In his fourth matchup with Carlos Alcaraz, Ben Shelton may have thought that he would be catching the Spaniard at the right time.
Well, it turns out that there might be no “right time” to see Alcaraz on the other side of the net.
With the Spaniard in resurgent form following four months away from tennis because of a wrist injury, Alcaraz and Shelton will collide in the quarterfinal of the U.S. Open on Tuesday night. All three of their previous meetings have gone Alcaraz’s way — 6-3, 7-6(3) at the 2023 Toronto Masters, 6-4, 6-4 at the 2024 Laver Cup, and 7-6(8), 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in a fantastic Roland Garros fourth-round match last spring.
Shelton gets another shot at the seven-time Grand Slam champion thanks to playing some of his best-ever tennis. The 23-year-old captured a second consecutive Canada Masters title last month and — following an immediate loss in Cincinnati that allowed him to rest up for this event — has remained hot in New York. Shelton, who reached the semifinals in 2023, is back in the U.S. Open quarters following victories over Tallon Griekspoor, Hubert Hurkacz, Denis Shapovalov, and Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Nobody, though, has looked better than Alcaraz — even after being sidelined since Barcelona in April. The world No. 3 has returned like gangbusters, dropping just one set en route to the last eight while rolling over Roman Safiullin, Jaime Faria, Yibing Wu, and Tommy Paul.
Needless to say, this matchup doesn’t favor Shelton like the ones he had against and Shapovalov and Tsitsipas in the last two rounds. Unsurprisingly, the American used his big lefty serve and forehand to pepper the one-handed backhands of that duo. In the process, Shelton ended a 149-year streak of at least one man with a one-handed backhand reaching the semifinals of a Grand Slam. Unfortunately for the eighth seed, Alcaraz wields one of the most solid two-handed backhands in the game — one that has never had any trouble with Shelton’s power in the past.
When the draw came out, being in Alcaraz’s quarter was not necessarily thought to be terrible news given the circumstances. Fast forward 12 days and now it looks like nothing but misfortune for Shelton. In the top half, the world No. 9 would have a very realistic shot at reaching his first slam final. In this spot, Alcaraz appears to be too tough of a quarterfinal foe.
Pick: Alcaraz in 4
some INCREDIBLE points, but the overall quality wasn’t great for any sustained stretches
fun match so far, though
Oops!
Shelton up two sets to one
Just freebies to make it exciting.
That was just extraordinary. What a slugfest! Well, Anonymous (or one of the Anonymouses if there’s several) was right, well done!👍 I would never have believed Shelton could return like that based on the previous matches here and his stats on the leaderboard.
The final set tiebreak was so excruciating I couldn’t look without interruption, just like with the Tiafoe-Michelsen match.🙀
Lovely scenes at the net after, loved the genuine respect shown by both and the smile on Alcaraz’ face as he was leaving despite the loss.
Congratulations US people — you’re going to have an American finalist! And the biggest hazard has already been eliminated.