Ben Shelton will bid to end a 23-year wait for an American men’s singles champion when he faces Alexander Zverev in the US Open final at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Sunday.
The 23-year-old Atlanta native secured his place in the championship match by beating fellow American Frances Tiafoe 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 in Friday’s semi-final. It is Shelton’s first Grand Slam final and makes him the first American man to reach a major singles final since Andy Roddick at Wimbledon in 2009.
Victory would also make Shelton the first Black American man to win the US Open men’s singles title since Arthur Ashe triumphed in 1968.
Shelton’s run to the final gathered pace with a five-set victory over defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals. The match finished at 3.33am in New York, the latest conclusion in US Open history, before Shelton recovered in time to overcome Tiafoe two days later.
The eighth seed has already achieved the deepest Grand Slam run of his career, having previously reached the semi-finals at the 2023 US Open. He now faces the top-seeded Zverev, who defeated Karen Khachanov in the other semi-final.
The German will be appearing in his second US Open final. He led Dominic Thiem by two sets in the 2020 championship match before losing in five, and is seeking a first major title after winning the French Open earlier this year.
Zverev also holds the advantage in his meetings with Shelton, leaving the American with a formidable challenge as he attempts to complete a breakthrough fortnight in New York.
But Shelton has insisted he is embracing the significance of the occasion rather than being overwhelmed by it.
“For me, this whole tournament now at this point has been uncharted territory,” he said. “I’m in positions I’ve never been in before. I’ve beaten a guy or guys that I have never beaten before. I’m just excited to put it all out on the line.”
Whatever the outcome, Shelton’s progress has revived hopes of an American winner at Flushing Meadows, where Roddick remains the last US man to lift the singles trophy, in 2003.
