Tiafoe Surpasses Shelton in US Open Showdown
NEW YORK — Francis Tiafoe settled Ben Shelton’s big serve and dominated the net to win his all-American rematch at the U.S. Open 4-6, 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6. Won by 3. Friday and return to the fourth round at Flushing Meadows for the fifth year in a row.
A year ago in New York, Tiafoe was defeated by Shelton in four sets in the quarterfinals. A year earlier, Tiafoe — who loves the tournament spotlight and its electricity — beat Rafael Nadal en route to the US Open semifinals, the best Grand Slam of his career.
Tiafoe hasn’t always been at his best in five sets: He was just 6-13 in matches before Friday. Shelton was 6-2. But it didn’t matter at this point. After outlasting Shelton in a match that lasted 4 hours, 3 minutes, Tiafoe spread his arms and watched the thousands cheering at Arthur Ashe Stadium. The two friends then met on the net for a hug and a long chat.
“I have to say Ben is an unbelievable player, man. He’s an unbelievable player. He really is. He goes for all kinds of shots. He doesn’t have a care in the world. It’s really annoying. . .. He’s really talented, he can take great shots,” Tiafoe told fans during the post-match interview. “It’s featured after the highlight. I hope you guys enjoyed the show.”
Next up for Tiafoe could be 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic. Djokovic, the defending champion at Flushing Meadows, was scheduled to play No. 28 Aleksei Popairin in the third round on Friday night.
Many thought Shelton vs. Tiafoe would take place at night, but instead it was in the afternoon, and started in front of a smaller crowd because the stands were empty at the end of the previous bout, 2023 champion Coco Goff’s Elena. Victory over Svitolina.
read more
Shelton, 21, from Georgia, was ranked 13th. Tiafoe, 26, from Maryland, is ranked 20th. The two are part of a group of five Americans in the top 20 of the ATP rankings, leading some to believe the country’s long wait for a men’s champion at a major could someday soon end. Andy Roddick’s 2003 US Open trophy was the most recent Slam title for a man from the United States.
The top-ranked American at the time, No. 12 Taylor Fritz, won 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 against Argentina’s Francisco Comisana and will now face three-time Slam finalist Casper Rudd. . Juncheng Shang of Norway or China.
Fritz became the first American man to make the round of 16 at all four majors in a year since Andre Agassi in 2003.
Another men’s fourth-round matchup established Friday was No. 6 Andrey Rublev vs. No. 9 Grigor Dimitrov.
Shelton, a left-hander, hadn’t dropped a serve in two wins this week before Friday and had 23 aces, hitting 143 mph, the most of the tournament so far. is the fastest. But Tiafoe collected 21 break points overall — the most of any opponent against Shelton — and converted five. The latter took it 3-1 in the fifth set.
The other key? Tiafoe kept charging forward, and he kept putting volleys away. He scored 35 of 48 points when he found the net. And, as usual, Tiafoe played to the fans, breaking into his “Salt B” celebration after a point.
Tiafoe had a 15-15 record at the tour level through Wimbledon this season, but has won 16 of her last 16 matches since bringing in David Witt, Venus Williams’ longtime coach of 11 years, as her coach in Atlanta in July. 12 wins from
And after starting the season 0-4 against ATP top-20 players through Wimbledon, he has now won five of his last six matches against top-20 players, including No. 1 Jenkins in the final in Cincinnati. The only defeat has been against Sunr.
