Key events
Third set: *Tiafoe 6-4, 3-6, 2-2 Shelton (*denotes next server)
With Shelton serving at 15-all, he casually steps up and pounds a 158mph serve out wide, which would be the fastest recorded in the history of tennis. Well then. He gets to 40-15 before Tiafoe pushes it to deuce. But Shelton wins two quick points from there to nail down the hold.
Third set: Tiafoe 6-4, 3-6, 2-1 Shelton* (*denotes next server)
The nerves creep in for Tiafoe, who hits a couple of scratchy forehands and suddenly finds himself 15-40 and double break point down. He’s made to work to save the first one, getting the best of a 31-shot rally from the baseline, the longest exchange of the night. He then saves the second on a quick point for deuce. Tiafoe wins another 21-shot point to move within a point of the hold and Shelton is going to approach the chair umpire to complain that Tiafoe is going past the serve clock. It’s been three straight points for Tiafoe where the clock has elapsed past zero and there’s yet to be a warning given. We’ll see what comes of that. Tiafoe then wins the next point to hold, winning four on the trot from 15-40 down.
Third set: *Tiafoe 6-4, 3-6, 1-1 Shelton (*denotes next server)
And Shelton answers with an easy hold of his own, pounding his 10th ace of the night along the way, a 132mph missile down the middle.
Third set: Tiafoe 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 Shelton* (*denotes next server)
Stress-free hold for Tiafoe to open the third set.
Shelton wins second set, 6-3!
Second set: Tiafoe 6-4, 3-6 Shelton
Shelton doesn’t fool around, rattling off three quick points for triple set point. He squanders the first despite battering Tiafoe back with a 149mph serve, but Tiafoe nets a return on the next one. Shelton takes set two after 34 minutes.
Shelton breaks in eighth game of second set!
Second set: Tiafoe 6-4, 3-5 Shelton* (*denotes next server)
With Tiafoe serving at 15-30, a sensational 17-shot rally ensues which the older American finally caps with a highlight-reel backhand winner. It’s 30-all. But Shelton follows with a backhand winner for 30-40 and break point … and he converts it when Tiafoe errs off the forehand side! Shelton pumps a fist and plays to the crowd and will serve for the second set!
Second set: *Tiafoe 6-4, 3-4 Shelton (*denotes next server)
Shelton falls behind love-15, but reels four quick unreturnable serves: 125mph, 144mph, 139mph, 140mph. It’s a hold and they’re still on serve in the second.
Second set: Tiafoe 6-4, 3-3 Shelton* (*denotes next server)
Another drama-free hold for Tiafoe, who’s won eight of nine points on his serve since getting broken at love.
Second set: *Tiafoe 6-4, 2-3 Shelton (*denotes next server)
An emphatic service game for Shelton, who holds at love to stay on serve.
Second set: Tiafoe 6-4, 2-2 Shelton* (*denotes next server)
Tiafoe backs up the break comfortably. We’ve just hit the hour mark in what could be a long night.
Tiafoe breaks in third game of second set!
Second set: *Tiafoe 6-4, 1-2 Shelton (*denotes next server)
Now it’s Shelton who buckles on his serve. He misfires a backhand for love-15, then sees Tiafoe pound consecutive winners for love-40 and triple break point. Shelton is able to save the first, but he makes another unforced error off the backhand to gift the break right back. We’re back on serve in the second.
Shelton breaks in second game of second set!
Second set: Tiafoe 6-4, 0-2 Shelton* (*denotes next server)
Well, well, well. Tiafoe’s first serve goes into full revolt as Shelton is able to break at love to take the upper hand early in the second.
Second set: *Tiafoe 6-4, 0-1 Shelton (*denotes next server)
Shelton shakes it off and holds comfortably to open the second set.
In case you missed it, Taylor Townsend is a US Open champion at last. The 30-year-old American teamed with Kateřina Siniaková to win the women’s doubles title on Friday, adding a home grand slam crown to a career that has included years of setbacks, scrutiny and perseverance. Our Andrew Lawrence with the report:
The cheers swelled from Arthur Ashe Stadium as Taylor Townsend approached the microphone on court. “Y’all know this is my moment,” she started, “and I’m about to take it.”
A day after being denied an American rooting interest in the women’s singles final and rushing for the exits in response, the Ashe crowd had reason to stick around and drink in the moment: the Chicago native and her partner, Kateřina Siniaková of the Czech Republic, had just defeated the all-American team of Ashlyn Krueger and Robin Montgomery 5-7, 6-0, 6-2 in Friday’s women’s doubles final. With the victory, Siniaková became a two-time career doubles slam champion while Townsend joined the club for the first time.
Tiafoe wins first set, 6-4!
First set: Tiafoe 6-4 Shelton
No fuss, no muss. Tiafoe holds at love for the first time all night and he’s closed out the opening set in 45 minutes.
Tiafoe breaks in ninth game of first set!
First set: *Tiafoe 5-4 Shelton (*denotes next server)
Shelton gets to 30-love on his serve but a relentless Tiafoe pushed it to deuce. The crowd swells. Shelton then misfires with the forehand and it’s a second break point of the night for Tiafoe. And Shelton double-faults! Oh dear! Tiafoe has the first break of the night and will serve for the opening set!
First set: Tiafoe 4-4 Shelton* (*denotes next server)
Tiafoe is pushed to 30-all on his serve, but he follows with a forehand winner then a backhand volley winner to cap a nine-shot rally for 4-all. A tightly wound start before this electric atmosphere on Ashe. Who will blink first?
