Overview
- Shelton defeated defending champion Carlos Alcaraz 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6(10-7) in a 4-hour 28-minute match that concluded around 3:33 a.m. on Wednesday.
- The win snapped Alcaraz’s 18-match Grand Slam run and ended his bid to retain the US Open title in his first tournament back from a multi-month right-wrist layoff.
- Shelton finished the match with a 146 mph ace to clinch the 10-point deciding tiebreak and produced what many outlets called the biggest victory of his career.
- Shelton will face Frances Tiafoe in an all‑American semifinal on Friday, ensuring a U.S. man will appear in Sunday’s final and reviving talk of the first American men’s major champion since 2003.
- The match highlighted the strain of late-night Grand Slam scheduling as multiple long matches pushed play past 3 a.m., raising questions about player fatigue and recovery for the remainder of the tournament.