New York: American Ben Shelton stormed into his maiden Grand Slam final by defeating compatriot Frances Tiafoe 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 at the US Open, keeping alive the country’s hopes of ending a 23-year wait for a men’s singles champion at Flushing Meadows.
The eighth-seeded Shelton overcame a slow start to complete the three-hour, 17-minute victory at Arthur Ashe Stadium and set up a championship clash against top seed Alexander Zverev on Sunday.
Zverev earlier defeated Karen Khachanov to reach his first US Open final since 2020, while Shelton became the first American man to reach the tournament’s final since Taylor Fritz in 2024. He is also the 13th different American man in the Open Era to make the US Open final.
Shelton, ranked ninth in the world, had entered the semifinal after his dramatic five-set victory over defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals, which ended at 3:33 a.m. local time.
Tiafoe took control early and claimed the opening set after breaking Shelton at 4-4 following a double fault. Shelton responded strongly in the second, breaking at 4-3 before serving out the set with a 132 mph first serve to level the match.
The eighth seed then took charge in the third set, winning a 28-shot rally at 2-2 to create three break points before converting the first. He broke again at 5-3 after a 15-minute game featuring seven deuces to move within a set of the final.
Tiafoe kept the fourth set on serve and looked set to force a decider, but Shelton finally found an opening at 5-5, securing the crucial break before serving out the match.
Shelton struck 47 winners, including 20 aces, and improved his ATP head-to-head record against Tiafoe to 4-1. He also became the youngest American US Open men’s finalist since Andy Roddick, who was 21 when he reached the 2003 final.
“I am going to need you guys on Sunday. I’m going for it here. I’m going to leave it all on the court. I hope you guys come back me. Let’s do this for the USA,” Shelton told the crowd after his win.
The 23-year-old will face a formidable opponent in Zverev, who holds a 5-0 record against him. Shelton, however, heads into the final after winning four titles this season in Dallas, Munich, Stuttgart and Montreal.
A victory on Sunday would make Shelton the first American man since Roddick in 2003 to lift the US Open singles trophy.
