The US Open will have a new men’s winner this year after defending champion Carlos Alcaraz was knocked out following a marathon, late night finish.
The Spaniard lost out in a pulsating five-set quarter-final affair to American Ben Shelton in a match that didn’t conclude until gone 3.30am local time – the latest finish in the tournament’s history.
The match at Flushing Meadows, incredibly, did not begin until 11pm owing to delays after Tuesday’s earlier games. But those who stayed up either in the crowd or watching on TV were treated to a classic over the course of almost four-and-a-half hours.
The titanic victory is undoubtedly the biggest of Shelton’s career so far. But he will be hoping there’s a couple more victories to come as he looks to close out the tournament and seal a maiden Grand Slam win.
“That was a war, an epic match, so physical,” Shelton said afterwards. “Carlos is one of the greatest champions in our sport already at 23 years old. It’s ridiculous some of the stuff he comes up with sometimes – that was the most enjoyable match that I’ve had in my career, for sure.”
Alcaraz came into this tournament still not 100 per cent at his best, given his lengthy lay-off after a serious wrist injury. But he dug deep to take the contest the distance, although the physical toll it took was evident – he could be seen vomiting into his towel at one point, towards the end of the penultimate set.
The exhausted former champion reflected, saying: “It was close. So I’m just not going to be disappointed about not getting the win at the end. You know, I’m just happy. I’m just proud about myself, about how I fought. After the third set, physically I was really tired, but you know I found a way to push myself up and physically giving extra.”
With Alcaraz having now departed, it guarantees a new name on the famous trophy this Sunday. And odds of it being a homegrown talent are increased by the fact that there will be one American in the final, given Shelton will now face his compatriot Frances Tiafoe in the semi-finals.
The other half of the men’s draw contains world number one Alexander Zverev, who will be heavily fancied to navigate a way past Botic van de Zandschulp in his last-eight tie before a potential semi against either Karen Khachanov or Alexander Blockx.
