The most anticipated match of the tournament lived up to its billing and after five sets of drama, tension and electric shot making it was Frances Tiafoe who outlasted his fellow American Ben Shelton.
When it came down to it, 26-year-old Tiafoe’s experience told. Despite squandering 16 out of 21 break points he held his nerve and, to a degree, tamed his own shot making instincts in favor of ensuring he was more solid than his 21-year-old opponent.
Shelton served well, especially on break points, but he made far too many unforced errors – 58 to be exact. His forehand was especially wayward, as he swiped at the ball with wholly unnecessary force.
‘First off I got to say Ben’s an incredible player. He really is. He goes for all kinds of shots, he’s got no care in the world, it’s really annoying. I really hope you guys enjoyed the show,’ Tiafoe said post-match.
This was a rematch of the quarter-finals last year, which Shelton won. And, just as in 2023, the prize is a likely date with Novak Djokovic, who was playing Australian Alexei Popyrin in the night session.
Frances Tiafoe won a tricky third-round match against Ben Shelton in five sets at the US Open
Tiafoe, 26, and No. 20 in ATP rankings caused an upset despite being older than No. 13 Shelton
Shelton, 21, struggled in the last set, slipping to a 3-1 deficit early-on as Tiafoe surged to win
Djokovic is Djokovic, but it is baffling that his match was chosen ahead of this one for that primetime slot. An All-American clash between two consummate showmen, this was the very definition of a night match.
As it was, Ashe was less than one-third full at the start and, although everyone gradually filtered in, the atmosphere was not nearly as electric as it would have been under lights.
These two looked like the superstars they are, both sleeveless, Tiafoe in lavender, Shelton in blue-fading-to-pink. These two are close friends and several times they locked eyes across the court, not in rancour but simply to share in the joy of a fine rally or the tension of a crucial point.
Shelton was comfortably the better player in the first set but Tiafoe responded.
At 3-3 and then again at 4-4 in the second set Tiafoe had 0-40 on the Shelton serve but twice the younger man blasted his way to safety. He saved eight break points across those two games, one with a 139mph ace (fastest?) There were a lot of good serves in there but Tiafoe had enough of a look that he should have taken advantage.
But he came again at 5-5 and this time needed only one chance to break. He bounded to his chair and roared into the crowd and with that the match truly came to life.
Tiafoe’s win against Shelton, Thursday, was revenge for last year’s quarterfinal loss in Queens
At the beginning of the third set Shelton’s coach and father Bryan, himself a former world No52, gave his son the following advice from the stands: ‘Take the court position away from this guy. Take the ball earlier and don’t recover too far back.’
The legalization of on-court coaching has its pros and cons but what a fascinating insight into the gameplan.
Shelton did indeed push up the court and he took a 6-0 lead in the third-set tiebreak. Tiafoe dragged him back to 6-5 but Shelton loaded the gun and fired down a 143mph serve, the fastest serve of the tournament so far.
But Shelton began to tire and his game became ragged around the edges. Tiafoe redoubled his intensity and surged through the last two sets.
One American challenger down, another moves on in his quest to win the USA’s first men’s title here since Andy Roddick in 2003.
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