SHELTON’S VICTORY
Big-hitting Ben Shelton defeated Frances Tiafoe on Tuesday with a score of 6-2 3-6 7-6(7) 6-2 to get to the US Open semi-finals. The all-American match lived up to its blockbuster billing. With the win, Shelton, 20, becomes the youngest American since Michael Chang in 1992 to advance to the men’s final four of the US Open, setting up a clash with one of the game’s all-time greats, 23-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic.
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The 2008 US Open saw James Blake and Donald Young square off on Ashe, but the stakes were much higher on Tuesday since the victor would face Djokovic for a spot in the championship match on Sunday and the chance to end a 20-year title drought.
There aren’t many athletic events in New York that generate as much excitement as an all-American matchup at the conclusion of the season’s final Grand Slam under the lights at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Even while the energy at a night session is generally high, it was amplified for Tiafoe and Shelton since their match was the first on the biggest tennis court in the world to include two Black American men in 15 years.
his ground attacks delivered with such ferocity the packed audience gasped. Tiafoe had no answers for Shelton’s powerful forehand after holding his first two serves, and Shelton won five straight games to take the opening set.
As he learned to control Shelton’s powerful swings, which were beginning to miss the mark, Tiafoe maintained his composure. In the sixth game of the second set, he would get his first break chances of the match, tying the score at one set apiece.
With six breaks—three from each player—in the first eight games of a chaotic third set, the momentum appeared to change with every serve. The tie-break for the set was equally surprising, with Shelton committing back-to-back double faults—including one on set point—before eventually winning it 9-7
.With Shelton slamming a backhand winner down the line to secure the early break, a flat-footed Tiafoe could only watch, it was clear where the momentum was heading into the fourth. Tiafoe’s demise was assured by another break at 5-2, with Shelton holding serve to win.