Ben Shelton Chases a 23-Year American Drought Today Against Alexander Zverev
Ben Shelton faces top-seeded Alexander Zverev in Sunday's US Open men's final at Arthur Ashe Stadium, with a chance to become the first American man to win a Grand Slam since Andy Roddick in 2003.
Ben Shelton will walk onto Arthur Ashe Stadium Sunday afternoon carrying a piece of history American men's tennis has been chasing for more than two decades: no US man has won a Grand Slam singles title since Andy Roddick took the 2003 US Open. Standing in his way is top seed Alexander Zverev, the -152 betting favorite, in a 2 p.m. ET final airing on ESPN.
Shelton earned his spot with an all-American semifinal win over Frances Tiafoe, dropping the first set before sweeping the next three 6-3, 6-3, 7-5, per CBS Sports' breakdown of the final. He fired 20 aces and 47 winners in that match — remarkable stamina considering his quarterfinal win over defending champion Carlos Alcaraz didn't end until 3:33 a.m., the latest finish to a match in US Open history.
Zverev's Path Was Anything But Routine
Zverev's route looked cleaner on paper — a straight-sets win over unseeded Russian Karen Khachanov, 6-3, 7-6(9/7), 7-6(8/6) — but Al Jazeera's account of the match notes Khachanov held set points in the second-set tiebreaker and leads of 3-0 and 5-2 in the third-set breaker before Zverev clawed back both times. A win Sunday would give the German his second Grand Slam title of the year, adding to his French Open triumph.
NO AMERICAN MAN HAS WON A GRAND SLAM SINCE ANDY RODDICK IN 2003
The two have history: Shelton beat Zverev at last year's ATP Finals. But ABC News' reporting on the final notes that best-of-five major finals are a different animal entirely, and analysts have pointed to Zverev's deep experience on the sport's biggest stages — something the 22-year-old Shelton, playing in his first major final, has not yet had to prove he can handle.
A capacity crowd at Ashe is expected to lean heavily toward Shelton, whose blend of raw power and college-tennis showmanship (he played at the University of Florida) has made him one of the American tour's most popular draws. Whichever way it breaks, Sunday's final closes out a US Open that already delivered the latest match finish in tournament history and an all-American men's semifinal for the first time in years.
First serve is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET. The Observer will have coverage of the result following the match.