After a rigorous and heartfelt match, former Gator tennis star Ben Shelton came out on top over fellow American Francis Tiafoe to win the U.S. Open men’s semifinals. It’s the first time the 23-year-old has reached a Grand Slam final.
Not only was this the first time two Black Americans played in the semifinals at the U.S. Open, but Shelton became the second American man to reach the finals, other than Arthur Ashe, the very person the court Shelton played on is named after.
At the start of the match, Shelton quickly took the first game with his powerful serve, forcing errors from Tiafoe. However, Tiafoe quickly recovered to take the second game. The rest of the first set continued in a similar manner, with multi-ball rallies throughout.
The big difference between the two players, as seen throughout the first set, was Shelton’s aggressive strategy and Tiafoe’s consistent nature. Shelton’s serve has a reputation of its own, which it lived up to during the match with his multiple back-to-back aces and a serve that stunned audiences and topped out at 158 mph.
The first deuce of the match came at 4-4, with Tiafoe hitting the line and forcing Shelton into the net. With Shelton double-faulting during the advantage point, Tiafoe took the game, giving himself a slight lead in the set.
Dramatically, Tiafoe took the first set (6-4) with Shelton not scoring a single point in the final game. Tiafoe’s consistent and steady play heavily paid off during the early stages of the match. But that would be a contributing factor to his eventual decline throughout the over-three-hour bout.
Coming out of the gate in the second set, Shelton asserted his dominance by once again taking the first game swiftly. He also took the second in similar fashion. But Tiafoe made sure to show the power that lies in his serve as well, hitting a 137 mph serve to win Game 6 of the second set, tying the score 3-3.
But as seen before, Shelton played to his strength – his serve – and brought the score to 4-3 after hitting five aces in a row.
The energy began to increase in the stadium during an impressive rally in the eighth game of the second set. That played to Shelton’s benefit. He was able to feed off the electric atmosphere and took the set 6-3.
Shelton continued using this newfound energy and took a 3-2 lead in the third set.
Notably, throughout the match, there were discrepancies in the shot clock between the players, with Shelton feeling that the chair umpire was very lenient on Tiafoe. Another instance came up during the fourth set when the point was not stopped in time after Tiafoe commented that he was not ready for Shelton’s serve, even though the point had already been played.
The third set contained an extremely long deuce point, with the athletes battling each other and the crowd roaring on, before Tiafoe eventually grabbed the advantage. After an over-15-minute final game, Shelton took the third set 6-3.
The fourth set is where both Tiafoe and Shelton truly shined. Each had incredible shots, with Shelton showcasing his pure athleticism and ability to lay out for seemingly unreachable balls, while Tiafoe showed immaculate ball placement and immaculate focus.
Tiafoe was able to showcase his longevity in the match as he put up strong forehands against Shelton, but the former Gator continued to deliver aces and fight to break serve at crucial moments. Both players kept inching forward game by game, not willing to go down without a fight.
In the end, Shelton pulled through and dug deep to find the consistency and strength needed to win. This victory is the young star's greatest in his career, with a final score of 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-5.
Shelton will face No. 1 Alexander Zverev in the U.S. Open Men’s final Sunday at Arthur Ashe Stadium, at a time to be determined.
Contact Alisa Gershman at agershman@alligator.org. Follow her on X @angershman.
Alisa Gershman is a freshman biotechnology major working as the women's tennis reporter this semester. In her spare time she enjoys playing tennis, baking, and hanging out with friends. Go Birds!
