Ben Shelton Becomes First Black Man In US Open Finals In 54 Years After Beating Frances Tiafoe

After a battle between Americans Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe, Shelton reigned supreme and will move on to the finals Sunday night.

The 23-year-old won the fight against the man he calls “big brother” in four sets, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-5, in three hours and 27 minutes of play. 

Tiafoe did win the first set, but then the tables turned for the next three thanks to Shelton’s dominating serve. As evidence, he had 20 aces, compared to Tiafoe’s three. 

Despite his overpowering play, even he was nervous to play on home turf.

“It’s not easy, playing here on Arthur Ashe,” Shelton said post-match. “You’re playing in front of all your favorite athletes and movie stars. So to be able to keep your head down and focus for over three hours is not an easy task. I keep looking up at the screen like, ‘Oh, shoot, Jalen Brunson’s here.’”

Shelton arrived in the finals after some tough, hard-fought battles, defeating Tallon Griekspoor, Hubert Hurkacz, Denis Shapovalov, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and the now-famous five-set match against Carlos Alcaraz that ended at 3 a.m. and lasted four and a half hours. 

Tiafoe’s climb started much easier, with three-set wins over Martin Damm, Rei Sakamoto, Valentin Vacherot and Daniil Medvedev. 

His quarterfinal match against Alex Michelsen was action-packed as he rallied back from being down two sets, and the match epically lasted 10 minutes longer than Shelton’s, at 4 hours and 38 minutes.

But in the end, it didn’t matter if Tiafoe or Shelton won. 

First, they made history, as the match marked the first time two black men faced off in the US Open semifinals. So no matter which end of the court was victorious, the winner would be the first Black American man in the US Open finals in more than half a century.

The last time it happened was in 1972, when Arthur Ashe made his last finals appearance and lost in five sets to Romania’s Ilie Năstase.

For now, Ashe still holds the title of the only Black man to win a Grand Slam title, and he won his first US Open title in 1968 after defeating Tom Okker of the Netherlands.

Now, Shelton has a chance to win it all as he prepares to go against Germany’s Alexander Zverev, who won the French Open, Sunday night.

He alluded to the final match last night, telling the Queens, NY, crowd, “I’m going for it here, and I’m going to leave it all on the court. I hope you guys come and back me. Let’s do it for the USA.”

But see how social media is reacting to his semifinal win against Big Foe below.