American tennis has hope again

Optimism about American men's tennis is at a high not seen since Andy Roddick won the U.S. Open in 2003. Shelton plays the Sunday final in New York.

Meet the Florida southpaw

Ben Shelton, a big-serving lefty from Gainesville, won national team and singles titles at the University of Florida in 2021 and 2022. He faces top seed Alexander Zverev.

The head-to-head is ugly

Zverev, the reigning French Open champion and Wimbledon runner-up, is 5-0 against Shelton. Shelton has won exactly one set off him on tour.

The last three finals were formalities

Agassi in 2005 and Roddick in 2006 both ran into peak Federer. Fritz met Jannik Sinner in 2024 and lost in straight sets. Nobody really expected otherwise.

This run already sticks

Shelton beat defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in a five-set quarterfinal that ended at 3:33 a.m., the latest finish in tournament history, on a 10-point fifth-set tiebreaker.

First since Arthur Ashe

By beating close friend Frances Tiafoe in four sets, Shelton became the first Black American man in a U.S. Open final since Ashe in 1972, and the first in any Slam final since MaliVai Washington in 1996.

He did not crack

A late double fault handed Tiafoe the first set. Shelton broke straight back, won a 15-minute game in the third, and finished with 20 aces to Tiafoe's three.

A crowd and a foil

Serena Williams, Nicole Kidman and Jalen Brunson watched from Ashe. Zverev stays divisive over past domestic violence allegations he denies, which makes uniting behind Shelton easy.

“Let's do this for the USA”

Shelton is not carrying it

Told a lot was riding on Sunday, he laughed and asked "Is there?" He says he is a different player now, with more tools and a clearer sense of who he is.

“Confidence and belief take over.”