Shelton beats Alcaraz at 3:33 a.m., the latest finish in US Open history

Ben Shelton beat Carlos Alcaraz 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (10-7) in the US Open quarterfinals early on Wednesday, ending the defending champion's tournament and, at 3:33 a.m. New York time, the latest match in the tournament's history. The previous record also belonged to Alcaraz, whose 2022 quarterfinal against Jannik Sinner finished at 2:50 a.m. The match lasted four hours and 28 minutes. It was Shelton's first win over a top-three player in 18 attempts and his first in four meetings with Alcaraz.

The match

The quarterfinal was the second match of the night session and did not begin until 11:05 p.m., because all three earlier matches on Arthur Ashe Stadium had gone the distance. The first set ran to a tiebreak after Alcaraz broke at 5-5 and Shelton broke straight back; Shelton led the tiebreak 5-3 and lost it 7-5.

From there Shelton won nine games in a row, the second set 6-1 and the first three games of the third. Alcaraz's serve was the problem: seven double faults over the match to Shelton's two, and 16 break points faced to Shelton's 11, by Tennis.com's count. Alcaraz broke twice in the fourth set and took it 6-1, and was seen vomiting before the fifth.

The fifth set began at 2:27 a.m. and had no breaks. Alcaraz had one break point, in the fifth game, and did not take it; Shelton had three in the eighth, and Alcaraz saved all of them to hold for 4-4. In the match tiebreak Alcaraz won four straight points to lead 5-3, and Shelton then won seven of the last nine, finishing with an ace timed at 146 mph. The ATP's numbers give Alcaraz more winners, 38 to 34, and far more unforced errors, 53 to 34.

34Shelton

53Alcaraz

By the end the stadium was about a third full, according to Sky Sports' reporter in the building, and those who stayed were chanting "USA". Shelton thanked them for it on court. "For me, it is always about the people in the crowd," he said, adding that he hoped his best friend and his sister, both in his box, did not have to be at work at 6 a.m. "That was a war, epic match, so physical," he said later, leaning against a wall in the corridor. "The most enjoyable match I've had in my career, for sure."

Alcaraz did not give a press conference; he spoke to reporters in a hallway, according to the Associated Press, and was smiling. "I leave the court happy. I leave the court with a smile. I am proud of myself, how I fought," he said. "It was close, it really was close." Of Shelton, in Spanish: "Physically, he's a beast. It seemed like he had no weaknesses whatsoever."

The end of the comeback

This was Alcaraz's first tournament since a right wrist injury in Barcelona in April, and he had lost one set in four rounds before Tuesday night. The defeat ends an 18-match winning streak at the majors that began with his title here last year and ran through the Australian Open in January, where he completed the career Grand Slam. He would have been the first man to retain the US Open since Roger Federer in 2008.

He said before the tournament that his aim was to compete and stay healthy, and he repeated it afterwards. "Well, as I said before the tournament began, my expectation was to go there, compete, play in these kinds of matches, for me, being healthy." He said he felt better than he had expected to over the fortnight and that he would take more long breaks in future.

The record

The finish moves the top of the ATP's list of the latest finishes at the US Open by 43 minutes. Two matches from this year's tournament are now in the top ten; five of the twelve involve Alcaraz or Alexander Zverev.

Wednesday's finish came ten days after five of the first seven night sessions ended after 1 a.m., and the reaction followed the same lines. Martina Navratilova wrote on X that "something has got to give, this is not OK and it is not normal", according to Sky Sports, which also reports the tournament's own response: a fill-in-the-blank letter posted on social media for fans to send to their employers, excusing a Wednesday absence. Andy Roddick, on his podcast, defended the schedule on the grounds that almost every match that day had gone to a deciding tiebreak and that moving 25,000 people in and out of a stadium takes time: "I hear a lot of complaining. I don't hear a lot of proposed solutions." Marion Bartoli, on Sky, suggested a single night match once the tournament reaches the quarterfinals. Aryna Sabalenka, who played the first match of the day on Ashe, said a late finish shifts the whole of the next day because the sleep still has to be made up.

Next

Shelton plays Frances Tiafoe in Friday's semifinal, which guarantees an American man in Sunday's final. No American man has won a major since Andy Roddick at the 2003 US Open. Tiafoe, the 11th seed, came back from two sets down against Alex Michelsen on Tuesday afternoon, 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (10-6), after trailing 0-3 in the fifth. Michelsen served 21 aces and lost his first Grand Slam quarterfinal from two sets up. It is Tiafoe's third US Open semifinal after 2022 and 2024, and Sky Sports reports he will return to the top ten for the first time in three years.

Shelton leads their head-to-head 3-1; two of the four meetings were here, a Shelton win in the 2023 quarterfinals and a Tiafoe win in the third round in 2024. Shelton is 38-13 this season, won the Masters 1000 in Montreal last month and is No. 4 in the ATP's live rankings after this win. This is his second US Open semifinal; he lost the 2023 one to Novak Djokovic.

In the top half, Zverev plays Botic van de Zandschulp on Wednesday night, the second match of another night session. Karen Khachanov is in the other semifinal after Alexander Blockx retired in the third set of their afternoon quarterfinal with Khachanov leading 6-2, 7-5, 3-2. The final is on Sunday 13 September.