Ben Shelton will be the one to shoot when he becomes the first American man to win the Grand Slam in 23 years.
US Open’s No. He defeated his American 8th seed and friend Francis Tiafoe 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 in the semifinals on Friday to reach his first career Grand Slam final. The top seed will be Alexander Zverev, who defeated Karen Khachanov earlier in the day on Sunday.
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The last US male major was Andy Roddick at the 2003 US Open. Shelton is now confirmed to be No. 4 in the world at the end of this tournament, up from No. 9 entering.
Shelton willingly devoted himself to his grandmother, whom he believed in allowing his father and Bryan to play tennis. He passed away earlier this year.
Everyone at Arthur Ashe Stadium will be behind Shelton against Zverev. His loyalties were more on Friday in the All-American semifinals between the pair of fan favorites, especially after both Shelton and Tiafoe delivered epic five-game sets in the quarters.
Nerves appeared to affect Shelton early. His electrifying serve won him plenty of free points, but Tiafoe went strong with several true hits as Shelton forced several tough shots from the baseline. Tiafoe was aggressive and nearly error-free, leading with just three unforced errors compared to Shelton’s 14.
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Bryan Shelton told ESPN that his son needed to find a way to disrupt Tiafoe’s rhythm, whether he would go more aggressive after his serve or go deeper on his return. Shelton did this to perfection for the rest of the match, a step back and right to a narrow window of opportunity on Tiafoe’s second serve, many of which were released at full speed.
Shelton pulled off the biggest win of his career against Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals and has shown similar form for the last three matches of this match. It is not 158 that he has arrived at his service, as he wrongly claimed the log in the Ashe log, but shows a more developed toolkit to serve with his own.
After those 14 errors in the first set, Shelton committed only 17 the rest of the match. His left hand shake held Tiafoe’s powerful hand against him, giving him the ability to regularly harass his fellow Americans in return.
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The contest hinged on Tiafoe’s 15-minute, 19-point game break and third quarter shutout. Tiafoe had yet to break him, but the air seemed to go out of him after that.
Shelton finished the match with 47 winners to Tiafoe’s 27.
Alexander Zverev against Karen Khachanov he had little business
Zverev secured his place in the US Open final with a straight sets victory over Karen Khachanov, 6-3, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (6). In a deceptively close match, Zverev pulled out a victory in the first set after a key break, before Khachanov kept things neck and neck in the second set.
As a result, the second set was to be decided by a tie, with both players pushing and pulling for the lead before Zverev finally took the 34-shot lead.
Things remained steady in the third set, as Zverev and Khachanov held serve before the others claimed a tiebreak. Khachanov took the lead this time, but Zverev fought back and eventually took the win.
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It will be Zverev’s first US Open final since 2020 as he looks to add to his trophy haul after winning his first Grand Slam in June.
How does Ben Shelton stack up against Alexander Zverev?
For all the people rooting for Shelton, he didn’t draw a good matchup on the biggest day of his career. Zverev dropped a 5-0 run against Shelton with just one set.
Like Shelton, Zverev is one of the greatest servers in tennis. A huge number of servers will be exceeding 130 mph on Sunday, and Zverev has a far better record when it comes to dealing with that level of power.
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Shelton showed a capable return game against Alcaraz and Tiafoe, but only won ten 54 return points against Zverev in their last meeting at the 2025 ATP finals. Meanwhile, Zverev won 16 twenty-five points off Shelton’s second serve. Zverev’s shake-up is also building to Shelton’s hand.
But this Ben Shelton may be different than Zverev is used to. It was the same story with Alcaraz, who was 3-0 going into the fourth quarter when some of the holes in Shelton’s game were no longer there.
Things are all set for a classic hero-vs.-villain clash in New York City, at least from an American perspective. No one understands this more than Zverev, who jokingly said “I hope the American Dream can’t happen on Sunday” when asked about the Americans’ potential opponent.
Follow along with Yahoo Sports for the latest highlights, news and more from the 2026 US Open men’s semifinals.
Kari Anderson
Kari Anderson
In the post-match interview in court, Shelton spoke highly of Francia Tiafoe, calling him a kindred figure like a big brother.
The 23-year-old also admitted that it’s difficult to focus on his many “adult athletes” and movie stars in attendance: “I look at the screen like, ‘Oh shoot, this is Jalen Brunson,'” said Shelton.
As for the level of fame, Shelton said he wants the crowd to come out in full force on Sunday as he takes on Alexander Zverev. Shelton will compete to become the first American man to win the Grand Slam since 2003.
“Let’s do this for the USA,” Shelton said.
Kari Anderson
Kari Anderson
Kari Anderson
This is a wild finish for Tiafoe, whose double fault ends up pinning Ben Shelton in the final victory. But at the moment it seems a long way to go for Shelton, who is heading to the Grand Slam final for the first time after a consistent performance against his popular side.
Shelton and Tiafoe — friends, USA teammates and sometime opponents — shared a long hug after the game. Both competed in the slot on Sunday, but it will be Shelton who has his first shot at the title.
Kari Anderson
Shelton gets another easy game, as he and Tiafoe come together in this fourth set.
Shelton now hit his eighth set – and 20 of the game – en route to taking the game. Nara was completely self-serving.
Kari Anderson
Even down 2-1 in the set, Tiafoe stayed strong, ending the game with a great run to extend the match. What a matchup this was.
Kari Anderson
Shelton is holding strong, and is now one shot away from advancing to his first US Open final.
Kari Anderson
Tiafoe finishes wildly in the ace, rolling through as the match enters the third hour.
Jack Baer
Shelton keeps on loving. He drops a total of two points on his serve with the first game of this set.
Jack Baer
Jack Baer
After the pressure of the former, Tiafoe needs a lot of work to keep it easy. Now let’s see if he can do something of service to Shelton.
Jack Baer
Shelton finishes it off, chasing down a drop shot for a slam dunk winner with Tiafoe in the net. Between the last match and this one, it only looks like he’s leveling up from what is already one of the top media outlets in tennis.
Jack Baer
Shelton went up 30-0 with a completely ridiculous forehand winner. It takes a break if two specific balls in that game are an inch straight and deeper, but Tiafoe makes the step in the fourth set of the must-win.
Jack Baer
An easy hold for Shelton, who returns to aces in the last two points.
Jack Baer
Not the easiest guard for Tiafoe, but he still did what was needed. Shaking Shelton was a major highlight of the night (not something you usually see from him), but he lost an easy one on that last point.
The crowd even roared noticeably at points.
Jack Baer
Don’t be mad at Ben Shelton. He fights out of all three break points and grabs, still pretty peeved after winning the game. That was huge.
Jack Baer
What on earth? Francesca Tiafoe had a third-party break but apparently tried to tell the referee that she wasn’t ready to come back. He put the decision though and the referee did nothing, so Shelton served and saved the break point.
Tiafoe complained after the point and got the referee to let them play the point. Shelton is rightfully mad, and even more of an arbiter of leisure than Tiafoe.
Jack Baer
Jack Baer
