Ben Shelton earned one of the most thrilling wins of his career at the US Open in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
According to ATP Tour, Shelton upset defending champion Carlos Alcaraz 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6(10/7) in an entertaining quarter-final clash that finished at 3:33 a.m. in New York. This is the latest finish for a match at the hard-court major.
The previous record also involved Alcaraz, who exactly two years ago, saved a match point to edge Jannik Sinner in five sets in the quarter-finals, with their match finishing at 2:50 a.m. in New York.
This time, Alcaraz was unable to repeat the feat, as Shelton held his nerve in the fifth-set tie-break to complete the upset in four hours and 28 minutes and reach the semi-finals.
Shelton shared following his victory, "For me, it is always about the people in the crowd. Whether it is my coaches or my team over there, all my friends and family, or even the city of New York that showed up tonight till 3 a.m. With the USA chants until the very end by the crowd, that's what got me the win tonight."
Shelton is now 13-2 across the North American hard court swing.
The 23-year-old claimed his second ATP Masters 1000 title in Montreal and has now upset the defending champion Alcaraz in New York to advance to the last four at the hard-court major for the first time since 2023.
The Spaniard was playing his first tournament following a four-month injury layoff, but had dropped just one set on his way to the quarter-finals before Shelton ended his title defence.
