Ben Shelton Serves His Way Into 1st Major Final, Looks To Break 23-Year American Drought

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 11: Ben Shelton of the United States celebrates a point against Frances Tiafoe of the United States during their Men’s Semifinal match on Day Thirteen of the 2026 US Open at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 11, 2026 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

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Playing in a highly charged all-American semifinal on the 25th anniversary of 9/11 and before a capacity crowd in Arthur Ashe Stadium, Ben Shelton served his way into his first Grand Slam final and will attempt to break a 23-year drought for American men in majors.

No American man has won a major singles title since Andy Roddick at the 2003 U.S. Open.

No. 8 Shelton banged out 20 aces en route to beating No. 11 Frances Tiafoe, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 to reach the the U.S. Open final on Sunday (2 p.m., ABC). Tiafoe double-faulted on the second match point and then climbed over the net to embrace Shelton.

On Sunday, Shelton will face No. 1 seed Alexander Zverev, who swept past Karen Khachanov in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6(7), 7-6(6), in the first semifinal. Zverev is 5-0 vs. Shelton.

“Everybody loves Frances and Ben,” Zverev, who lost the 2020 final here to Dominic Thiem, said on court. “Tonight is gonna be an epic semifinal. Hopefully I can NOT make the American dream come true on Sunday.”

Shelton is the first Black man to reach the U.S. Open final since Arthur Ashe in 1972.

Serena Williams, winner of 23 major titles and six U.S. Opens, and Knicks stars Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges were among those to watch the first major semifinal featuring two Black American men.

“I keep looking up at the screen, like oh shoot, Jalen Brunson’s here,” Shelton said on court.

Sunday’s winner will take home $5.5 million, and the runner-up $2.8 million.

Zverev is playing in his third straight Grand Slam final after winning his first major at Roland Garros, and losing to Jannik Sinner in the Wimbledon final.

Daniil Medvedev in 2023 was the last man to beat the No. 1 (Carlos Alcaraz) and 2 seeds (Novak Djokovic) en route to the U.S. Open crown. Shelton is attempting to follow suit.

The American upset defending champion Alcaraz, the No. 2 seed, in an epic quarterfinal that ended at 3:33 a.m. Wednesday morning, the latest finish in U.S. Open history.

Tiafoe was playing in his third U.S. Open semifinal (2022, ’24) and is still bidding to reach his first Grand Slam final.

Fellow American Taylor Fritz made the Open final in 2024, losing in straight sets to Sinner.

Shelton, the huge-serving 23-year-old left-hander from Atlanta, at one point was clocked at 158 mph on his serve, before it was corrected to a mere 144 mph.

In the fourth game of the third set, Shelton was clocked with a 158 mph serve – which would’ve been an ATP record – but it was corrected to 144 mph.

“It’s crazy how big his serve is,” John McEnroe said on ESPN.

With Tiafoe serving to stay in the third set at 3-5, the two men played an epic 15-minute game that finally ended when Tiafoe netted a forehand that gave Shelton the break and the set.

Shelton got an amazing 82 percent of his first serves in during the third set.

The two rivals played some exquisite tennis that captivated the crowd.

Shelton won an incredible point to go up 3-2 in the fourth set with a running backhand slice winner down the line.

The crowd rooted on Tiafoe in the fourth with shouts of “Let’s go, Frances.”

But serving to stay in the match at 5-6 in the fourth, he fell behind 0-30 on his serve.

He sailed a forehand long to bring Shelton to triple-match point at 0-40.

Tiafoe then double-faulted on his second match point and climbed over the net to embrace Shelton.

Shelton and Tiafoe have met five times, with Shelton now leading their head-to-head 4-1.

Shelton leads 2-1 in their matches at the U.S. Open, and more importantly has a chance to break a 23-year drought on Sunday.

Taylor Fritz had the opportunity two years ago, but came up short against Sinner in the final.

Now Shelton will have to top Zverev for the first time to make history.