By Amy Tennery
NEW YORK, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Ben Shelton steps into Arthur Ashe Stadium with 23 years of thwarted national expectations hanging over his head on Sunday and formidable U.S. Open final foe Alexander Zverev not interested in letting the American play hero for the home fans.
Eighth seed Shelton is one win away from ending the nearly quarter-century-long American men's drought at the Slams, a dry spell that pundits have raised ad nauseam since Andy Roddick last lifted the trophy in Flushing
in 2003.
That Shelton will be the first Black American man to play in the New York final in 54 years - since Ashe, the man for whom the tournament's showpiece court was named - only deepens the significance.
"For me, this whole tournament now at this point has been uncharted territory. I'm in positions I've never been in before," said Shelton, who will play in his first major final.
"I've beaten guys -- beaten a guy or guys that I have never beaten before. I'm just excited to put it all out on the line."
The hard-hitting American with the monster serve has built up an inspiring body of work over the tournament, beating seven-times major winner Carlos Alcaraz in a five-set quarter-final thriller.
He recovered from a set down against compatriot Frances Tiafoe in the penultimate stage on Friday, showing poise well beyond his 23 years in only his third Grand Slam semi-final.
"Problem-solving has been the name of the game here," said Shelton.
"I feel that I'm a different player. I feel like I have so many more tools. I feel like I know my identity, am comfortable in my own skin, and I know what it takes for me to be playing top-level tennis."
He has one of the trickiest puzzles of his young career against Zverev, the tournament's top seed who has triumphed in all five of their prior meetings and has far more experience on tennis's biggest stages.
The German endured his share of Grand Slam heartbreak before taking his maiden major title at Roland Garros this summer and suffered one of the most gut-wrenching defeats in U.S. Open history six years ago when he squandered a two-set lead against Dominic Thiem in the title match.
"It was my first Grand Slam final. I was inexperienced. I was still a young guy, I would say. Yeah, just different. Everything is different," said Zverev, who played in two more major finals before lifting the French Open trophy.
"There was question marks, there was doubts whether I was ever going to win one for sure. I talked about it quite openly before. Now that I've won one, it's okay."
Zverev appeared destined for more tears this time around with a shaky start to the tournament, with five-set marathons in the opening two rounds that stretched deep into the night.
The uninspiring early campaign led him to wonder whether his title attempt was "pointless" - but he quieted those doubts quickly, winning his last four matches in New York in straight sets.
"Ben is just a big, powerful guy," said Zverev, who has 87 aces across the tournament to 71 from Shelton. "Massive serve, massive groundstrokes. Everything he does is just big."
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; editing by Clare Fallon)
