Shelton, Ben (2002- )

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    Australian Open: Ben Shelton, the American With the Blinding Serve, Returns

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    He made a splash at last year’s event, reaching the quarterfinals, and went on to have a breakout season.It all started with a simple text message that, if Bryan Shelton’s memory serves him, went something like this:“That coulda got really interesting,” wrote his then-20-year-old son, Ben, moments after he won a fifth-set tiebreaker against Zhizhen Zhang at last year’s Australian Open, clinching that first-round match.Had it not been for that win, in a match that began in the morning and ended at night under the lights, during which Shelton survived a heat postponement, a rain delay and a match point, he might never have had the breakout season that he had last year.“Not sure I remember it that way, because it did get kind of interesting,” said Shelton by phone shortly after he and his father traveled to Brisbane, Australia, from their Florida home in late December to begin the 2024 season with a pre-Australian Open warm-up tournament. Shelton did, however, recall the unreturnable serve he hit at 4-5, 30-40 down in the fifth set.Shelton left last year’s Australian Open, his first trip abroad, as a quarterfinalist after succumbing to his friend and fellow American Tommy Paul. By season’s end, Shelton had reached the semifinals at the United States Open alongside the world’s top three players — Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev — and cracked the ATP’s top 15. The young American had begun 2023, his first full year on tour, ranked barely inside the top 100.Shelton is still very much a work in progress. Despite a serve that topped out at 149 m.p.h. at last year’s U.S. Open, he struggled trying to adapt to clay and grass courts. It is something that he and his father, who left as head coach at the University of Florida last spring to coach his son full time, have worked on diligently during the off-season.“The biggest thing for him is movement,” said Bryan Shelton, a tour player mostly in the 1990s. “It’s efficiency, being more balanced. The men’s game today is all about the serve and return and creating opportunities to come forward, which Ben can do.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber?  More

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      In Tennis, Bookends of Drama in 2023

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      The year was full of unlikely winners and exciting team competitions.There was no champagne courtside. So, as Matteo Berrettini embraced Jannik Sinner after Sinner’s victory over Alex de Minaur last month to clinch Italy’s first Davis Cup title in 47 years, their teammate, Matteo Arnaldi, did the next best thing: He shook a water bottle and poured it over Sinner and Berrettini.Sinner, 22, ended the season with his 20th win in his last 23 matches. This year, he had a 64-15 record, won four tournaments, reached the semifinals at Wimbledon and was runner-up at the ATP Finals in Turin, Italy. He had wins over the three top-ranked players — Novak Djokovic, whom he beat twice in two weeks, Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev. Starting 2023 at No. 15, he ended it at No. 4.Djokovic sorely wanted to lead Serbia to just its second Davis Cup title. But in the semifinals, he fell to Sinner after squandering three match points and then teamed with Miomir Kecmanovic to lose the deciding doubles match to Sinner and Lorenzo Sonego. The loss sent Italy into the final, where it beat Australia.Jannik Sinner helped clinch Italy’s first Davis Cup title in 47 years this year. He also had a 64-15 record and won four tournaments.Jorge Guerrero/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesDjokovic was devastated by the defeat.“For me, personally, it’s a huge disappointment because I take the responsibility, obviously having three match points, being so close to win it,” he said after the match. “When you lose for your country, you know, the bitter feeling is even greater.”It is ironic that the season began and ended with exciting conclusions at the men’s and women’s team competitions. The Davis Cup and the Billie Jean King Cup have been under siege in recent years as many of the game’s top players, including Alcaraz, Taylor Fritz, Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula, shunned the historically heart-thumping, pride-producing finals because of scheduling conflicts. The U.S. women lost early in the finals, and the U.S. men didn’t even qualify as one of the top eight teams.Still, despite the player defections and a merry-go-round of format changes, both competitions provided some of the most striking moments of the year.Leylah Fernandez’s five wins helped lead Canada to its first-ever Billie Jean King Cup.Raul Caro/EPA, via ShutterstockLeylah Fernandez rode a wave of patriotic passion, winning five matches to lead Canada to its first Billie Jean King Cup. Her teammate, then-18-year-old Marina Stakusic, who had never won a WTA Tour match, became an overnight star when she won three matches against opponents