NEW YORK — Before Ben Shelton celebrated the greatest achievement of his career Friday night, he embraced Frances Tiafoe, the man on the network whom Shelton considers his “big brother.”
This victory is what both men desperately want.
“This is our favorite tournament in the world and our favorite course in the world,” Shelton said afterward.
Just days after beating Carlos Alcaraz in a late-night thriller, the 23-year-old Shelton returned after losing the first set of the U.S. Open semifinals. Behind his massive serve and ever-improving return skills, He won 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 Beating Tiafoe at Arthur Ashe Stadium in front of nearly 24,000 fans, including Serena Williams, Jalen Brunson and Ben Stiller.
With this victory, Shelton advanced to the first major final of his career.
It’s been 23 years – long, painful and controversial – since an American man won a Grand Slam title. Since 2003, only two other men’s teams have reached a Grand Slam final, although the women’s team has carried the nation’s tennis hopes and dreams with a staggering 25 titles during that period. But finally, it feels like the tide is turning, with a talented team digging in and challenging the best on the biggest stages. For many, it now feels like it was only a matter of time.
Shelton was less than a year old when Andy Roddick lifted the trophy at the 2003 U.S. Open, and now he has a chance to end that drought. He will face French Open champion and top seed Alexander Zverev on Sunday.
“I’m going to go for it here and I’m going to leave it all on the court,” Shelton declared to an adoring crowd Friday night.
certainly, American men aren’t the only ones struggling to win a Grand Slam over the past two decades or so. Apart from Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, few players have been able to do this until the recent emergence of Alcaraz and Yannik Sinner.
From Federer’s first Wimbledon title in 2003 to Djokovic’s recent victory at the 2023 US Open, the Big Three have won 66 of 81 Grand Slam matches. Alcaraz and Sinner have won every title since the start of the 2024 season, with the exception of Zverev at Roland Garros this year.
Over the past few seasons, a group of American men have achieved great results and pushed each other to improve. Tiafoe, 28, has now played in three U.S. Open semifinals and reached the most important final of his career in Cincinnati last month.
Taylor Fritz has long been considered the country’s best hope, having been a mainstay in the top 10 and reaching the finals at the 2024 U.S. Open. Tommy Paul reached the semi-finals of the 2023 Australian Open, won four ATP titles and reached a career-high No. 8. 20-year-old Learner Tien has just cracked the top 10 and is a rising star, reaching the quarterfinals at the Australian Open this year. His old friend and fellow Southern Californian Alex Michelsen, 22, had his best run at a major in two weeks, reaching the quarterfinals. Brandon Nakashima had a hot summer himself, reaching the finals in Montreal and the semifinals in Cincinnati. The list goes on.
With world number one Sinner absent and defending champion Alcaraz returning after nearly five months out with a wrist injury, the 2026 tournament looks like it might be the best chance to end the drought.
“Of all the men’s majors, this is the most open to Americans,” former player and current ESPN analyst Mary Jo Fernandez said before the tournament. “It’s certainly a huge opportunity.”
Paul, who ultimately lost to Alcaraz in the fourth round, praised his team’s work ethic at the start of the match and believed the winless streak was coming to an end.
“Obviously there’s a little extra pressure on us because you guys always tell us we haven’t won a major in 23 years and we’re at home and we want to perform well and put expectations on ourselves,” Paul told reporters after his third-round win. “It’s a tough task but… I’ve spoken to people in the dressing room, [and] Everyone thought it was pretty good. If not this year, then it will happen soon. “
Until recently, Sheldon Probably not the obvious choice to end the lack of titles.
In fact, his father, Bryan, a former pro who won two titles on the ATP Tour, wasn’t even sure Shelton would play tennis during his childhood. He initially preferred football and baseball.
“It’s a little surreal,” Bryan said after the semifinals. “I didn’t think he would come into this sport and then come into this sport and get to where he is now, I mean, it’s unbelievable, unbelievable, and [I’m] I’m super, super grateful. “
While many of his current peers are competing in men’s major championships – Zverev and Tiafoe both reached the semi-finals of the U.S. Open – Shelton has only competed in a handful of junior events at much lower levels. While many of his peers turned pro as teenagers, Shelton wasn’t ready. Far from it.
