US Open 2024: Frances Tiafoe defeats Ben Shelton in thrilling rematch

New York Francis tifo solved Ben Shelton's big serve and played brilliantly at the net to win they're allamerican rematch at the US Open 4 to6 7 to 5 6-7 5 6 to4 6 to3 on Friday and get back to the fourth round at Flushing Meadows for the fifth consecutive year a year ago in New York TFO was eliminated by Shelton in four sets in the quarterfinals the year before that TFO who loves the tournament's spotlight and its electricity defeated rafhael Nadal on the way to the US Open semifinals the best Grand Slam showing of his career TFO hasn't always excelled at five Setters he was just 6 to13 in matches that went the distance before Friday Shelton was 6 to2 but none of that mattered on this occasion after getting past Shelton in a match that lasted 4 hours 3 minutes tifo spread his arms wide and looked around at the thousands cheering in Arthur Ash Stadium the two Pals then met at the net for a hug and a lengthy chat I've got to say Ben's an incredible player man TFO told Spectators during a postmatch interview he's an incredible player he really is he goes for all kind of shots he's got no care in the world it's really annoying he's really talented he can come up with great shots so can I it's highlight after highlight I hope you guys enjoyed the show said Shelton I thought he played lights out today you've got to be happy for a guy and congratulate especially a guy like him when he's playing the way he's playing I think that it's important to show that you can be happy for a guy when they beat you obviously there are some things I want to do better I'm a competitor I always want to win but you know I've taken a few things from him in the past year and I thought that he's always handled it well I told him keep serving like that keep returning like that and see where this thing goes up next for TFO is number 28 Alexa poin who upset 24-time Grand Slam Champion Novak jokovic the defending champ at Flushing Meadows late Friday night many people were figuring Shelton versus TFO would be at night but instead it was in the afternoon and began in front of a sparse crowd because the stands emptied at the conclusion of the previous encounter 2023 Champion Coco gal's victory over alinaalina all my friends and close ones were saying how is he not playing at night I don't know how I'm going to get there da da da blah blah blah I was like fact of the matter is we're not playing at night it doesn't really matter I just want to win chiao said it would have been cool at night he added look it was epic during the day I think everyone loved it Shelton echoed that sentiment it didn't feel like a third round match felt like one of those that you play late in the two weeks he said before adding with a smile should have been a night match but it is what it is but yeah a great atmosphere Shelton a 21-year-old from Georgia was seated 13th TFO a 26-year-old from Maryland is 20th they're both part of a group of five Americans in the top 20 of the ATP rankings making some think the country's long wait for a men's champion at a major could end soon Andy rodic's 2003 US Open trophy was the most recent slam title for a man from the United States the highest ranked us man at the moment no 12 Taylor Fritz moved on with a 6 to3 6 to4 6-2 win against Francisco komana and now will take on three-time Slam finalist Casper Roode who beat Jun Chun Shan in five sets after dropping the first two Fritz became the first American man to make the round of 16 at all four majors in a year since Andre Agy in 2003 it's a pretty cool thing for me to do because just last year I was really struggling with grand slam results Fritz said obviously making quarterfinals here was huge but my other slam performances were bad so it's nice to do a lot better at something I put a lot of emphasis on which was performing at the biggest tournaments yet another American Brandon Nakashima who is currently ranked number 50 Advanced by eliminating Wimbledon semifinalist Lorenzo Muti 6-2 3-6 6-3 7 to six four Nakashima who also upset 15th seed H girl in the first round will face number four Alexander zerov who dropped the first set before rallying to defeat Tomas Martin Cher 5-7 7 to5 6 to1 6-3 in a match that ended at 2:35 a.m. one men's fourth round matchup established Friday was number six Andre rublev versus no nine Gregor dmitrov Shelton 11 left-hander hadn't lost serve even once in two wins this week before Friday and managed to produce 23 Aces reaching 143 mph the fastest of the tournament but TFO accumulated a whopping 21 break points the most by any opponent against Shelton and converted five the last made it 3 to one in the fifth set the other key TFO kept charging forward and he kept putting away volleys he won 35 of 48 points when he made it to the net and as usual TFO played to the fans breaking out his Salt Bay celebration after one point I thought I made a lot of returns made him play a lot I think that's something I have really improved on since I've hired David wit focusing a lot on that TFO said that paid a lot of dividends I wished I served better throughout the match but I served really well at the end and that's kind of what counts it was definitely a tough match but I think the level was a lot higher this year than we played last year throughout the five sets TFO had a 15-5 record at the tour level this season through Wimbledon but has won 12 of his past 16 matches since bringing on wit Venus Williams is coach for 11 years in July at Atlanta and after starting the season 0 to4 against ATP top 20 players through Wimbledon he has now won five of his past six matches against the top 20 with the lone loss coming against number one janx siner in the Cincinnati final