Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe dragged American men’s tennis into the small hours and straight back into the spotlight.
After a wild, sleepless night at Flushing Meadows, the U.S. Open has its guarantee: an American man will walk out for Sunday’s final at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The only question is which one.
Epic night, historic stakes
Tiafoe lit the fuse first on Tuesday, clawing his way back from the brink against fellow American Alex Michelsen in a five-set epic that felt like it would never end. Down two sets, misfiring, and staring at the exit, he turned the match on its head to win 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (10-6) in nearly five hours.
He didn’t breeze through it. He survived it.
Then came Shelton, and the night flipped from dramatic to downright surreal.
Facing defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, the No. 8 seed refused to fold when the match swung wildly in both directions. He dropped the first set in a tiebreak, roared through the next two, was hammered in the fourth, and then held his nerve in a deciding-set tiebreak that ended at 3:30 a.m. Wednesday — the latest finish in U.S. Open history.
Shelton’s 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6(10-7) victory didn’t just knock out the reigning champion. It cracked the draw wide open.
On Friday, Shelton and Tiafoe will face each other in an all-American semifinal, No. 8 against No. 11, youth against experience, two shot-makers who play with swagger and intent.
The stakes go far beyond a place in the final.
According to ESPN, the winner will become the first Black American man to reach a U.S. Open final since Arthur Ashe in 1972, and the first Black American man to reach any Grand Slam singles final since 1996. That’s not just a line in a record book. It’s a generational marker.
The match will also push against another long-running drought. The last American man to contest the U.S. Open final was Taylor Fritz in 2024. The last to win this title was Andy Roddick in 2003. For a country that once dominated men’s tennis, those numbers have hung over every promising run.
Now, one of Shelton or Tiafoe will get a swing at changing that on Sunday.
American women still in the hunt
The surge isn’t limited to the men’s draw.
On the women’s side, two Americans are still alive and chasing their own storylines in New York.
Coco Gauff, the reigning U.S. Open champion and the last American woman to lift the singles trophy after her 2023 triumph, is scheduled to face Russia’s Mirra Andreeva in a quarterfinal on Wednesday. Her title defense has carried an air of expectation, not surprise; this is now her territory, her court, her fortnight to protect.
Jessica Pegula is already through to the semifinals. She punched her ticket on Tuesday night, outlasting fellow American Emma Navarro in a three-set quarterfinal that underlined her resilience and big-match composure.
Pegula’s reward is as tough as it gets: a showdown with No. 1 seed and defending champion Aryna Sabalenka on Thursday. Beat the top seed, and she steps into the biggest final of her career on home soil.
The schedule now builds toward a crescendo. The women’s singles final will be played on Saturday, Sept. 12, with the men’s final to follow on Sunday, Sept. 13. The 2026 U.S. Open is airing on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC, with The Walt Disney Co. serving as the parent company of ESPN and ABC News.
By then, the picture will be clear. An American woman could be defending a crown. An American man will definitely be taking his shot at ending a 23-year title wait.
And somewhere in that electric New York noise, either Ben Shelton or Frances Tiafoe will walk out knowing they’re carrying more than just their own ambitions onto the court.
