Ben Shelton made a thunderous entry to the finals of the US Open after winning a hard-fought four-set match against fellow-American Frances Tiafoe in one of the best semi-finals in recent memory.
Both men were aiming to play their first-ever grand slam final and delivered the goods for the screaming fans inside Arthur Ashe Stadium, with the eighth seed Ben Shelton coming from a set behind to win 4-6 6-3 6-3 7-5.
“You have to be great in every category to be a champion in this sport.”
Ben Shelton shares the strides he has made to become the best version of himself 👇 pic.twitter.com/9gjrxeJze5
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 12, 2026
Neither of the two Americans felt any pressure and did justice to their reputation as excellent shot makers, but in three hours and 17 minutes, it was Ben Shelton who emerged victorious.
The 23-year-old will go on to play Alexander Zverev in Sunday’s grand finale after the top seed won an exciting encounter against the unseeded Russian Karen Khachanov 6-3 7-6 (9-7) 7-6 (8-6).
According to BBC Sport, Shelton becomes the first black American male player to make a single’s final at the US Open since Arthur Ashe in 1972 and also the first black male to make a single’s grand slam final since the defeat of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the 2008 Australian Open final.
Shelton will be the first American male player since 2003 to play in the US Open finals.
“It’s a lot of emotion. My mum and dad sacrificed a lot for me to be in this position today.
“My dad lost his mum earlier this year. She’s the reason he was able to play tennis.
“Without her there’s no Ben Shelton standing here today. This one is for her.”
Shelton spoke further on how special it was to face his friend, Frances Tiafoe.
“Frances is like a big brother to me, every time that we get to take to this court together and play each other is super special,” said Shelton, who also paid tribute to those affected by the 9/11 attacks 25 years ago in his on-court interview.
“This is both of our favourite tournament, our favourite court in the world and to be able to light it up in front of you guys [the crowd] is the best feeling there is.”
Now that Shelton has been through two straight semi-final losses, he can finally hope for his first ever final appearance and will be hoping to finally bring back a victory for America in the men’s single grand slam since 23 years.
Since Roddick won his title at Flushing Meadows in 2003, 11 months after Shelton’s birth, there have only been six instances where an American man managed to reach a Grand Slam final, the most recent one being Taylor Fritz, two years ago in New York.
In order to end this wait and join Roddick, Shelton needs one more thing as he has lost all of his previous matches against Zverev.
