On a day filled with incredible tennis, Ben Shelton and Carlos Alcaraz saved the best for last, as the No. 8 seed Shelton outlasted the No. 2 seed Alcaraz in a five-set thriller (6-7, 6-1, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6) that became the latest US Open match in history, finishing at 3:33 a.m. ET with Shelton picking up the biggest win of his young career.
It's Shelton's first career win over a top 5 seed in a grand slam and punches his ticket to a second-ever US Open semifinal. The match, which started just after 11 p.m. ET after the first three matches of the day all went the distance, featured some of the best tennis of the entire tournament, with both Shelton and Alcaraz putting on a sensational display for the fans that stayed up late with them at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The loss snaps Alcaraz's streak of consecutive grand slam finals made at four, as it's his first quarterfinal exit since the 2025 Australian Open. The defending US Open champion had won three of his last four grand slam starts, but suffered a rare five-set defeat at the hands of Shelton. Alcaraz was 15-1 in five-setters coming into Wednesday and had won 13 straight against Americans and 14 in a row against left-handers. All of those streaks came to an end against Shelton, who put on a star-making performance well into the morning in New York.
The match started with both Alcaraz and Shelton alternating holds of serve for the first 10 games before Alcaraz was able to draw first blood with a late break to take the first real lead of the match. However, Shelton offered a glimpse of what was to come the rest of the night by holding his nerve and breaking straight back to force a tiebreak. Alcaraz won that tiebreak 7-5 as the two produced some spectacular rallies that went the way of the champ, but Shelton still came away confident that he had everything he needed to beat Alcaraz.
What a way for Carlos to win the first set. This match is 🔥 pic.twitter.com/rm7B7WFlqt
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 9, 2026
He put that confidence and form on display in the second set, dominating the No. 2 seed in a 6-1 stunner in which he beat Alcaraz at his own game by controlling points, moving his opponent and scrambling on defense to make every point a challenge. It was a side of Shelton that fans have wanted to see more of, finding that balance between playing under control but still letting his natural talents and gifts shine.
Shelton was able to maintain that level in the third set, taking control of the match with a 6-3 performance that put Alcaraz on the brink of his earliest grand slam exit since the 2025 Australian Open. Shelton took some haymakers from Alcaraz in the third set and kept coming back at him with big serves, terrific groundstrokes and clinical ball placement to take the 2-1 advantage into the fourth.
In the fourth set, Alcaraz offered a reminder of why he's the defending champ and has won three of the last four grand slams he's played in. The Spaniard started to turn up the pressure on Shelton, unleashing a little extra on his groundstrokes and digging out some ridiculous points with his defense to put some doubt in the American's head for the first time.
Another angle of Alcaraz ridiculousness 👀 pic.twitter.com/0KIcqo0u4f
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 9, 2026
Shelton, meanwhile, started to over-hit for the first time in the match, sending balls deep beyond the baseline and seemingly pressing to try and get across the finish line against the game's best. The result was a 6-1 set in favor of Alcaraz to send the match to a decisive fifth set, and ensure it became the latest finish in U.S. Open history.
The tension in the fifth set steadily ramped up as the two stars held serve in all 12 games, but not without some drama, most notably Alcaraz fighting off three break points in the eighth game to keep it on serve and avoid blinking first. With neither player cracking the other's serve, the match went somewhat fittingly to a 10-point match tiebreak -- the third of the day at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Shelton got the early advantage after getting the first mini-break off Alcaraz in the third point of the tiebreak, but couldn't consolidate with an unforced error on the fifth point to restore parity. The next big moment came in the eighth point when Alcaraz picked up a mini-break off an errant forehand from Shelton that went wide to grab a 5-3 advantage, but like Shelton before him, he couldn't consolidate with a forehand error of his own in the 10th point to make it 5-5 again.
After a 146 mph ace from Shelton to hold and move to 7-6 in front, it was Alcaraz who blinked with a shot deep beyond the baseline to give Shelton the chance to serve out the match at 8-7. After an Alcaraz error, Shelton blasted another 146 mph serve at 3:33 a.m. ET, this time out wide for another ace to seal the biggest win of his career and advance to his third career grand slam semifinal and second at the US Open.
Ben Shelton scores the biggest win of his career and a spot in the US Open semifinals! pic.twitter.com/2PCndRLcpL
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 9, 2026
Shelton now moves on to face fellow American and No. 11 seed Frances Tiafoe in the semis, guaranteeing that an American man will have a chance on Sunday to snap the 23-year drought since the last American man lifted a grand slam title -- Andy Roddick at the 2003 US Open. If that all-American showdown is anywhere close to as entertaining as the five setters both men played on Wednesday, with Tiafoe coming back from 0-2 down to beat Alex Michelsen, it will be an absolute treat to watch.
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