A U.S. Open showdown between Frances Tiafoe and Ben Shelton was hyped up to the max in American tennis circles.
It certainly lived up to it.
Afternoon session ticket holders in Arthur Ashe Stadium lucked into a memorable all-American battle that had every reason to be a night match. In the end, Tiafoe outlasted Shelton 4-6, 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-3 after four hours and three minutes, delaying the 7:00 pm contest (Novak Djokovic vs. Alexei Popyrin) by more than an hour. For Tiafoe, it avenged a 2023 U.S. Open quarterfinal loss to Shelton–which was also in Ashe, and that one in primetime.
For much of the way it looked like Shelton would get the best of his fellow American and good friend yet again, a result that would have given him a 3-0 lead in the head-to-head series. The 21-year-old took the first and the third sets, so he was almost always playing from ahead. After dropping the fourth, Shelton had a chance to regain the upper hand on Tiafoe’s serve at 1-1, 15-40 in the fifth. Tiafoe, however, managed to dig out of it for a crucial hold.
Break-point conversions proved to be the difference in the decider. Those were the only chances Shelton would get, and Tiafoe converted his first opportunity in the very next game. The world No. 20 held without too much trouble the rest of the way, eventually capitalizing on his second match point at 5-3, 40-30 with a winning forehand volley.
“First off, I gotta say, Ben’s an incredible player,” Tiafoe told the crowd. “He really is. He goes for all kinds of shots, he’s got no care in the world, it’s really annoying. He’s got a great serve. He has great energy out here. He can come up with great shots’ so can I. We both move really well, so it’s just highlight after highlight. I really hope you guys enjoyed the show.”
Even in defeat, Shelton agreed that it was a fun one.
“It didn’t feel like a third-round match,” the 13th seed said. “(It) felt like one of those that you play late in the two weeks. (It) should have been a night match, but it is what it is.
“But yeah, a great atmosphere. It was just one of those back-and-forth, back-and-forth (matches), and I wasn’t able to capitalize on the chances I had in the end. And when he had them today, he really came through in the big moments.”
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nice one, Foe