US Open 2023: Semifinals! - Ben Shelton defeats Francis Tiafoe in four sets
Ben Shelton defeated his compatriot Frances Tiafoe in the quarterfinals of the US Open 2023 and reached the first Grand Slam semifinal of his career.
by Stefan Bergmann
last edit: Sep 06, 2023, 07:01 am
What a story for the 20-year-old local hero Ben Shelton: The youngster from Atlanta defeated his compatriot Frances Tiafoe 6:2, 3:6, 7:6 (7) and 6 in the quarterfinals of the US Open after 3:07 hours :2 and is now in the first semi-final of his young career. The 23-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic is now waiting in the semi-finals, who gave the American Taylor Fritz no chance in three sets.
Shelton got off to a dream start against his 25-year-old opponent from the US state of Maryland and confidently took the first set thanks to two breaks. However, Tiafoe hit back with equal force and secured the deserved equal set. The third round turned out to be extremely dramatic - neither of the two protagonists was able to stand out from the other in the long term.
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In the tiebreak, Shelton caused unwanted drama when he served two consecutive double faults at 6:5, but was ultimately able to end the third act on a positive note. In the fourth set, Tiafoe's resistance was broken and Shelton became the youngest American to reach the semi-finals of the US Open since Michael Chang in 1992.
Here is the individual tableau from New York
nycmap