The Athletic has live coverage of the 2026 U.S. Open men’s semifinalsNEW YORK — Ben Shelton, the big serving 22-year-old Floridian, earned the chance of his young career Friday night, defeating Frances Tiafoe in an all-American semifinal at the U.S. Open.After riding his power and increasingly eclectic set of tennis weapons to beat Tiafoe 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-5, Shelton, one of the most gifted all-around athletes to reach the elite level of the sport, will play Alexander Zverev of Germany in Sunday’s final. He will walk onto Arthur Ashe Stadium with the chance to break a 23-year drought in Grand Slams for American men.That sort of streak seemed implausible a quarter century ago, after decades of Americans at the top of the game. But two magical generations of players from Europe — combined with the best American male athletes flocking to other sports and a mix of confusion and neglect at the top of American tennis — have led to more than two decades in the wilderness for American men.In recent years, there has been plenty of depth, but no unicorn capable of doing battle with the best of the best.How the "Hard 75" changed everything for Frances TiafoeMatthew Futterman, Lia GriffinShelton is not that unicorn. But he rises off the court like he has springs in his shoes. He can hit every serve in the book. Perhaps most importantly, he has dedicated the time he needed to dedicate to evolving beyond the archetype of an American serve bot with a laser forehand.Tiafoe didn’t go quietly. As Shelton tried to put him away in the last set, Tiafoe pushed back hard. A point from the edge of the cliff early in the fourth set and Shelton on top of the net looking for the kill, Tiafoe twirled a perfect topspin lob onto the line. Even Shelton’s wide receiver speed couldn’t catch up. Shelton missed a rocket forehand return by a few millimeters on the next point and Tiafoe was alive and fighting desperately to climb past the step he’d reached twice before but never passed.Shelton moved in for the kill with Tiafoe serving at 5-6 in the fourth set. Two ripped backhands, one across the court, the other down the line, got him two points from the summit. Tiafoe missed a forehand to give Shelton three shots at the final.On the second one, Tiafoe dumped a serve into the net and that was it. Shelton held off on the celebration. No hanging up the phone like he did three years ago, as a cocky 20-year-old less than a year out of college.He looked toward his box with a nod of satisfaction, then headed toward the net, where Tiafoe was coming around for a long embrace. The two men had just made history on a court named for their hero, Arthur Ashe, the first and last Black man to win this title, 58 years ago.Shelton had been to Grand Slam semifinals twice before as well, at this tournament in 2023 and at the Australian Open in 2025.Both times, he lost — to first Novak Djokovic and then Jannik Sinner. But ahead of this match, he’d knocked out a player of their renown, toppling Carlos Alcaraz in an epic five-set match on Tuesday night and into the small hours of Wednesday morning.But there was still so much tennis to play.On Friday night, Shelton came out flat, playing about as poor of an opening set as he could have imagined. He served tentatively. He had just seven winners and 14 unforced errors. His backhand appeared vulnerable, his forehand indecisive. He couldn’t get to the net.It was the polar opposite of the Shelton who had faced down the mighty Carlos Alcaraz through 3:33 a.m. on Wednesday morning, though maybe that was the reason why. He’d gone to sleep as the sun was rising. A little more than 24 hours later, he was heading out to the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center for the greatest opportunity of his career this far.The idea, it seemed, was to pick up where he left off. Rocketing serves at 148 mph. Hanging with Alcaraz from the baseline and returning as he rarely had before. Playing with the kind of exuberance that would ignite the biggest tennis stadium in the world.Sometimes though, a player does one big thing, and then has to do another one two nights later, and the energy reserves just will not provide.Shelton was also the hometown underdog against Alcaraz, with most of the big house there to carry him along. U.S. Open crowds know what to do when an American star needs help against the all-time greats that have been sending them home for 91 consecutive major championships, and they did it then, drowning out those “Olé” singalongs with chants of “Let’s go Ben!”They don’t know what to do when two incredibly popular Americans are playing for something really big — and making more tennis history too. Two Black men had never contested a Grand Slam semifinal before.Whoever fell behind got to feel the love. So early on, these two electric players performed in front of an ambivalent crowd for nearly an hour.Tiafoe appeared best prepared for it, able to take care of business and content to play uncomplicated tennis as long as that was all that Shelton was requiring him to do.At 4-4, Shelton conceded three points on errors and then double-faulted down break point to give Tiafoe the chance to take the opening set. It appeared that neither man wanted to be in the lead, closer to the chance to make history than the other.Shelton duly got the jump in the second set. The numbers started rising on the serve clock. His forehand started to get a little more pop, the backhand some surety. They traded service breaks early, as the crowd started to rally behind Shelton.With Tiafoe serving at 3-4, the first great point of the night ensued, one of those rallies where players take turns chasing balls east and west and north and south. Tiafoe chased down two lobs, before finishing the point off with a passing shot. It evened the score at 30-30. Shelton headed toward the back corner to get in position for the next point, trading smiles with his father Bryan, who is also his coach.It was just like early Wednesday morning, when he and Alcaraz played a wild point near the end of the third set, covering nearly every inch of the court. Shelton lost that one, went for his towel and slapped his father’s hand on the way. He won the next three points to seal that set.Now it was time for déja vu. With his opponent heaving, Shelton attacked. He ripped a backhand return down the line. On the next point he went after the forehand, sending Tiafoe into the corner, drawing another error to get to 5-3 and rolling to draw even from there.Once more, he’d lost a point — but it had paid serious dividends.“A beast,” is how Alcaraz would describe him at just before 4 a.m. earlier this week, after Shelton’s relentlessness had outdone him down the stretch.With the scoreboard even, Shelton pumped his fist and nodded at his dad. He’d knocked Tiafoe back on heels. Now the question was whether he could keep him there, and how hard Tiafoe could fight to get back on his toes.He couldn’t. Shelton kept the pressure coming. Tiafoe had to scramble to save two break point chances at 1-1. But then Shelton got three more at 2-2, easing the ball around the court and forcing Tiafoe to move through a 28-shot rally that Tiafoe lost when he hit the eject button with a drop shot and gave Shelton an easy backhand pass.With Tiafoe serving at 3-5, Shelton tortured Tiafoe through seven deuces. He kept destroying Tiafoe’s weakening second serve, bashing backhands into the crosscourt corner. Finally, Tiafoe made one too many errors and Shelton had the lead he’d never give up.