Flushing Meadows was still full at sunrise. Ben Shelton needed until 3:33 a.m. Wednesday to finish off defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, and by the time he did, the entire complexion of the US Open men's title race had changed.
A Record-Late Finish Ends a Painful Streak
Shelton had gone into Tuesday night's quarterfinal 0-3 in his career against Alcaraz and, more strikingly, winless in 17 career meetings with anyone ranked in the world's top three, according to tour statistics compiled by the ATP. Neither number survived the night. The eighth-seeded American outlasted Alcaraz 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6(10-7) in four hours and 28 minutes, a match that didn't wrap up until 3:33 a.m. — the latest a match has ever ended in tournament history.
The scoreline undersells how tight it was. Alcaraz actually produced more clean winners, 38 to Shelton's 34, but 53 unforced errors from the Spaniard — nearly 20 more than his opponent racked up — proved decisive. Shelton closed it out the way he'd opened his night, with his serve: a 146-mph delivery that Alcaraz never got a racket on. Fans who packed Arthur Ashe Stadium chanted "USA! USA!" deep into the early morning, and Shelton made sure to thank them for it. "It's always about the people in the crowd," he said courtside once the match was over.
An All-American Semifinal, Forged From a Fifth-Set Hole
The stage for an all-U.S. semifinal was actually set hours earlier, when Frances Tiafoe pulled off the tournament's most improbable turnaround. Down two sets and a break, and later trailing 0-3 in the decider, the 11th-seeded Tiafoe clawed back to beat countryman Alex Michelsen 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6(10-6), reaching his third career US Open semifinal. Michelsen, who hadn't dropped a set all tournament, served for the match in the third set before Tiafoe wrestled it away.
Speaking about the 22-year-old afterward, Tiafoe didn't hold back his admiration. "He's a helluva player. He easily could've won today," Tiafoe said of Michelsen. The run also puts Tiafoe back on track for his first stretch inside the ATP's top 10 in three years, once post-tournament rankings are finalized.
Because Michelsen and Tiafoe had already met in the quarterfinals, an American was mathematically locked into Friday's semifinal no matter what happened on Arthur Ashe later that night. Shelton's win turned that single guaranteed slot into a full all-American final four, with Shelton and Tiafoe now meeting for a place in Sunday's championship match — the first time two Americans have reached the same US Open men's semifinal since 2024.
Two Big Absences Cleared the Way
None of this was possible without a pair of separate, unrelated absences at the very top of men's tennis. World No. 1 Jannik Sinner withdrew before the tournament even began, still nursing the right knee injury that had sidelined him since he beat Zverev to defend his Wimbledon title in July. It marked the first Grand Slam Sinner has missed since his tour debut at the 2019 US Open.
Alcaraz's exit was different in kind: he was actually playing, just not at full strength. The No. 2 seed had been off tour since April because of an injured right wrist, an absence that also wiped out his Roland Garros and Wimbledon campaigns, and New York marked his first tournament back. Betting markets had still made him a solid favorite heading into the quarterfinal — Covers' tracking of sportsbook odds gave him around a 6-in-10 shot at the whole tournament in figures logged that Monday morning, September 7 — but Shelton erased that math in one night.
With both men gone, an American man is now guaranteed a place in Sunday's final — a feat that hasn't happened since Andy Roddick won the title back in 2003, stretching the drought to 23 years.
Who's Left, and Who's Favored
Alexander Zverev is suddenly the man to beat. The No. 1 seed and this year's French Open champion inherited the top seeding once Sinner withdrew, and prediction markets had already installed him as the field's likeliest finalist — Kalshi traders gave him a 73% chance of reaching the title match even before Alcaraz lost. With Alcaraz now out, sportsbook markets have made Zverev the tournament's new outright favorite, narrowly ahead of Shelton. Zverev still has work to do Wednesday, however: he faces unseeded Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp in a quarterfinal that has not yet been played, with the winner set to meet either Karen Khachanov or Alexander Blockx for a semifinal berth.
Ben Shelton arrives with the freshest form of the three. A first career win over Alcaraz, a home crowd that stayed until sunrise, and a title defense at the National Bank Open in Montreal this summer — where he beat Brandon Nakashima without dropping a set — make him the most complete American threat left in the draw. He'll need to get past a friend first: Shelton and Tiafoe meet Friday.
Frances Tiafoe is now a two-time US Open semifinalist turned three-time, with the tournament's most dramatic comeback of the fortnight behind him and a return to the world's top 10 to show for it. His fifth-set composure, on display again against Michelsen, has become something of a signature at his home Slam.
What's Next
The men's semifinals are locked in for Friday, September 11, with the championship match following on Sunday, September 13. Whichever American comes through — Shelton or Tiafoe — will get a shot at ending a 23-year wait for a men's Grand Slam title on home soil. Standing in the way, most likely: Alexander Zverev, assuming he handles his business Wednesday night.
