Updated

Updated · Andscape · Sep 10

Tiafoe, Shelton Set 1st All-Black American US Open Semifinal, Ending 58-Year Wait

Updated

Updated · Andscape · Sep 10

Tiafoe, Shelton Set 1st All-Black American US Open Semifinal, Ending 58-Year Wait

Q: After surviving a historic 3:30 a.m. marathon, can Shelton overcome exhaustion to break a 50-year American tennis drought?

Yes — Shelton can, but recovery will be the decisive factor. The encouraging part for Shelton is that his semifinal is not until Friday, giving him more than a day to reset after the 3:33 a.m. finish. In tennis terms, that is not ideal, but it is enough time for a 23-year-old with his physical profile to recover if there is no injury. His win over Carlos Alcaraz also suggested he still had enough explosiveness late, closing the match in a deciding super tiebreak with 146 mph serving and strong movement. There are real reasons for caution. Former players and current stars have warned that these overnight finishes disrupt sleep, meals, treatment and training routines. Shelton himself called the match “a war,” and recovery does not begin when the handshake happens; players still have cooldown, media duties and nutrition afterward. That can leave the body and mind flat two days later. The matchup with Frances Tiafoe is also not simple. Tiafoe had his own nearly five-hour quarterfinal, but he finished earlier and has extensive semifinal experience at Flushing Meadows. Shelton does lead their head-to-head 3-1 and beat Tiafoe at the 2023 U.S. Open, which is a meaningful edge. If Shelton manages the turnaround, he has a genuine opening not only to reach the final but to push toward ending the long American men’s major drought, which dates to Andy Roddick’s 2003 U.S. Open title. The marathon has made his path harder, not impossible.

3 articles · Updated · Andscape · Sep 10

Friday’s semifinal between Frances Tiafoe, 28, and Ben Shelton, 23, will be the first all-African American men’s semifinal in US Open history and guarantees a Black American in Sunday’s final.
Tuesday’s quarterfinal wins created the matchup: Tiafoe outlasted Alex Michelsen in five sets, and Shelton stunned Carlos Alcaraz in another five-set match that ended after 3 a.m.
A title by either player would make him the first Black American man to win the US Open since Arthur Ashe took the inaugural Open-era tournament in 1968, ending a 58-year drought.
Both arrive with unfinished semifinal business—Tiafoe lost in five sets in the 2022 and 2024 US Open semis, while Shelton fell in straight sets in his first two Grand Slam semifinals.
Beyond the result, the matchup underscores how two titleless but highly popular Americans have become central figures in men’s tennis, carrying both fan momentum and the sport’s Black historical legacy.