ranked in the top 70.If 2022 was billed as the season of King Carlos when Alcaraz went from No. 32 to No. 1 on the strength of his U.S. Open championship, then this season mostly belonged to Djokovic.He is considered by many in the game as the greatest player ever. The statistics prove it.At 36, Djokovic had one of the best seasons of his career. For the third time since 2015, he reached the finals at all four majors, falling just shy of attaining the Grand Slam.In January, a year after being removed from Australia because of his refusal to be vaccinated against Covid-19, Djokovic returned to Melbourne Park and captured a record 10th Australian Open title by defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final. With the 14-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal injured for most of the season, Djokovic won his third French Open in June by beating Alcaraz and Casper Ruud.After falling to Alcaraz in a scintillating five-set Wimbledon final, Djokovic bounced back and beat Medvedev at the U.S. Open to earn his 24th major, surpassing Serena Williams. He is now just one win away from breaking the men’s and women’s major record held by Margaret Court for 50 years.Djokovic captured his record 10th Australian Open by defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final.Quinn Rooney/Getty ImagesIn all, Djokovic played just 12 tournaments in 2023 and he won seven of them. He did not lose from mid-July until mid-November, when he fell to Sinner during the round-robin portion of the ATP Finals. He then beat Sinner in the final after assuring the year-end No. 1 ranking for a record-extending eighth time.Alcaraz, who won six titles in 2023 on three different surfaces and reached the semifinals at the French and U.S. Opens, in addition to his Wimbledon win, ended the year ranked No. 2. But he was candid after he lost to Djokovic in the semifinals in Turin.“I am not at his level on an indoor court,” Alcaraz, 20, said in November. “He has shown why he is the best player in the world. I have to practice more to be a better player.”With his 66 wins, Medvedev led the ATP in match victories. He won 19 straight, and reached the finals at Indian Wells and the Miami Open, which he won. He also won at Rome and reached the semifinals at Wimbledon and was runner-up to Djokovic at the U.S. Open. He ended the year ranked No. 3.Two upstart players — the Americans Ben Shelton and Chris Eubanks — used their wide grins and whopping forehands to envelop the sport in a giant bear hug. Shelton, about two years away from leading the University of Florida to an N.C.A.A. championship, reached the quarterfinals at the Australian Open. He then reached the semifinals at the U.S. Open before falling to Djokovic. Eubanks, another former collegian, upset Cameron Norrie and Tsitsipas to reach the quarterfinals at Wimbledon.There was no shortage of compelling story lines among the women. Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka spent the season battling for tour supremacy.Sabalenka, only a year removed from serving woes so severe that she resorted to serving underhand during matches, won her first major at the Australian Open, a day she called the “best of my life.” She grabbed the No. 1 ranking after reaching the U.S. Open final.“It was amazing to see Sabalenka, who was basically laughed off that same court a year earlier, confront those demons and take responsibility,” Lindsay Davenport, three-time major winner and former No. 1, said by telephone last month.Swiatek took her third French Open and won six titles. But she faltered at both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open before regrouping by the WTA Finals, snatching the year-end No. 1 from Sabalenka by beating her and Pegula to take the title. Pegula, for her part, was one of just two players, along with No. 4 Elena Rybakina, to notch multiple wins over Swiatek this season.Marketa Vondrousova, who endured long stretches away from the game because of two wrist surgeries, became the first unseeded women’s Wimbledon winner when she beat Ons Jabeur in the final.Coco Gauff, 19, beat Aryna Sabalenka in three sets to win the U.S. Open.Hiroko Masuike/The New York TimesBut it was Gauff and her wise-beyond-her-years attitude who transcended the sport in a way that only Williams has done. When Gauff, 19, beat Sabalenka in three sets to win the U.S. Open, the nontennis world, including the former first lady Michelle Obama, went wild. In her acceptance speech, Gauff, who had struggled early in the season, addressed her doubters.“Thank you to the people who didn’t believe in me,” Gauff said. “To those who thought they were putting water on my fire, you were really adding gas to it.”It was the kind of bold statement that left even former major winners stunned. One of them was Davenport, who admitted to having tears run down her face while she did match commentary on television.“To me, the story of the year was Coco,” Davenport said. “Players come along once in a generation. When you have all the expectations on you at 12 and 15 years old and you are able to handle everything and then elevate your game to win, then you really are truly something special.” More

