Carlos Alcaraz’s US Open campaign finished in painful fashion after he lost a deciding 10-point tie-break to Ben Shelton. The match stretched deep into the New York night, ending at 4:33am, and brought an abrupt close to Alcaraz’s first event back from injury.

Despite the concern surrounding his wrist, Alcaraz still produced a strong run through the tournament. In the end, though, Shelton’s pace and power proved decisive, denying the Spaniard a place in the next round.

Laura Robson felt Alcaraz’s lack of match fitness played a major role in the outcome, particularly after four and a half months away from competition. Speaking on Sky Sports Tennis about the Shelton-Alcaraz contest, she praised the way Alcaraz handled the defeat.

“He had such a great perspective, talking to the media after the loss. You can tell from the reaction after the match, and also the walk back to the locker room, he just had the biggest smile on his face because he’s missed this kind of competition so much,” said Robson.

Robson added that the physical demands of the match were a key factor in the result.

“I think this was a real test physically. You could tell that he was rusty in certain aspects of the match and going toe-to-toe for four and a half hours, it looked like he was tired which we never usually see from him.

“So I’m sure that gives him extra motivation to get back into the gym, get back onto the practice court. But if that’s your first tournament back after four months, you’re in a Grand Slam quarter final, playing this kind of match-up, you’ll take it.”

Alcaraz has already confirmed his next two events. He will appear at the Laver Cup in London from 25 to 27 September before heading to the Japan Open five days later. He is the defending champion there, which means more ranking pressure awaits at the ATP 500 event.

Because he won the US Open last year, Alcaraz has dropped 1600 ranking points after exiting at the quarter-final stage. If Shelton goes on to win the title, the Spaniard will fall to world No 4, a position he has not occupied since the 2021 season.

Ben Shelton delivered a career-defining victory at the US Open, beating Carlos Alcaraz for the first time in an epic five-set match. It was one of the finest performances of Shelton’s career and underlined the American’s status as one of the standout players at Flushing Meadows this season.

Shelton’s serve once again proved decisive against the world No. 3, allowing him to control key moments in a match that stretched deep into the tournament. Before this result, he had never defeated a player ranked inside the ATP top three, and the win also snapped a three-match losing streak against Alcaraz.

The result has made Shelton a strong favourite to go all the way on home soil, and it has added fresh weight to Rod Laver’s prediction from 2023. In that social media post, made when Shelton was only 20, Laver expressed confidence that the American would become a Grand Slam champion.

“ Shelton is the new player on the Tour. We’re going to see him winning a Slam,” said Laver, which now looks especially relevant with Shelton into the semi finals of the US Open.

Shelton is the second highest ranked player still in the draw, behind Alexander Zverev, and his next challenge is a semi-final meeting with compatriot Frances Tiafoe. Laver was also clear about what impressed him most in Shelton’s game, pointing to the serve, his left-handed power and his willingness to attack when openings appear.

“He’s got one of the biggest serves, a big left-hander, he doesn’t make many mistakes,” listed of Laver. “He sees and opening and he goes for it.”

Shelton has been close to a major breakthrough for several seasons. He has won two Masters titles, both at the Canadian Open, and has reached the latter stages of three of the four Grand Slams. He was a US Open semi-finalist in 2023, fell in the Australian Open semi finals in 2025, and also reached his best Wimbledon result in 2025, before losing to Sinner.

With Sinner and Novak Djokovic no longer in the US Open this year, Shelton now has a clear chance to chase the major title Laver foresaw years ago.

Ben Shelton’s US Open run took a major turn as he finally solved Carlos Alcaraz in their quarterfinal meeting in New York. Coming in, Shelton had lost all three of their previous matches and had managed just one set against the Spaniard. This time, he changed that pattern in emphatic fashion, winning in five sets to book a semifinal against compatriot Frances Tiafoe.

The result gives Shelton a real opening at a Slam he has looked increasingly dangerous in throughout the tournament. With Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic, and now Alcaraz all eliminated, the draw has opened in a way Shelton could hardly have imagined before the event began. He has been one of the standout performers at Flushing Meadows this year, and the opportunity now in front of him is the clearest he has had at Grand Slam level.

Rennae Stubbs was quick to highlight what she saw as a key difference in Shelton’s approach against Alcaraz. Writing on X, the Australian Grand Slam champion said: “The look in Ben’s face in the match was different. It was a look of complete focus, almost like he knew he couldnt get to excited when he was winning or had won points.

“We are so used to his excitement all the time, it was different last night,” she continued. “Destiny? Maybe…but what a match.”

Her only concern now is how Shelton will recover physically, after not leaving the court until close to 4am. “Finishing at 3:30am is bonkers and I hope like hell Ben can recover,” said Stubbs, while also defending the scheduling. “The question is, on this one, how could it have avoided? Every match went the distance! Sadly this is tennis for you. It was arguably the greatest match day in tennis history & to the crowd that stayed until 3:30am, bravo!”

Shelton’s semifinal against Tiafoe is set for Friday, 11th September, giving him an extra day to recover. He will also have an eye on Wednesday’s quarterfinals, where Alexander Zverev faces Botic van de Zandschulp and Karen Khachanov meets Alexander Blockx. Shelton and Zverev remain the top seeds left, but this tournament has already shown how quickly the picture can change.