NEW YORK, September 10 — The story begins not with a serve but with a clock, and the clock read 03:34 in New York when Ben Shelton finally put away the most remarkable night of his career. Shelton, the eighth seed, beat Carlos Alcaraz 6-7 (5-7) 6-1 6-3 1-6 7-6 (10-7) in a US Open quarter-final that ran four hours and 28 minutes on Arthur Ashe Stadium and finished at the latest hour in the tournament’s history.
The match did not begin until about 11pm, the night session held back by earlier matches on Tuesday. A large crowd stayed with it deep into the night.
What unfolded was the biggest win of Shelton’s career, and the numbers behind it explain why. He had not beaten a top-three player in 17 attempts. He had lost each of his three previous meetings with Alcaraz, the world number three.
Then he won nine unanswered games to take the second set and control the third, after Alcaraz had edged a closely contested opener on a tie-break, surrendering an advantage gained by breaking for a 6-5 lead. Alcaraz saved two break points and broke when Shelton missed a backhand to launch his fourth-set revival, forcing the decider.
Shelton took it on a tie-break, and then tried to explain a night that had run past three in the morning. “That was a war, an epic match, so physical,” Shelton said. “Carlos is one of the greatest champions in our sport already at 23 years old.
It’s ridiculous some of the stuff he comes up with sometimes — the most enjoyable match that I’ve had in my career, for sure.” At its heart, this was a night about the people who stayed. “For me, it’s always about the people in the crowd — whether it’s my coaches and my team, all of my family and friends,” Shelton said.
“The city of New York that showed up tonight until 3am, that’s what kept me going.” He added, with a nod to those who had to work in the morning: “I’m just hoping my best friend and sister don’t have to be at work at 6am. It would be huge from their employers to let them have the day off.” For Alcaraz, the defeat arrived in his first tournament since a lay-off of more than four months with a wrist injury.
The seven-time major winner had swept past 20th seed Tommy Paul to reach the last eight. He had won 28 of his 31 matches at the US Open, the highest win rate at the tournament in the sport’s professional era at above 90%, and last year became the first man to reach the final without dropping a set since Roger Federer in 2015.
He arrived on an 18-match unbeaten streak at Grand Slam tournaments, having missed the French Open and Wimbledon with injury, and was seeking a fourth New York semi-final in five years. “It was close.
So I’m just not going to be disappointed about not getting the win at the end,” Alcaraz said. “I’m just proud about myself, about how I fought. I leave the court with a smile, healthy, and this is what I needed.” Shelton, the American number one and also 23, reaches his third major semi-final.
He previously lost to Jannik Sinner at last year’s Australian Open and to Novak Djokovic in New York three years ago; both went on to be crowned champions. He is now the second-highest ranked player remaining in the draw after world number two Alexander Zverev. An American finalist is guaranteed.
Shelton meets Frances Tiafoe in Friday’s semi-finals, after Tiafoe completed a comeback from two sets and a break down to beat compatriot Alex Michelsen.
