Frances Tiafoe rallies to defeat Ben Shelton in US Open thriller

CNN
 — 

After a hard-fought comeback win in a five-set thriller against fellow American Ben Shelton in the third round at the US Open, an exuberant Frances Tiafoe pounded his chest, and then he pointed down at the court at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

“This is my f**king house,” said Tiafoe, who gave US tennis fans a thrill two years ago when he had when he made a dream run to the US Open semifinals – his best result at a major.

Combatting Shelton’s powerful serve and using an all-court game, No. 20 seed Tiafoe rallied to defeat No. 13 seed Shelton 4-6, 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-3 in four hours and three minutes to advance to the round of 16 in front of an electric New York crowd Friday.

“Ben’s an incredible player, man. … He really is,” Tiafoe said in his on-court interview. “He goes for all kinds of shots. He’s got no care in the world. It’s really annoying. He’s got a great serve and he has great energy out here.

“He’s really talented. He can come up with great shots. So can I. We both move really well. So it’s just highlight after highlight. I really hope you guys enjoyed the show. Four hours of just (a) battle.”

Tiafoe, 26, just might have the chance to equal his 2022 US Open performance – or perhaps go even further. Following his win, there was a seismic upset in the men’s singles draw.

Instead of facing 24-time grand slam champion Novak Djokovic in the round of 16, he instead will get No. 28 seed Alexei Popyrin, with the 25-year-old Australian pulling off a stunning upset by defeating the Serb late Friday night.

Tiafoe and Popyrin will square off Sunday. It will be their first meeting.

No American man has won a grand slam singles title since Andy Roddick won the US Open in 2003. Meanwhile, no man left in Tiafoe’s half of the draw has ever won a major title in singles.

Opportunity could be knocking for Tiafoe – as well as other American men. No. 12 seed Taylor Fritz won comfortably Friday in straight sets against Francisco Comesana, while unseeded Brandon Nakashima upset No. 18 seed Lorenzo Musetti in four sets. On the opposite half of the draw, No. 14 seed Tommy Paul will be in action Saturday in third-round play.

At the 2022 US Open, Tiafoe gave fans hope he might end the US men’s grand slam singles title drought, shocking Rafael Nadal in the round of 16 and upsetting Russian Andrey Rublev in the quarterfinals. His run ended in the semifinals, falling to the eventual champion, Carlos Alcaraz.

At the time, a gutted Tiafoe addressed the crowd, saying he gave everything he had.

“I’m going to come back and I will win this thing one day,” Tiafoe said.

But he was unable to recreate the magic a year later. His 2023 attempt in New York was thwarted in the quarterfinals by Shelton, his friend, with the 21-year-old winning that encounter in four sets and advancing to a grand slam semifinal for the first time.

“Losing last year to him, struggled for a long time,” Tiafoe said. “Played really, really bad for a very, very long time.

“A lot of things have happened since then. I struggled with a lot of things, motivation-wise, things like that, taking the game for granted. So many other things.

“So, you know, it was amazing to have that matchup,” Tiafoe added about facing Shelton at the US Open again. “I was, like, look, I’m going to get to the round for sure. I really want that matchup. I was like, but, please, no one upset him. It would be epic to do this again. What are the chances?”

Friday was redemption for Tiafoe. With this year’s result this time in his favor, he joyfully embraced Shelton at the net, and the pair had an extended warm exchange.

“He was just telling me, ‘Man, you’re a hell of a player.’ I was saying he’s a hell of a player, man,” Tiafoe told ESPN. “I was like, ‘I was coming for you like you have no idea today.’ And he was like, ‘I felt it.’

“Unbelievable battle. He said, ‘Go ahead and get after whoever you play next and keep going.’ He’s like, ‘Go win this tournament.’ … It was a lot of love at the net.”

When ESPN later asked Tiafoe in an interview about what he said about Ashe being his “house,” a grin appeared on his face.

“It’s definitely my house, and I had to regain that today,” Tiafoe said. “I was super happy about that. Obviously, it’s funny to say that because I haven’t won (the title) here, but I’ve won a lot of dope matches on that court.”