Ben Shelton wins classic five-set thriller over Carlos Alcaraz in latest match ever at US Open

At 3:33 a.m.on Wednesday morning, under the lights and in front of as many people who had dared to sacrifice the night of sleep and the next day of work to stick around and witness as good a tennis match as most of them would ever see, Ben Shelton let all his emotion go.He clenched his fists.

He screamed and screamed again and again and again.He walked to his box and roared some more.

And why not?He had just completed the match of his life and is still alive to end the American men’s long drought at the U.S.Open.

And what that just might mean, is that in the 23-year-old Shelton, there is an American male face of tennis in a way there has not been since Andy Roddick retired.Across four hours and 28 minutes, Shelton, seeded eighth, stunned seven-time major champion Carlos Alcaraz 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (7) — knocking out the Spaniard who has lifted the trophy here twice, and who had dropped just one set in his first four matches here in 2026.Shelton will face Frances Tiafoe, who won his own epic on Arthur Ashe some hours earlier, in the semifinal on Friday.That guarantees an American male will play in the U.S.

Open final for the second time in three years and, more poignantly, for just the third time in 20 years.And in Shelton, there may be the best chance anyone has had for an American man to break a Grand Slam drought that has spanned 23 years, since Roddick bested Juan Carlos Ferrero in 2003.“For me it’s always about the people in the crowd,” Shelton said in an on-court interview afterward.“Whether it’s my team over there, my family and friends over here, every single New Yorker showing up here tonight at 3 am with the USA chants until the very end.”The Floridian looked so at home on the New York stage.

He played with emotion and theatrics, had the crowd on his side and managed to beat Alcaraz without ever looking like he was leaning on his 140-mph serve.He covered the baseline terrifically, controlled points in the return game, picked his...