Instead, he committed to play at Florida State, where Bryan was the head coach. Despite his family ties, he wasn’t even sure if he would play his freshman season and was expected to redshirt. But being around other talented players every day in training pushes him to improve his game. That season, he became the No. 5 player on the roster and helped the Gators win their first NCAA championship in 2021.
“When you have that much talent training together in the same place, it’s hard not to improve,” Shelton said in a recent interview on the “Board Talk” podcast.
The following season, he won the NCAA singles championship, along with nearly every other honor. He turned pro shortly after, but the decision to spend two seasons playing college tennis proved priceless. Former Stanford University men’s tennis coach Dick Gould, who led the Cardinals to 17 NCAA team titles during his 38-year tenure, said Shelton is a perfect example of the strengths of the college system.
“There’s a huge difference in physical development between a 16-year-old, 17-year-old and a 25-year-old,” Gould told ESPN last week. “College age is when your body is fully mature…College tennis gives you a great opportunity to perfect your game, gives you a chance to catch up on your growth and gain some confidence. You train three to four hours a day, six days a week, and this is given to you without all the expense that comes with traveling the world as a pro and chasing points every week just to crack the top 100.”
Since Brian continued to be his coach, there was no learning curve when he started competing on tour. In his second career Grand Slam and first outside the United States, he reached the quarterfinals at the 2023 Australian Open. He then entered the top 50 for the first time. At the end of the season, he reached the semifinals of the US Open, defeated Tiafoe in the quarterfinals, and won his first ATP title at the 500 Japan Open in October.
Since then, he has been considered one of the country’s favorites to win a major championship.
“Sheldon is the new guy on tour,” 11-time major champion Rod Laver said in a recently resurfaced 2023 tweet. “We’re going to see him win Grand Slams, he has one of the biggest serves, he hits it left-handed, he doesn’t make a lot of mistakes. He sees an opportunity and he goes for it.”
Sheldon will now Became the first African-American man to reach the U.S. Open final since Arthur Ashe himself in 1972. The impact it has on those around the arena cannot be ignored. “My heart is filled with satisfaction,” Williams, the 23-time major champion, said of the Shelton-Tiafoe matchup and how it guaranteed Black Americans a place in the championship game.
When asked on the field after the win what the honor meant to him, he thanked his grandmother (Brian’s mother) for sacrificing so much for Bryan’s game and, in turn, allowing him to compete. She died in March.
“This is for her,” Sheldon said.
Earlier on Friday, Taylor Townsend, who completed a career Grand Slam by winning the women’s doubles title with Katerina Siniakova, spoke about what the collective success of Black players in the United States means to her.
“I always talk about representation, like, you only need one,” Townsend said. “You need someone who can see that this is possible, that you can. I said, if you don’t see it, then it’s hard for you to believe it, and you have to be a certain type of person who wants to take on this feat and say, ‘Okay, I’m going to blaze this trail for myself, for other people, or for other people after me.'”
“So for me, I’m proud to be able to click on the TV and watch Francis and Ben, one of them will be able to reach a Grand Slam final, which is a beautiful thing.”
While the crowd will be firmly on his side, Sunday’s game won’t be easy.
Shelton has faced Zverev five times in his career and lost each time. But they have yet to play a game this season and have not played in a major championship. They are all different players now.
Zverev said he will try “not to live the American dream on Sunday” and knows it will be a challenge if he is to face Shelton.
“Ben is a big, powerful guy,” Zverev said Friday. “A lot of serves, a lot of ground balls. Everything he does is big.”
When told there was a lot of history on Sunday, Shelton joked, “Is there any?” at the postgame press conference. But he didn’t just know. He said he realized how “cool” the moment was, but tried to stay “grounded, focused and humble” and just focus on the game.
Shelton, who also hopes to become the first former college player to win a Grand Slam title since John McEnroe in 1984, is well aware of his record against Zverev. But not doing something before didn’t hinder him the rest of the game. Sheldon says it’s not time to stop him now either.
“At the end of the day, this is a tournament where I’m doing things I’ve never done before, breaking barriers that have never been broken before,” Shelton said on ESPN. “It’s all uncharted territory. So, yeah, I haven’t had success against it yet. [Zverev] in the past, but that doesn’t scare me. I also had no success against Carlos.
“I think this is a great opportunity to put everything on the line. I’m more excited than ever about tennis and I can’t wait to get out there and compete.”