Ben Shelton withstood fellow American Frances Tiafoe in a hard-fought US Open semifinal Friday night to reach his first career Grand Slam final.
The No. 8 seed dropped the first set before quickly rebounding for a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 victory in Flushing Meadows.
Shelton will meet No. 1 seed Alexander Zverev in Sunday's championship match at Arthur Ashe Stadium (2 p.m. ET).
The 23-year-old, who'll once again be spurred on by raucous home support, is looking to become the first American man to capture a major singles title since Andy Roddick in 2003.
"I'm going to need you guys (in Sunday's final) to bring the energy," Shelton told an adoring crowd following Friday's win over his compatriot and good friend Tiafoe. "I'm going for it here. I'm going to leave it all on the court. ... Let's do this for the USA."
Ben's biggest moment has arrived! pic.twitter.com/kBUBCxJV6U
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 12, 2026
Zverev, who ended a drought of his own by finally claiming his first major crown at this year's French Open, will be appearing in his third Grand Slam title match of 2026.
"Hopefully I can not make the American dream come true on Sunday," Zverev said after beating Karen Khachanov in straight sets earlier on Friday and improving his major record to 24-2 this year.
Both Shelton and Tiafoe came through thrilling - and grueling - quarterfinal tests to reach the final four. Shelton beat Carlos Alcaraz in a record-breaking marathon that finished at 3:33 a.m. ET, while Tiafoe roared back from two sets down to beat another American, Alex Michelsen, in five sets.
Shelton looked the fresher and fitter of the two men as Friday's semifinal progressed, consistently putting Tiafoe under pressure with huge returns - especially on second serves - and heavy hitting from the baseline; Tiafoe battled hard just to hold serve in multiple games during the decisive fourth set, but eventually gave way with a double fault on match point.
Shelton also delivered 20 aces, and his booming first serve came in at a 75% clip for the match.
He'll need to maintain that level against Zverev, another big-serving star who has arguably been the most consistent player on tour this season.
Zverev is a perfect 5-0 in his career against Shelton, and has dropped only one set in their head-to-head meetings thus far.