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      The Laver Cup Underlines a Generational Shift in Tennis

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      Young players are stepping up as some older ones fade. Even Roger Federer, the event’s father, has retired.Coming into this year’s U.S. Open, Ben Shelton felt that he had something to prove. But it didn’t have anything to do with the final major championship of the year, where he reached the semifinals before falling to the eventual winner, Novak Djokovic.Instead, Shelton thought he had to justify his inclusion on the six-man Team World in the Laver Cup, an elite competition that begins Friday at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia.“When the announcement first came out, I saw all these comments on Instagram, like, ‘Why did you take him? Why? Why this guy? There’s so many higher-ranked players,’” said Shelton, who entered the U.S. Open at No. 47 in the world but is now No. 19 because of his semifinal finish in New York. “I wanted to show people that maybe I deserved to be on the team.”The Laver Cup began in Prague in 2017 and trades continents each year between Europe and North America. Team Europe, captained by Bjorn Borg, who won 11 majors, features Andrey Rublev, Casper Ruud, Hubert Hurkacz, Gaël Monfils, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Arthur Fils. John McEnroe, who won seven major singles titles, is captain of Team World. His players are Shelton, Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe, Tommy Paul, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Francisco Cerundolo.Last year’s event in London was noteworthy because it featured Roger Federer’s final match before retirement. His greatest rivals, Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray, all showed up to honor him. His last match, a doubles loss with his teammate Nadal to Tiafoe and Jack Sock, was a tearful tribute to the 20-time major champion.This year’s Laver Cup represents a generational shift in the sport. Federer has retired, and Nadal, 37, has not played an ATP match since the Australian Open in January because of injuries.Murray, at age 36, is not the player he was when he captured the U.S. Open in 2012, Wimbledon in 2013 and 2016, and became world No. 1 in 2016. And Djokovic, who won his 24th major at the U.S. Open less than two weeks ago and is the current No. 1, is focusing on winning another major.“The end of an era heralds the beginning of a new one,” said Rod Laver — the player for whom the competition is named — who was part of his own generation’s rivalries with Ken Rosewall, John Newcombe, Arthur Ashe and Jan Kodes, among others. “Today’s leading younger players are jockeying for pole position, and we’ll get to see them competing in a team setting in Vancouver, which weaves the eras together.”Bjorn Borg, left, is the captain of Team Europe, and John McEnroe leads Team World.Andrew Boyers/Action Images, via ReutersMcEnroe, who had his own spirited rivalries with Borg, Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl throughout the 1970s and ’80s, lamented that the Laver Cup had not generated the same appeal among the players as the Ryder Cup, the team event in golf.“The goal was to make it like golf’s Ryder Cup, where everyone was waiting until the last minute to see who was hottest, but everyone was available,” McEnroe said. “It doesn’t seem to be the case now. It’s tougher to get everyone committed.”Carlos Alcaraz, the reigning Wimbledon champ and world No. 2, has declined to play, as has the U.S. Open runner-up and the world No. 3, Daniil Medvedev. But six of the next 11 ranked players are competing this year, and three others, Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alex de Minaur, have played in the past.This year, Team Europe will play without its powerful core of Federer, Nadal, Murray, Djokovic, Alcaraz and Medvedev. Winners in each of the first four years, the Europeans lost on the last day last year when Team World’s Auger-Aliassime beat Djokovic and Tiafoe outlasted Tsitsipas.Paul, who beat Alcaraz in a tournament in Canada this summer but then lost to Shelton at the U.S. Open, said he was keenly aware of the void left by the Big Four.“It’s definitely a big loss for tennis in general, not just Laver Cup,” he said. “It obviously gives us a pretty good opportunity.”Fritz, who last year won his only Laver Cup singles match, acknowledged the generational shift.“I think times are definitely changing,” said Fritz, who is the top-ranked American at No. 8. “It’s going to be a really different Laver Cup this year with how Team Europe is made up.”Tiafoe, who lost in the U.S. Open quarterfinals to Shelton, agreed.“Yeah, it’s generational,” Tiafoe said during the Open. “I think the fans are going to appreciate the new faces. Tennis is at a great place; the level is getting better and better.”“When I was watching on TV, I was thinking, the way they are so excited, it’s not real,” Andrey Rublev said. “But when you get there, you want to win. You get with the team, you start to feel the support, and you don’t want to let them down.”Mike Stobe/Getty ImagesBefore he first played in 2021, Rublev was skeptical of the event, which awards no ATP ranking points.“When I was watching on TV, I was thinking, the way they are so excited, it’s not real,” he said. “But when you get there, you want to win. You get with the team, you start to feel the support, and you don’t want to let them down.”Fritz is also aware of the camaraderie of the team competition that is so rare in tennis. Last year, members of Team Europe watched a doubles practice session between Federer and Nadal and Murray and Djokovic. Both teams sat intently on the sidelines during each match, cheering and giving coaching advice.In tennis, when you win, Fritz said during the U.S. Open, “you don’t really have people to celebrate with and have fun with. Winning last year, I felt like that was one of the top moments of my tennis career because we were able to celebrate with a group of my close friends.”Seismic movements in tennis are nothing new. After Laver and his rivals, and Borg-McEnroe-Connors-Lendl, came Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Jim Courier and Michael Chang. Each time an era ends, there are those who feel that there can never be one as great.Then came Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray. And now Alcaraz has emerged to challenge Djokovic, as have other talented young players.Shelton, who turns 21 next month, is one of them. A former player at the University of Florida, he helped the Gators to the 2021 N.C.A.A. team championship. He then won the N.C.A.A. singles title the next year before leaving school and turning pro last year.At the Open this year, Shelton became the youngest American man to reach the semifinals since Chang did in 1992. For Shelton, the Laver Cup has a special attraction.“I’m pretty pumped to be in the team atmosphere,” he said at the U.S. Open. “First team competition I’ve been part of since I left college. I’m going to be just as amped and emotional in Vancouver as I was here.” More

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      At the U.S. Open, Coco Gauff and Company Stake Their Claim

