Ben Shelton makes first US Open final after outdueling Frances Tiafoe

NEW YORK — Ben Shelton won the All-American battle against Frances Tiafoe in the US Open semifinals, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-5, setting up a potential breakthrough that could end a Grand Slam drought that has lasted more than two decades.

Playing in the backdrop of the tributes and ceremonies honoring the fallen victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks 25 years ago, the two players – Shelton, who was born in Georgia and raised in Florida, and Tiafoe, from Maryland – gave a packed and enthusiastic crowd of 24,000 at Arthur Ashe Stadium what they came to see: an entertaining, yet sometimes sloppy match filled with incredible rallies and lethal forehands.

Shelton is the first Black American man to reach a US Open singles final since Ashe in 1972 and the first Black American man to reach any Grand Slam singles final since MaliVai Washington in 1996 at Wimbledon.

There was no match point trademark "dialed-in" celebration this time by Shelton after he finished off Tiafoe, as the No. 11 seed double-faulted in the net, ending the 3-hour, 17-minute duel.

“First on Foe, he’s like a big brother to me, to be honest," Shelton said in his on-court interview after…

Original source: https://www.usatoday.com/sports/