NEW YORK — Ben Shelton ended Carlos Alcaraz’s U.S. Open title defense in the latest-finishing match in tournament history, winning 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6(10-7) in a quarterfinal that wrapped at 3:33 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026, Reuters and CBS News reported.

The No. 8 seed’s first career win over a top-three player sets up an all-American semifinal Friday against No. 11 Frances Tiafoe — guaranteeing a U.S. man in Sunday’s final for the first time since Andy Roddick won the title in 2003.

Play on Arthur Ashe Stadium started just after 11 p.m. Tuesday after earlier matches ran long. Alcaraz, returning from a nearly five-month wrist layoff, took a tight first-set tiebreak. Shelton then seized control, winning the next two sets before Alcaraz forced a fifth. During the break before the decider, Alcaraz vomited into a towel; he still pushed Shelton to a fifth-set tiebreak before the American closed it with a 146 mph ace after four hours and 28 minutes.

“For me it’s always about the people in the crowd,” Shelton said afterward. “Whether it’s my coaches and my team there, all my family and friends here, or the city of New York that showed up tonight till 3 a.m. with the USA chants until the very end. That’s what kept me going, and that’s what got me this win tonight.”

Alcaraz had been 13-0 in Grand Slam matches against American men entering the night. Shelton had lost all three prior meetings with the Spaniard and had never previously beaten a top-three player. He next faces Tiafoe, who outlasted Alex Michelsen in five sets Tuesday.

Sources