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      Last year’s U.S. Open focused on goodbyes. This year, Gauff, the new singles champion, along with Ben Shelton, Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz, burst through the front door with plans to stay.Led by Coco Gauff and a cast of charismatic upstarts, tennis hit a sweet spot at this year’s U.S. Open with a diverse blend of old and right now, signaling the game is freshly and firmly energized as it enters a new era.No Serena Williams. No Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal.No problem.True enough, Novak Djokovic, who won the 24th major title of his career on Sunday by beating Daniil Medvedev in the men’s singles final, is still performing his magic act. But conventional thinking contended that tennis would be in trouble when the legendary champions who propped up the professional game for roughly the past two decades began leaving the game en masse.At this tournament, the commanding arrival of Gauff, who won the women’s singles title Saturday evening, along with memorable performances by Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe, proved that thinking wrong.At the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, a quartet of legends no longer stifled the game, overshadowing the sometimes stalled forward motion of the young players coming behind. You could feel it on the grounds, which filled with so many spectators that it often appeared there was no space to move without bruising a shoulder. This year’s event set attendance records nearly every day.“It’s incredibly invigorating to see a shift in personalities,” said Kate Koza, a Brooklynite and regular at the Open since 2016, echoing a sentiment I heard repeatedly during the event’s two-week run. “We’re not just seeing the same faces with the same mythical back story.”Tennis is changing, and no player embodied that more than the 19-year-old Gauff, who, ever since she burst onto the scene four years ago with a first-round win over Venus Williams at Wimbledon, appeared destined for this moment.Gauff overcome with emotion after beating Aryna Sabalenka in the women’s singles final.Michelle V. Agins/The New York TimesIn these two weeks at the U.S. Open, she grew entirely into herself. Her dutiful parents — ever at her side all these years on tour, with her father as coach — gave her extra freedom and fell just enough into the background. Gauff thrived, making clear that she is now her own woman. Think of how she demanded that her new coach, Brad Gilbert, tone down his chatterbox instructions during her fourth-round struggle against Caroline Wozniacki.“Please stop,” she instructed, adding a firmness that showed she was the one to dictate her action at this event. “Stop talking!”At Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens, she commanded the stage.She leaned into her speed and improving forehand to win four three-set showdowns during the tournament and played like a wily veteran in the most heart-pounding moments.She gained energy from the crowd — look, there’s Barack and Michelle Obama, and over there, Justin Bieber. “I saw pretty much every celebrity they showed on that screen,” she said, adding that she embraced the moment and vowed “to win in front of these people.”As she scorched a final passing shot past Aryna Sabalenka to take the title, falling to her back and then kneeling to soak in the moment through tears, Gauff claimed eternal space in the collective memory. Watching from a dozen rows back from center court, I felt goose bumps and shivers. The massive stadium shook and swayed, most of the 23,000 fans inside the stadium on their feet, cheering and chanting. They wanted this moment, this champion, this fresh start.Since Serena Williams won her first major title as a 17-year-old at the 1999 U.S. Open, the Open has had other Black champions. Her sister Venus in 2000 and 2001. Sloane Stephens in 2017. Naomi Osaka, who is Black and Asian, in 2018 and 2020.But Gauff is the first in a new era — a new champion in a new tennis world — one without the shadow of Serena. The torch has been passed.Sure, most fans hated to see the men’s No. 1 seed, Carlos Alcaraz, the Wimbledon champion, go down in an upset to Medvedev in the semifinals. The dream matchup had been a championship between Alcaraz and Djokovic, possessors of the hottest rivalry in men’s tennis.But if we’ve learned anything from the lockdown grip four genius players have had on tennis, it is that the expected course eventually becomes monotonous. Look at it this way: If Djokovic and Alcaraz finally face each other at the U.S. Open, the fact that they were barely denied a Flushing Meadows duel in 2023 will make their matchup that much sweeter.Last year’s U.S. Open, with its send-off celebration of Serena’s retirement and career, turned the page. This year’s tournament closed the book and put it back on the shelf.Ben Shelton’s sensational run at the U.S. Open lasted into the semifinals, where he lost to Novak Djokovic.Maansi Srivastava/The New York TimesYou could feel the exuberance in the air from the start, an energy that told a story: Djokovic remains — same as ever — but everyone else in the two fields seemed liberated by losing the shadow of Serena, Nadal and Federer.The men’s quarterfinals featured not only Alcaraz but two resurgent Americans in their mid-20s, Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe, a fan favorite for his willingness to connect with the crowd.As if to herald the fact that Black players are a budding, booming force in both the men’s and women’s game, Tiafoe and Shelton became the first African American men to face each other in the final eight of a major championship.That wasn’t the only notable footnote. The fast-rising Shelton, 20, was the youngest American to reach a U.S. Open semifinal since 1992. He walloped Tiafoe to get there, wowing crowds with 149-mile-per-hour serves and in-your-face competitiveness that showed he wouldn’t back away from any challenge — even if that challenge was Djokovic.After beating Shelton in a hard-fought, straight-sets win to advance to the men’s final, Djokovic mimicked the celebratory gesture Shelton had flashed throughout the tournament after victory — an imaginary phone to the ear, which he then slammed down, as if to say, “Game, set, match, conversation over.”The wise master remains, still willing to give an education to the young ones for a bit longer. More

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      Medvedev Stuns Alcaraz to Meet Djokovic in U.S. Open Finals

