Ben Shelton is the latest star player at the U.S. Open to work the late, late-night shift — and win.
Shelton, the No. 8 seed, outlasted a pesky Denis Shapovalov 7-6 (3), 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4 in the third round of the U.S. Open on Friday night — and into early Saturday morning — at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The match ended at 2:07 a.m., and it was the record third match of the tournament to end after 2 a.m.
Shelton made it to the fourth round at the U.S. Open for the first time since 2023, a year he reached the semifinals.
On Sunday, he will face a resurgent Stefanos Tsitsipas, who defeated No. 18 seed Jirie Lehecka, 2-6, 6-1, 7-6 (3), 6-1.
The 23-year-old American star rode his big serve to another victory.
He had 14 aces, including a a 147 mph serve down the T during the match that lasted 3 hours, 22 minutes.
The Shelton-Shapovalov match didn’t star until around 10:45 p.m. because Serena and Venus put on a show despite dropping a 6-3, 6-7(6), 7-6(7) to Maya Joint and Chan Hao-ching.
“We waited around for three hours, and when we thought that them putting doubles there would maybe just be an hour,” the No. 8 seed told reporters after the match. “So that was hard to deal with. The first set was rough, and then serving for it twice in the second, giving that up, is just unacceptable.
“Not an easy night. Nowhere near my best. I got through it.”
