breaking Tiafoe four times in those sets while only getting broken once in return. He started to find that ideal balance between aggression and control, perhaps best evidenced by a serve that initially clocked in at 158 mph on the stadium gun (but was eventually found to be a misread at just 144 mph, which is still massive).
Even in the sets Shelton was winning, Tiafoe was right on the edge. The final game of the third set, which ended in Shelton breaking Tiafoe after four attempts, lasted more than 15 minutes and they opened the fourth set with another marathon game on Shelton’s serve.
The tension continued to ratchet up as the fourth set wore on, with both men grinding out holds of serve in the first 11 games despite having to fight off strong challenges and break opportunities.
Ultimately, Tiafoe’s service woes came back to haunt him in the 12th game as he tried to force a tiebreak, falling behind 0-40 to give Shelton three match points. The 23-year-old got it done in his second try to take the fourth set 7-5 and advance to the final against Zverev.
The service discrepancy proved to be the difference in the match. He piled up 20 aces to just three double faults and got his first serve in 75% of the time — an incredible rate given his power. On the other side, Tiafoe got his serve in just 57% of the time and Shelton dominated the Tiafoe second serve, winning 62% of his return points against the 11 seed’s second.
Now Shelton will look to take another leap in the hierarchy of men’s tennis by becoming a grand slam champion and snapping the Americans’ 23-year drought in the process. To do so, he’ll have to take down Zverev, who has had an incredibly consistent year making three straight grand slam finals, including a win at the French Open.