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      Daniil Medvedev upset the reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz in their semifinal, while Novak Djokovic predictably beat Ben Shelton.Just when the U.S. Open was on the verge of its dream weekend, Daniil Medvedev did perhaps the most Medvedev-like thing and messed it all up.With a stunning win over Carlos Alcaraz, the reigning champion and 20-year-old wunderkind of the sport, the 27-year-old Medvedev — the game’s happy troll, playful wiseguy and unorthodox baseliner — took a wrench to the popular plans to watch the next chapter of Alcaraz’s mounting generational rivalry with Novak Djokovic.Instead of a rematch of an epic Alcaraz-Djokovic final in the tuneup to this tournament three weeks ago, which was a rematch of the Wimbledon final in July, which was a rematch of their semifinal showdown at the French Open in June, Sunday will bring a rematch of 2021 U.S. Open final between Medvedev and Djokovic.On that day, Medvedev, the Russian with the funky strokes, goofy one-liners and dead fish victory celebration, left Djokovic’s quest to become the first man in 50 years to win all four Grad Slam titles in a calendar year in tatters, drubbing the seemingly unbeatable Serbian champion in three sets.“Novak is always better than the previous time he played,” Medvedev said. “Novak is going to be his best version Sunday, and I have to try to be my best version to beat him.”Friday night, it was the seemingly unstoppable Alcaraz, the sport’s showstopper of the moment, who endured the head-on impact of a party crash. Medvedev chased after every ball and snapped off one of the most lethal serves in the game throughout the night, matching Alcaraz shot for shot and pushing him to the edge of losing his cool in the second set. Alcaraz nearly threw his racket to the ground but held back at the last moment. Medvedev then weathered Alcaraz’s third set comeback attempt to prevail in four sets over the tournament’s top seed and current world No. 1, 7-6 (3), 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.“I’m going to change my mind,” Alcaraz said after the tense battle. “I’m not mature enough to handle these kinds of matches.”Alcaraz had his moments, especially early in the third set, when he began dancing across the court and taking control of points by flying into the net to deliver his stinging volleys. He found that extra zip on his ground strokes and had Medvedev hanging his head for the first time all night as Alcaraz halved the lead.After a bathroom break and a change of clothes, though, Medvedev rediscovered his early form, evolving once more into the human backboard capable of finding the tightest angle to sneak a ball past his most gifted and acrobatic opponent.Alcaraz, the reigning U.S. Open champion, lost to Medvedev, the 2021 champion.Maansi Srivastava/The New York TimesThat was the trick he pulled off in the marathon sixth game of the fourth set, which lasted nearly 15 minutes. He flung a backhand return onto the Spaniard’s shoelaces as he surged toward the net on his second chance to break Alcaraz’s serve. He looked up at the crowd and waved his fingers in the air, as he had been doing all night, his how-about-some-love-for-me gesture.Two games later, he had locked up the second victory of the men’s semifinals in which durability won out over style. The fingers went up to the air once more. Alcaraz had beaten him handily twice this year. Not on this day, and then it was time to begin focusing on coming duel with Djokovic, which is like no other test in the sport.“It’s a mental preparation where you want to go to war,” Medvedev said.Djokovic is rarely in better form than during a Grand Slam final, especially lately. He is about to play his fourth this year, and has already won two.“Grand Slams are the biggest goals and objectives that I have,” he said Friday evening. “I set my schedule so that I could perform at my best in these tournaments, and that’s what happened again this year.”To clinch the final, Djokovic had to get past Ben Shelton, a 20-year-old Floridian thunderbolt. Like Alcaraz, every time Shelton took the court at this U.S. Open, he put on one of its most entertaining shows.He was a racket-waving highlight reel once more against Djokovic, playing the kind of tennis that could make every American fan pay homage to the spirit of “Big” Bill Tilden or whatever magical force led Shelton to pursue tennis instead of football as he became a teenager.That second serve of 143 miles per hour, and the frightening forehand the kid ripped across the court. The athleticism he showed floating back to turn solid lobs into fearless, rocking overheads. Those arms rippling out of his sleeveless shirt, and the spirit, too, the way he yelled out an exuberant “yeah!” like a kid on the playground every time he snatched a big point. And that touch on the drop volleys, that land and spin back toward the net.Unfortunately for Shelton, the scoring system in tennis offers no style points, and in Djokovic he faced not only a 23-time Grand Slam winner and the greatest player of the modern era but the ultimate practitioner of tennis tai chi. For years, and never more than in his latest stretch of dominance, the 36-year-old Djokovic has been turning the power and style of the flashiest and most powerful challengers against them.Novak Djokovic overwhelmed Ben Shelton to reach yet another Grand Slam final.Maansi Srivastava/The New York TimesPlaying in a record 47th Grand Slam semifinal, Djokovic executed the sort of tactical deconstruction of Shelton that has crushed the dreams and good vibes and flash that so many younger players have come at him with before. Without using an ounce more energy than necessary, Djokovic took apart the young man with the sculpted arms, 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (4), in just over two and a half hours.For most of the afternoon, he caught up with Shelton’s drop shots from the back of the court like a cheetah chasing his lunch, and picked off the missiles on Shelton’s serve like he was catching butterflies in a field on a late summer afternoon. When it ended with Shelton whipping a forehand into the net, Djokovic even stole Shelton’s much-talked-about post-match celebration — miming a phone at his ear then slamming it down before giving the young lad an icy handshake.Shelton saw Djokovic’s mimic later on video after he left the court. He doesn’t much care for people telling him how to celebrate, he said.“I think if you win the match, you deserve to do whatever you want,” said Shelton, who gave Djokovic a glare as he approached the net. “As a kid growing up, I always learned that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so that’s all I have to say about that.”Djokovic, who spoke about the celebration after Shelton, said with a wry smile, “I just love Ben’s celebration. I thought it was very original, and I copied him.”Understand now, Djokovic appreciates flashy tennis highlights as much as anyone. Taking the court for the third set holding a nearly insurmountable — against him — two-set lead, he swung just about as hard as he could and watched Shelton feather a drop volley. Djokovic gave the moment the racket clap it deserved. Lovely play, young man. Minutes later he cruised into the court and rolled a passing shot to break Shelton’s serve and spirit once more.Ben Shelton running in to handle a drop shot.Maansi Srivastava/The New York TimesDjokovic did all this in front of a crowd of nearly 24,000 fans at Arthur Ashe Stadium revved up for a high-octane brawl. With thunderstorms in the area, the roof was closed, and every time Shelton put together one of his displays of power and touch and speed and athleticism and came away with the point, the blast of the roars was something that felt like you could reach out and touch.That was never more true than when Shelton trailed 2-4 in the third set, desperately trying to extend the match. He found himself with a point to break Djokovic’s serve and did not disappoint, drawing Djokovic into a wide forehand that generated a brain-rattling sound. Two games later, amid Djokovic’s only error-strewn and poor-serving lull of the day (it happens), he held a break point and all the good vibes.And then once more, Djokovic stifled the moment with his trademark efficiency — a 124 m.p.h. serve out wide that Shelton could not handle. Order had been restored.There was still a little more Shelton and Djokovic for the packed stadium to enjoy. Shelton saved match point and sent the third set to a tiebreaker, then stuck around a bit when he went down, 5-1. But Djokovic had things to do and a rightful place in his 36th Grand Slam final. When he clinched it, it was his turn to bask in the noise — and hang up the phone — just as he expected it would be.“I know how much work and dedication and energy I put into trying to be in this position, so I know that I deserve this,” he said. “I always believe in myself, in my own capabilities, you know, in my skills, in my quality as a tennis player to be able to deliver when it matters.” More

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      Ben Shelton Beats Tiafoe and Advances to U.S. Open Semifinal

