The young American Ben Shelton (47) made a splash this Tuesday by eliminating his compatriot Frances Tiafoe (10) from the United States Open and earning a place in the semifinals, where he will face the Serbian Novak Djokovic (2).
At 20, Shelton signed the most important victory so far in his still brief career and also became the youngest American tennis player to reach the semifinals of the New York ‘big’ since Michael Chang in 1992.
To do this, he had to defeat Tiafoe, who was a semifinalist at Flushing Meadows last year, in the quarterfinals, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(7) and 6-2 in three hours and seven minutes.
Left-handed and possessing a powerful serve, Shelton risks to the limit and is not afraid to play it again and again, something that was clearly seen -and with excellent results for him- in his match against Tiafoe.
Thus, Shelton added 14 direct aces but committed 11 double faults and achieved 49 winners to 34 unforced errors.
“Stay hungry,” his father and fellow coach, Bryan Shelton, yelled at him over and over again during this game.
The key of the night was in the third set, in which both tennis players exchanged several service breaks until reaching a ‘tie break’ in which Shelton was not weighed down by nerves or lack of experience and in which , against the ropes and with a set point for Tiafoe, pulled out a winning return that was as reckless as it was wonderful.
“I feel like I gave everything here tonight. It was an emotional battle,” said the young man on the court as soon as the game ended.
This duel between Tiafoe and Shelton had special significance not only for facing two local tennis players in the US Open, but also because it was the first with two African-Americans in a grand slam quarterfinal in the Open Era.
In addition to the ‘sensation’ of Shelton, American fans also celebrated on Tuesday the qualification for the semifinals in the women’s draw of Coco Gauff (6), a 19-year-old prodigy who is already consolidated in the WTA elite.
After a successful career in university tennis, Shelton turned professional in 2022 and has entered the ATP circuit with great force, so much so that he reached the quarterfinals in the last edition of the Australian Open. With his pass to the semifinals of the ‘grand slam’ in New York, the Atlanta-born man also guaranteed himself to enter the ‘top 20’ of the ATP next week.
Shelton has never faced Djokovic, triple champion of the US Open and the man who has won the most ‘grand slam’ in history (23).
The legendary 36-year-old Serbian tennis player defeated American Taylor Fritz (9) 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 in their quarterfinal match in two hours and 35 minutes. “He’s won like 23 of these or something, right?” Shelton joked about Djokovic. “You can’t get any better than a match like that,” he added.
The winner of the match between Djokovic and Shelton could meet in the final with the Spanish Carlos Alcaraz (1), current champion of the tournament and who, on the other side of the table, will face off this Wednesday with the German Alexander Zverev (12). for a place in the semifinals.
