Ben Shelton Shocks Carlos Alcaraz to Reach US Open Semi-Finals
Ben Shelton didn’t just win a tennis match. He tore through one of the sport’s giants in the dead of a New York night and dragged Arthur Ashe Stadium with him.
At 3.33am, with thousands still on their feet and refusing to go home, the 23-year-old American completed the biggest victory of his career, outlasting defending champion Carlos Alcaraz 6-7 (5-7) 6-1 6-1 1-6 7-6 (10-7) in a four-hour, 28-minute thriller to reach the US Open semi-finals.
It was his first win over a top-three player after an 0-17 start to his career in those matchups. He chose some stage to change that.
A night that wouldn’t end
The scoreline tells you it was close. It doesn’t tell you how wild it was.
Shelton dropped a tight opening-set tie-break, then detonated the match with a surge of nine straight games, flattening Alcaraz in the second and third sets. The defending champion looked rattled, the crowd roaring with every Shelton forehand and every 140mph-plus serve that smashed into the back fence.
Alcaraz, though, is not a seven-time major winner by accident. He clawed his way back, ripped through the fourth set 6-1 and somehow found more in a body that has been through four brutal months of rehab from a wrist injury. This was his first tournament since April. At one point before the final set, he was seen vomiting, yet he still pushed the match to a deciding 10-point tie-break.
In that breaker, Alcaraz surged again, winning four points in a row to lead 5-3. The stadium tightened. Shelton didn’t.
The American reeled him back in, turned 3-5 into 10-7, and finished the job in the most Shelton way possible: a 146mph cannon down the T that Alcaraz couldn’t lay a racket on. The ball flew past, the champion beaten, and Ashe erupted.
Shelton flung his arms wide, soaking in a night he will never forget and a city that refused to leave him.
“For me it's always about the people in the crowd, whether it's my coaches, team or friends and family, or the city of New York that showed up tonight until 3am with the USA chants, that's what kept me going and what got me this win,” he said on court, voice still buzzing with adrenaline. “It's incredible. This is the greatest sports city and greatest stadium in the world. I'm hoping my best friend and sister don't have to be at work at 6am.
“I'm so grateful, so blessed to be in front of you guys and share the court with Carlos is an absolute honour.”
The victory sends Shelton into his third Grand Slam semi-final, after runs to the last four at the 2023 US Open and the 2025 Australian Open. This one feels different. This one guarantees an American man in Sunday’s final for the first time since Andy Roddick lifted the trophy here in 2003.
Because waiting for him is another American who refuses to go quietly.
Tiafoe drags himself back from the brink
Earlier in the evening, Frances Tiafoe had looked finished.
Two sets down. Then 0-3 down in the fifth. Alex Michelsen, the 22-year-old compatriot who had slipped almost unnoticed into his deepest major run, had one hand on the biggest win of his life.
Tiafoe tore it away.
The 11th seed mounted a ferocious comeback, beating Michelsen 5-7 3-6 7-5 6-3 7-6 (10-6) to reach the US Open semi-finals for a third time. He joins Andre Agassi as the only American men this century to do that, and the win will push him back into the top 10 for the first time in three years.
For two sets, though, he looked nothing like a top-10 player. The magic from his early rounds had vanished. Michelsen was the one dictating, thumping 21 aces, swinging freely, and carrying himself like he belonged on this stage.
“At 4-5 down in the third set I was thinking, ‘I hope he gets tight,’” Tiafoe admitted. “He gave me some gifts, a couple of double faults there. But then I slowly started to get my rhythm there, snuck out the third set and slowly started playing better and better.
“He is a hell of a player. He should've easily won today, so shout out Alex Michelsen.”
The turning point came late in that third set. Michelsen blinked. Tiafoe didn’t. A few loose points, a couple of double faults, and Tiafoe pounced, sealing the set with a forehand winner to a deafening roar on Arthur Ashe.
From there, the veteran of big nights in New York took over. He levelled the match, then somehow found the legs to chase everything in a nerve-shredding fifth set that went all the way to a match tie-break. Down 0-3, he surged one last time, reeling off 10 of the next 13 points to complete a comeback that felt almost impossible an hour earlier.
When it ended, Tiafoe’s celebration was brief. Michelsen, who had carried himself superbly all fortnight, crumbled into tears. Tiafoe walked straight to him, pulling him into an embrace as the crowd rose in appreciation of both men.
From the commentary box, Sky Sports Tennis’ Laura Robson captured the sting of it.
“You can't help but feel sorry for Alex Michelsen considering how close he was and we all know Frances is a fan favourite in this situation,” she said. “The tears started coming from Michelsen. It was like a punch in the gut for me and I don't even know him.
“Having been in these situations when you're so close to the finishing line and you know it's on your racket, I think that's the worst feeling. You know that you kind of did choke a little bit. That's the absolute worst.
“Brutal day for him but you have to tip your cap to Frances for turning that match around.”
Tiafoe, ever the showman, had his own take on the slow-burn epic.
“Everyone was sleeping in the first couple of hours and I was asleep with you all,” he joked on court. “As it went along, the energy was incredible, as always. Thank you [to the crowd] for being there for me. I really appreciate that.”
An all-American collision course
So here it is. Ben Shelton vs Frances Tiafoe for a place in the US Open final. Arthur Ashe will get another night of noise.
Shelton brings raw power, swagger, and the kind of fearlessness that just knocked out Carlos Alcaraz. Tiafoe brings scars from previous deep runs, a revived ranking, and a game built for this court and this crowd.
One of them will walk into Sunday as the first American man since Andy Roddick to contest a major final.
The other will walk away knowing nights like these are starting to belong to a new generation.