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      Shelton, 20, becomes the youngest American man to reach a U.S. Open semifinal since Andy Roddick in 2003.There was a time when a U.S. Open quarterfinal match between two big-hitting American men could just be referred to as “tennis,” rather than as a historic night for the sport in this country.This is the way the home Grand Slam tournament would always be for the country that has won the Davis Cup, the team event contested by several nations, more than any other. But it wasn’t that way, not for 18 years, and then on Tuesday night, two young Black men, Frances Tiafoe and Ben Shelton, made it so again.They came to it from different places — Tiafoe, the son of a maintenance man at a tennis center in suburban Maryland; Shelton, the son of a former top-60 tour pro who became a highly regarded college coach. During the last year, they have become brothers of a sort, Tiafoe, the 25-year-old veteran who has become one of the tour’s most popular players, guiding the 20-year-old Shelton, who didn’t have a passport a year ago, through his first season as a professional.“Great guy off the court, but on the court a nightmare to deal with,” Shelton said of Tiafoe over the weekend.Shelton’s serves, at nearly 150 miles per hour, have become the buzz of the tournament.Amir Hamja/The New York TimesShelton, the powerful lefty whose serves, at nearly 150 miles per hour, and 112 m.p.h. forehands have become the buzz of the tournament, was right about that.“Ben has wanted to play me at the Open for a long time,” Tiafoe had said in discussing his game plan. “Make him play a lot of balls, just try to make it a really tough night for him.”On a thick, sweaty and breezeless night at Arthur Ashe Stadium that seemed to get hotter as it wore on, Tiafoe and Shelton put on the sort of tight, nervy show that stretched past midnight and into Wednesday morning. The U.S. Open is known for its late-night spectacles, storied battles that only so many can stick with until the end. It wasn’t that way Tuesday and into Wednesday, as the stadium stayed loud and live and Shelton and Tiafoe traded punches and counterpunches from start to finish.When it was over Shelton had prevailed, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (7), 6-2.Shelton struck early, playing the first set like a loose, midcareer pro who had done this before, his arm whipping serves and forehands as Tiafoe appeared tight and sloppy, giving up two service breaks and doing much of Shelton’s work for him.Tiafoe had his serve broken twice in the first set.Amir Hamja/The New York TimesBut then Tiafoe reverted to form, resisting playing the match like a testosterone-fueled hitting contest. He ground out points and games and let Shelton cool off and tighten up, as younger players often do, to draw even.The match turned on a crucial third-set tiebreaker, a seesaw battle that Shelton was on the verge of cruising through before hitting two consecutive double faults. Suddenly Tiafoe, who had given up control of the set a few games before, was on the precipice once more.Barring an injury or some other calamity, Shelton is likely to have plenty of moments like the one that happened next, with Tiafoe a point away from taking a two-sets-to-one lead.There is a specific sound that comes off Shelton’s racket when he lays into a serve or a stroke like only he and Carlos Alcaraz, the world No. 1, can these days. It’s nothing like the familiar thwop of strings hitting a felt ball, but more like a sledgehammer nailing a spike into a railroad tie. Tiafoe’s serve was plenty good. Shelton’s forehand return blasted onto the line inches from the corner. Tiafoe barely moved for it.The match turned on a third-set tiebreaker won by Shelton.Amir Hamja/The New York Times“Sometimes you just have to shut off the brain, close your eyes and just swing,” Shelton said.Two errors later, Shelton had the set and, for all intents and purposes, the match, breaking Tiafoe’s serve in the first game of the fourth set and never looking back.“Left it all out there tonight,” Shelton said. “Emotional battle.”Next up is Novak Djokovic, the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion, in the semifinals on Friday.“Doesn’t get any better than that,” Shelton said.Maybe it will. More

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      This Year’s U.S. Open Belongs to Coco Gauff, Win or Lose

