American young gun Ben Shelton to face US Open top seed Alexander Zverev in final
Ben Shelton has won the all-American duel with Frances Tiafoe and now he’s the one who can end his country’s long wait for another men’s grand slam champion.
Shelton pulled out a 4-6 6-3 6-3 7-5 victory and will play top seed Alexander Zverev on Sunday (Monday AEST) for the US Open title.
The No.8-seeded Shelton had plenty of energy left after ousting defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in a quarter-final match that ended at 3.33am on Wednesday, the latest finish ever at the US Open.
Now he needs to stop French Open champion Zverev to give the host nation their first men’s major winner in New York since Andy Roddick in 2003.
The 23-year-old also became the first black American man to reach a US Open Final since Arthur Ashe (1972), and just the second American man since 2010 to make a major final.
Asked what that would mean to him, Shelton was pure class, praising his family and also acknowledging the death of his grandmother.
“My mum and dad sacrificed a lot for me to be in this position today. My dad lost his mom earlier this year. She’s the reason he was able to play tennis. Without her, there’s no Ben Shelton standing here today. This one is for her.”
He then turned to the crowd and urged them to get behind him in the final.
“I’m gonna need you guys on Sunday to bring the energy. We’re going for it here,” he said.
“I’m gonna leave it all on the court. I hope you guys come and back me. Let’s do this for the USA.”
“One more thing, it’s a difficult day to be out here playing,” he said, referring to the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy.
“My thoughts and prayers go out to all families who are impacted by 9/11. This is one of the greatest cities in the world and one of the biggest tragedies. Thoughts and prayers to everyone involved and affected.”
Earlier on Friday (Saturday AEST), Zverev beat Karen Khachanov 6-3 7-6 (9-7) 7-6 (8-6) in the first semi.
“Hopefully I can not make the American dream come true on Sunday,” Zverev said.
5News aggregated this summary from the outlet’s public feed. The full article, with all the context, is on 7news.com.au — the content belongs to 7NEWS Australia.
