Shelton ends Alcaraz title defence in US Open thriller

Ben Shelton stunned defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in a dramatic five-set US Open quarter-final that ended at 3:33 a.m. The American snapped Alcaraz’s 18-match Grand Slam winning streak and advanced to the semi-finals, where he will face Frances Tiafoe

New York: Ben Shelton had gone toe-to-toe with Carlos Alcaraz for five exhausting sets and, finally at 3:33 a.m. Wednesday, got the chance to end the defending US Open champion’s title reign.

Shelton fired an ace at 146 mph, a ball that Alcaraz could not have returned even with fresh legs.

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That gave Shelton a 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (10-7) victory in a marathon tussle that became the latest-finishing match in US Open history.

“I’m tired. It was a war,” Shelton said.

“Carlos is one of the greatest champions of our sport. It was the most enjoyable match I’ve had in my career, for sure.”

Alcaraz had his 18-match winning streak in Grand Slam tournaments ended in a match that lasted four hours, 28 minutes, after he fought deep into the night and early into the next morning in a bid to win the trophy again.

“I mean, it was close, it was really close, so I was disappointed I didn’t get the win at the end,” the No. 2-seeded Alcaraz said.

“But I’m happy, I am proud of myself about how I fought. As I said, physically I was really tired but I found a way to push myself.”

Shelton next plays No. 11 seed Frances Tiafoe, who kept coming back until he reached his third US Open semi-final, beating Alex Michelsen 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (10-6) on Tuesday.

The US is guaranteed to have a representative in Sunday’s final as it seeks its first men’s Grand Slam title since Andy Roddick lifted the trophy here in 2003.

Alcaraz had played in the previous latest finish at the US Open when he outlasted Jannik Sinner in a match that finished at 2:50 a.m. in the 2022 quarter-finals en route to winning his first Grand Slam title at 19.

Fans love the energy of a night match

The US Open embraces its night matches, and players love the energy the fans provide — even when a number of matches have gone past 2 a.m. this year.

Thousands stayed until the end, with Arthur Ashe Stadium perhaps still one-third full for the finish. Shelton benefited from a home-crowd boost even against the popular Alcaraz, with fans chanting his name along with “USA! USA!”

“It’s incredible,” Shelton said. “I always say that this is the greatest sports city in the world, I say that this is the greatest stadium in the world. I’m just hoping that my best friend and my sister over there don’t have to be at work at 6 a.m. in three hours.”

Three of the four singles quarter-finals went to match tiebreakers on a marathon day that started with Aryna Sabalenka edging Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova to keep her hopes alive of winning a third straight US Open title.

Alcaraz will have to wait for his next one.

Instead, it was Shelton reaching his third major semi-final, having reached the final four at the 2023 US Open and 2025 Australian Open.

He seized control by winning nine straight games from early in the second set until he had a 3-0 lead in the third. But Alcaraz, playing his first tournament since April after returning from a right-wrist injury, battled back even after vomiting before the start of the final set.

Alcaraz ran off four straight points in the tiebreaker to go ahead 5-3, but Shelton came back behind some of his powerful serves, which can exceed 140 mph, along with some mistakes from Alcaraz. Shelton eventually finished it off with a 146-mph serve that his opponent could not return.

Alcaraz is now 15-2 in five-set matches. He won his seventh Grand Slam title at the Australian Open to start this year, not long before his injury, and came to Flushing Meadows saying he did not know what to expect.

‘I leave with my head held high’

“I’m leaving happy and my head held high,” Alcaraz said. “The truth is, I wanted to win … but also our goal was to leave the tournament having played matches and staying healthy.”

Tiafoe reached the semi-finals in 2022 and lost to Alcaraz, when the Spaniard won his first of seven Grand Slam titles. Tiafoe lost to fellow American Taylor Fritz two years later, when the US came closest to ending its men’s Grand Slam drought.

It certainly did not appear Tiafoe would be going back this time, after Michelsen continued his dominant run through his breakout tournament. He was the only man who had not dropped a set, and he served to win the match with a 5-4 lead in the third.

He could not finish it off, and Tiafoe charged back after falling behind 3-0 in the fifth set.

Tiafoe said his performance to start the match was slow and flat.

“It wasn’t good, let’s put it that way. It wasn’t good,” he said. “Three out of five is a blessing, because you have time to get it together. I definitely waited for the last minute.”

Tiafoe joined Andre Agassi as the only American men to reach three US Open semi-finals this century and will return to the top 10 for the first time in three years in the next rankings.

Michelsen, ranked No. 46, fell to 0-6 in matches that go to a fifth set.