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      It has become clear that Gauff, at age 19, is the queen of this U.S. Open.It’s Sunday evening, a little after 6 o’clock, and Coco Gauff is going through her postmatch routine in the section of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center where players warm up before matches and cool down after them.Two other stars of American tennis, Frances Tiafoe and Ben Shelton, who are among her close friends, are there, too. Tiafoe is winding down after his fourth-round U.S. Open win, which set up his all-American quarterfinals match against Shelton, who is getting ready to play a mixed doubles match. The friendly trash talk has begun, and Gauff cannot resist being involved. She knows just how to do it.Tiafoe, who spends a lot of time shirtless and does not lack for confidence when it comes to his rippling physique, and Shelton are playing this tournament in bright sleeveless shirts. Shelton looks better in his, Gauff tells Tiafoe.And, by the way, so does Carlos Alcaraz, the world No. 1, who beat Tiafoe in the Open semifinals last year and who is also playing in sleeveless Technicolor. “You’re wearing confetti,” Gauff says.Then she is off to boast that she has gotten the better of one of the princes of the tournament and to make fun of her 60-something coach’s penchant for Jolly Ranchers and the dad-rock tunes he keeps sending her. She must also pose for the endless series of selfies that so many, especially Gen-Z fans, desperately want as they pay her their ultimate compliment.“My queen,” they say of her.In the quarterfinals on Tuesday, the sixth-seeded Gauff will face 20th-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, who eliminated top-seeded Iga Swiatek in her previous match. If Gauff wins, she will still have to find her way through two more pressure-packed matches to win the tournament. But over a week into the year’s final Grand Slam event, one thing has become clear: Gauff, at age 19, is the queen of this U.S. Open.Gauff, at age 19, has been a fan favorite at the U.S. Open.Gabriela Bhaskar for The New York TimesFans hurry across the grounds to get to their seats in Arthur Ashe Stadium before her singles matches. No one wants to miss her first fist-pumping “Come on!” or one of her ball-chasing points that go corner to corner, backcourt to net and then back again, and increasingly end with her cracking an overhead smash or with her opponent sending the ball into the net.The first-come-first-served seats on the smaller courts with general admission access begin to fill long before she and her doubles partner, Jessica Pegula, take the court. Organizers moved their doubles match on Monday into Ashe when space freed up in the late afternoon. They won.The N.B.A. player Jimmy Butler of the Miami Heat is one of the many boldface names who have come out for her matches. Others include the singer Justin Bieber and his wife, Hailey, a model and influencer. They were in the house on Friday for Gauff’s third-round win over Elise Mertens. Butler was there, too, and returned for her fourth-round win over Caroline Wozniacki on Sunday.Gauff’s reaction: “Again?”Perhaps this was the way it was always going to go for Gauff, who at age 10 earned a coveted spot in the training program at the tennis academy of Patrick Mouratoglou, who coached Serena Williams.Like anyone who saw Gauff on the court then, Mouratoglou came away impressed with her early speed, power and ability to change direction in an instant and make a quality shot. He called her into his office for an interview, something he puts all of his prospects through, and asked her why she thought she could become a top-level player. She had appeared shy on the court, but now she looked him in the eye from the beginning of their conversation to the end, and told him she wanted this more than any other girl.A lot of players say that, Mouratoglou said in an interview on Monday. He started putting her on the court in matches against players who were more advanced in their development than she was. More often than not, she found a way to win.At 13, she made the final of the U.S. Open junior tournament. At 15, she beat Venus Williams on Centre Court at Wimbledon and made the fourth round.Gauff, right, and Venus Williams shook after Gauff defeated her in the first round at Wimbledon in 2019.Tim Ireland/Associated Press“She is ready for greatness,” Mouratoglou said. “Of course, she feels the pressure like everybody does, but the difference comes from having the belief that you belong there, that you are supposed to do well, that you may be in the spotlight but you enjoy having that pressure, pressure that she has had since she was a kid.”Living under that scrutiny, especially when early success arrives, can have its advantages and drawbacks. Women’s tennis during the past decade is replete with players who won a Grand Slam event in their late teens or early 20s, then struggled for the next year to win three matches in a tournament.During her first seasons on the tour, Gauff was impatient to reach the top, given her breakthrough at Wimbledon in 2019 and her run to the French Open final last year. Before this season, though, she spent some time studying the top 10 players and the recent Grand Slam tournament winners. She saw that many of them were peaking from age 22 to 26.She wasn’t yet 19, but she was about to begin her fifth season of top-level tennis. Her mother told her to be patient, that she didn’t have her “grown woman strength yet,” and said she would know when she got it.“I guess I’m not as mature as other players are,” she said one afternoon in Australia. “That’s going to come with life on earth, not how many years you are on tour.”Gauff waited for a serve while playing Elise Mertens.Gabriela Bhaskar for The New York TimesSome may disagree with that assessment. Three years ago, when she was 16, Gauff took the microphone at a Black Lives Matter rally in her hometown, Delray Beach, Fla., days after the murder of George Floyd.“No matter how big or small your platform is, you need to use your voice,” she told the crowd that day. “I saw a Dr. King quote that said, ‘The silence of the good people is worse than the brutality of the bad people.’ We need to not be silent.”This summer, she was one of the featured players at the Citi Open in Washington D.C. She had endured some disappointing results in the previous two months, losing to Swiatek for the seventh consecutive time at the French Open in the quarterfinals and bowing out in the first round of Wimbledon.But the role of a headliner at a midsize tournament comes with some responsibilities. Mark Ein, the owner of the Citi Open, watched as Gauff chatted with V.I.P.s, including a member of President Biden’s cabinet and a justice on the Supreme Court, as if it were business as usual. Then she went out and won the tournament, and Ein sensed there was something different about the teenager who had first played in his event in 2019.“She gave off this sense of being in control of the situation, both on the court and off,” Ein said. “Every once in a generation in tennis it seems there is someone who breaks through at a very early age, and the test is how you can handle it. The all-time greats seem to have a composure that lets them succeed.”Gauff’s ability to run down balls in the corners is one of her strengths.Maansi Srivastava/The New York TimesSince 2019, Gauff’s face has never been hard to find on billboards at any tournament where she is playing. Still, her management team at Team8, the boutique agency that Roger Federer began with his longtime agent, Tony Godsick, has tried to take a slow and steady approach.She could have deals with dozens of companies. So far, her portfolio beyond the usual racket and clothing sponsors, New Balance and Head, includes only Rolex, Bose, Barilla, Baker Tilly and U.P.S.Gauff still sometimes rocks back and forth when she is speaking in public. She will giggle at herself in the middle of a sentence. She is still over a year away from ordering a drink legally in the United States.If she loses to Ostapenko on Tuesday or to someone else in the days ahead, time will still be on her side for a long while. But in many ways, her time has arrived. More

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      Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe Set for All-American Quarterfinal

