Ben Shelton cruised past Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets Sunday to reach the U.S. Open quarterfinals.
Shelton reached the fourth round after surviving a much messier night against Denis Shapovalov, whom he defeated 7-6(3), 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4, in the third round, a match he described as "nowhere near my best." The match didn't start until 10:45 p.m. on Friday. Shelton committed 54 unforced errors and struggled with his serve in the second set.
“We waited around for three hours, and when we thought that them putting doubles there would maybe just be an hour," Shelton said about the delay. "So that was hard to deal with. The first set was rough, and then serving for it twice in the second, giving that up, is just unacceptable.”
Two nights later,
there was far less drama.
Shelton had his serve going from the start and dominated each set, winning 6-2, 6-3, 6-4. His other three wins came in four sets, making this his cleanest performance of the tournament. Shelton did not face a break point, hit 11 aces and won 83% of his first-serve points.
Tsitsipas never seriously threatened to retake the momentum, especially after taking a medical timeout in the second set. Shelton got the win in 1 hour, 52 minutes, a much different result than the 2023 Cincinnati meeting between the two that Tsitsipas won.
“He’s improved a lot since last time I played him. I have seen improvement in his game,” Tsitsipas said of the former Gator.
“He's also become more of a man now. Back then, he was still kind of a kid and relatively new to the tour. He’s been building confidence. He’s got some good results, good wins, good Masters 1000 runs. He’s now well-established on the tour. It's a very different Ben Shelton that I saw back then.”
Shelton's return to the quarterfinals marks his deepest U.S. Open run since reaching the semifinals in 2023. Waiting for him is world No. 3 and defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, who has won all three previous meetings between the two. Shelton took his only set from Alcaraz in the fourth round of the 2025 French Open.
Alcaraz entered the U.S. Open coming off a lengthy wrist-injury layoff, but he has looked increasingly comfortable as the tournament has progressed. He dispatched Tommy Paul in straight sets in the fourth round to set up Tuesday's quarterfinal showdown with Shelton.
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Ben Shelton cruises into U.S. Open quarterfinals
