Ben Shelton beats Carlos Alcaraz in U.S. Open’s latest-finishing match ever

New York — Ben Shelton ended Carlos Alcaraz’s title reign in the latest-finishing match in U.S. Open history, pulling out a 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (10-7) victory in a marathon tussle that ended at 3:33 a.m. Wednesday.

Alcaraz’s 18-match winning streak in Grand Slam tournaments ended in a match that lasted 4 hours, 28 minutes.

Shelton next plays No. 11 seed Frances Tiafoe, who kept coming back until he had reached his third U.S. Open semifinal, beating Alex Michelsen 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (10-6) on Tuesday.

The U.S. is guaranteed to have a representative in Sunday’s final as it seeks its first men’s major title since Andy Roddick lifted the title here in 2003.

Alcaraz had played in the previous latest finish at the U.S. Open when he outlasted Jannik Sinner in a match that finished at 2:50 a.m. in the 2022 quarterfinals en route to his first Grand Slam title at 19.

Thousands of fans stayed to the end and Shelton benefited from a home-crowd boost even against the popular Alcaraz, with fans in Arthur Ashe Stadium chanting his name along with “USA! USA!”

“It’s incredible,” Shelton said. “I always say that this is the greatest sports city in the world, I say that this is the greatest stadium in the world. I’m just hoping that my best friend and my sister over there don’t have to be at work at 6 a.m. in three hours.”

Three of the four singles quarterfinals went to match tiebreakers on a marathon day, which started with Aryna Sabalenka edging Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova to keep her hopes alive of a third straight U.S. Open title.

Alcaraz will have to wait for his next one.

Instead it was Shelton reaching his third major semifinal, having gotten to the final four in the 2023 U.S. Open and 2025 Australian Open.

He seized control by winning nine straight games from early in the second set until he had a 3-0 lead in the third. But Alcaraz, in his first tournament since April after returning from a right wrist injury, battled back even as he vomited before the start of the final set.

Alcaraz ran off four straight points in the tiebreaker to go ahead 5-3, but Shelton came back behind some of his powerful serves that can exceed 140 mph, along with some mistakes from Alcaraz. Shelton eventually finished it off with a 146 mph serve his opponent couldn’t get back.

Alcaraz is now 15-2 in five-set matches. He won his seventh Grand Slam title at the Australian Open to start this year not long before his injury.