First set: *Tiafoe 3-4 Shelton (*denotes next server)
Shelton makes his first double fault of the night, but rattles off four quick points for the elementary hold. Still on serve in the opening set.
First set: Tiafoe 3-3 Shelton* (*denotes next server)
Tiafoe holds from love-15. A very clean start for the 28-year-old with only two unforced errors in the first six games.
First set: *Tiafoe 2-3 Shelton (*denotes next server)
Shelton holds from love-15 then 15-30. Promising sign for the younger American: he’s gotten 17 of 19 first serves in (89%).
First set: Tiafoe 2-2 Shelton* (*denotes next server)
A bit of pressure on Tiafoe now as he goes down 15-30 on his serve. But he gets it to 30-all with a gorgeous angled volley at the net that Shelton can’t recover. Tiafoe then gets the better of a 13-shot exchange for game point before capping the hold with a crisp forehand winner.
First set: *Tiafoe 1-2 Shelton (*denotes next server)
Shortly after crunching his first ace of the night, 123mph down the middle, Shelton faces his first pressure point of the night at 30-all. He then makes an unforced error off the backhand for 30-40 and will face his first break point, but he rattles off three quick points from there to escape with the hold.
First set: Tiafoe 1-1 Shelton* (*denotes next server)
Tiafoe answers with an easy hold of his own. It’s a gorgeous night here in Queens: 76F (24C) with a light breeze.
First set: *Tiafoe 0-1 Shelton (*denotes next server)
Shelton holds at 15, getting four of five first serves in. It must be noted how dialed-in this capacity crowd is tonight. None of the ambient din of non-stop conversation were so used to hearing in here.
The players have finished their warm-up. Shelton has elected to serve first. We should be under way any moment now. There’s barely an empty seat in 23,771-seat Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Before the players emerge tonight, Arthur Ashe Stadium is pausing to mark the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. A pre-match ceremony is honoring the nearly 3,000 people killed, their families and the first responders. After a moment of silence, the recording artist JoJo is performing the US national anthem.
Shelton is attempting to become the youngest American man to reach a US Open final since Andy Roddick won the title here at 21 in 2003. The 23-year-old has been remarkably efficient when reaching the business end of tournaments this season: he has made four previous semi-finals – Dallas, Munich, Stuttgart and Montreal – and won the title every time. Those trophies also made him the first American man since Sam Querrey in 2010 to win tour titles on hard, clay and grass in the same season. Tonight he will go for five finals from five semi-final appearances.
If tonight’s match turns into another war of attrition, both men appeared seasoned for the task. Tiafoe has already spent 16hr 3min on court across five matches, the fourth-longest journey to a US Open semi-final since the ATP began tracking match times in 1991. Shelton is only slightly fresher at 15hr 41min. Tiafoe has played 19 sets and Shelton 20, with both coming through five-set quarter-finals. The difference is down to literal mileage: Shelton has covered 44,143ft during the tournament to Tiafoe’s 39,472ft.
A strong US Open for the American juniors is heading into the final weekend, with four US players – two boys and two girls – through to championship matches on Saturday.
Seventeen-year-old Marcel Latak of Darien, Illinois, has a chance at a rare double after reaching the boys’ singles and doubles finals. He wil face Brazil’s Luis Guto Miguel, the junior world No 1 and top seed, for the singles title before teaming with fellow American Tanishk Konduri, also 17, against France’s Aaron Gabet and Spain’s Valentin Gonzalez-Galino in the doubles final.
Latak is bidding to become the first American to sweep the singles and doubles titles at a grand slam since Robin Montgomery did it at the 2021 US Open.
On the girls’ side, California sisters Kristina and Annika Penickova, aged 17 and 16 respectively, have reached the doubles final, where they will face Polina Berezina and Alisa Terentyeva.
All four junior finals are scheduled for Saturday.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to Arthur Ashe Stadium for tonight’s all-American US Open men’s semi-final between Frances Tiafoe and Ben Shelton. For the third time in four years, the two friends and crowd favorites will meet at Flushing Meadows. Shelton won their first New York encounter, overpowering Tiafoe in four sets in the 2023 quarter-finals on his way to a breakthrough semi-final appearance at 20. Tiafoe answered 12 months later, coming from two sets to one down to win a five-set thriller in the third round. Shelton leads their overall series 3-1, including a straight-sets victory in Washington last summer.
Tonight’s rubber match is considerably bigger. The winner will become the first Black American man to reach the US Open singles final since Arthur Ashe in 1972 and the first to reach any grand slam singles final since MaliVai Washington at Wimbledon in 1996. He will also become only the fifth American man this century to reach the final in New York, after Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick and Taylor Fritz.
Both men arrive after extraordinary five-set quarter-finals. Tiafoe somehow escaped Alex Michelsen after trailing by two sets, falling a break behind in the third and then going 3-0 down in the fifth. His 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (6) victory put him into his third US Open semi-final in five years, matching Agassi for the most by an American man this century.
Shelton’s route was even more spectacular. The 23-year-old toppled defending champion Carlos Alcaraz 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (7) in a late-night classic that finished at 3.33am, ending the Spaniard’s 18-match winning streak at grand slam level and securing his first victory over a top-three opponent after starting his career 0-17 against them.
One American dream ends tonight and another moves into Sunday’s final against Alexander Zverev with a shot of ending the country’s 23-year wait for a men’s major champion.
The first ball will not be at 7pm local time as scheduled while Ashe changes over for the separately ticketed night session. We’ll update you with an approximate start time as we hear.
Bryan will be here shortly. In the meantime here’s Tumaini Carayol’s lookahead to tonight’s match.