Ben Shelton pushed past Frances Tiafoe to book his first Grand Slam final on Friday night in Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Chris OddoSeptember 11, 20263 minute read
For the third time in his career Frances Tiafoe claimed the opening set of a US Open semifinal.
Once again, it wasn’t enough to get him over the hump.
Ben Shelton rose to the occasion and rallied past Tiafoe for a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 win to book his spot in his first major final on Friday night in Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The 23-year-old American will face Alexander Zverev in Sunday’s final as he bids to become the first American man to win a major title since Andy Roddick in 2003.
Shelton cranked 20 aces and 47 winners against Tiafoe, and converted five break points to keep his nose ahead of Tiafoe ever since he leveled up at a set apiece.
After dropping the opening set, Shelton moved ahead quickly in set two, breaking for set two, but was broken back in the next game.
Shelton sent a wicked first serve that exploded off the court and knocked Tiafoe off his feet while serving at 4-3, but he didn’t do much damage on return as the pair moved to the later stages deadlocked on serve.
Meanwhile, the tennis picked up, as both seemed to gain comfort in the mild conditions, amongst the A-list celebrities that peppered the packed stadium.
During a 17-shot rally, with Tiafoe serving at 3-4, 15-30, Shelton sent two gorgeous defensive lobs over his opponent’s head, but Tiafoe handled both and eventually won the point with a backhand pass.
Shelton persevered and won the next point to earn his second break point of the set, and faded a second serve return to elicit the forced error from Tiafoe to reclaim the break lead at 5-3.
Shelton served out the 34-minute second set to level the contest at a set apiece.
A 31-stroke and a 28-stroke rally highlighted the early stages of the third set and it was Shelton who consistently knocked on the door. The 23-year-old finally broke through with a backhand pass to break Tiafoe at love for 3-2.
Shelton kept pushing and found himself at set point with two hours and one minute on the match clock, Tiafoe serving at 3-5, 30-40.
11 minutes later, after many body blows were exchanged, Shelton converted his fourth set point to take the two sets to one lead.
Set four was tight as well, but it was Shelton once again who refused to lose.
In the final game of the match, with Tiafoe serving at 5-6, Shelton won the first three points to earn three match points. Tiafoe saved the first, but his second-serve floated into the net on the next to end the drama in three hours and 16 minutes.