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      Here’s what to know about the singles match between Shelton and Tiafoe, two of the three American men remaining in the U.S. Open.The men’s semifinals at the U.S. Open are guaranteed to include at least one American.That’s because 10th-seeded Frances Tiafoe and unseeded Ben Shelton will play for one of the final four spots when they meet in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. Their match features two of the three American men remaining in the tournament. The other is ninth-seeded Taylor Fritz, who will play second-seeded Novak Djokovic of Serbia in another quarterfinal on Tuesday. It is the first time since 2005 that three American men have advanced this far in singles at the Open.Tiafoe and Shelton have not played each other as professionals. Tiafoe reached the semifinals at last year’s Open. And while Shelton will be playing in the U.S. Open quarterfinals for the first time, he reached the Australian Open quarterfinals in January, losing to his fellow American Tommy Paul.Here’s what to know about the match.How did they get here?Tiafoe has dropped only one set in four matches. He had straight-sets wins against Learner Tien of the United States and Sebastian Ofner of Austria. In the third round, he faced Adrian Mannarino, a 22nd-seeded Frenchman, who took the first set. But Tiafoe won in four sets even as Mannarino gave him trouble, pushing a tiebreaker in the fourth set.Tiafoe cruised in the fourth round in another straight-sets victory, this time against Rinky Hijikata of Australia.Shelton has played more matches than Tiafoe at the U.S. Open. In addition to men’s singles, Shelton played, and lost, in the first round of the men’s doubles draw. He also won his quarterfinals match on Monday with his partner, Taylor Townsend.Shelton’s serve has reached 149 miles per hour twice at this U.S. Open.Gabriela Bhaskar for The New York TimesShelton defeated Pedro Cachin of Argentina in the first round in four sets, then caught a break in the second round when his opponent, Dominic Thiem of Austria, retired in the second set with what appeared to be a stomach-related issue.He then beat Aslan Karatsev of Russia in four sets and upset Paul, also in four sets.Beware of Shelton’s serve.One of Shelton’s best tools is his powerful serve. In his fourth-round match, he fired a 149-miles-per-hour ace against Paul. The serve has been the fastest at this tournament so far.“He’s throwing his whole arm in that thing,” Tiafoe said on Sunday.But Tiafoe can serve well, too. In his third-round match against Hijikata, Tiafoe had 15 aces, including two back to back in the second set that were clocked at 129 and 134 m.p.h.Still, Tiafoe acknowledged on Sunday that Shelton was more than a big serve. Shelton hits solid volleys, isn’t afraid to come to the net and plays with a lot of energy, Tiafoe said.“He’s going to throw the kitchen sink at me,” Tiafoe said.Keep an eye on Tiafoe’s drop shot.Among Tiafoe’s tools is a sneaky drop shot that he likes to use at the right moment. While his drop shot can be tough for his opponents to return, Tiafoe says he tries not to use it too often.“Because then they’re looking for it,” he said.Part of what makes playing Tiafoe difficult is that he can be unpredictable, mixing his drop shots with slices and play at the net. In his fourth-round match, Tiafoe fired an ace at 135 m.p.h. He followed it with a drop shot.Whether it’s with a two-handed backhand or a drop shot, Tiafoe wants to keep his opponent on his toes.Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times“It’s more fun when you’re out there just using your head and using different stuff and keeping your opponent on their toes,” he said.Aware of that, Shelton on Sunday described Tiafoe as “a nightmare to deal with.”“He’s just one of those guys where it’s must-see TV,” Shelton said of Tiafoe. “You want to watch him play all the time. He kind of has that Carlos Alcaraz effect, especially here in New York. This is his place where he really wants to show up.”Tiafoe has been here before.A quarterfinal match at the U.S. Open will be a first for Shelton, who said that reaching the final eight of the tournament had been a dream of his since he was a child.Tiafoe reached the semifinals last year, losing to Alcaraz. After coming so close to the final last year, he will be eager to have another shot.“I want to be playing my best tennis here,” Tiafoe said after his third-round match. “That’s ultimately what matters.”Taylor Fritz or Novak Djokovic await.The winner of Tuesday’s match will face Fritz or Djokovic, the 23-time Grand Slam champion, in the semifinals on Friday. Djokovic is heavily favored to win in the quarterfinals, but Fritz reached the final eight without dropping a set.Djokovic has won three of his four matches in straight sets, but he ran into trouble in the third round against his fellow countryman Laslo Djere, who took the first two sets before losing in five. More

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      Why Does Frances Tiafoe Change His Shirt So Often at the US Open?

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      During a changeover 26 minutes into his second-round match against Sebastian Ofner, Frances Tiafoe reached into his bag, pulled out a fresh top and changed his shirt. Twenty-four minutes later, up by 4-1 in the second set, he swapped that shirt for a clean one again.Between the second and third set, Ofner took a medical timeout. Tiafoe had been wearing his shirt for only about six minutes, but he was ready for another.Before the match ended, Tiafoe changed his teal sleeveless shirt once more. By the end of his straight-sets victory over Ofner, there was a pile of sweaty shirts by Tiafoe’s bench. He picked them all up and stuffed them into his bag before leaving the court. (Those shirts are later given to the U.S. Open staff members who take care of the laundry.)Through the fourth round, Tiafoe had changed his top 20 times, an average of five times per match.“I don’t want to feel like I’m playing with really sweaty clothes just because I’m not prepared,” Tiafoe said. “I know how much I can sweat.”Maansi Srivastava/The New York TimesHe will usually return to his bench, hydrate and towel off his face and body before slipping into a fresh shirt. He has no specific method for determining when he needs to change. Sometimes he’ll grab a fresh shirt out of his bag at the end of a set. Other times, he will change multiple times in a single set.It is not uncommon for a player who has been sweating in a competition to change into a clean shirt a few times each match. But Tiafoe has taken freshening up to an elite, seemingly compulsive level.If he feels uncomfortable, he wants a fresh top.“You want to be as light as you can on the court,” Tiafoe said after his second-round victory, adding that if he feels even a small amount of moisture on his shirt, he’ll change it. “I’m very adamant about that.”Many athletes have quirks. Superstitious baseball players hop over foul lines to avoid bad luck. Rafael Nadal, the 22-time Grand Slam champion, is steadfast about having two water bottles by his bench positioned diagonally from each other with the logos facing the court. For Tiafoe, it is a near obsession with changing shirts — perhaps more than any other player on the men’s tour.Tiafoe changing his shirt during his match against Sebastian Ofner.Hiroko Masuike/The New York TimesAt tournaments, many players wear one outfit and stick with it; others swap out an outfit only if it is uncomfortable or seems unlucky. At last year’s U.S. Open, Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion, asked an umpire for permission to change her outfit in the middle of a match.Players can change tops from their benches during matches. Men are allowed two opportunities to leave the court for a complete outfit change in a best-of-five match, and women are allowed one change of attire in a best-of-three match.“Shirts, socks and shoes should be changed on court,” the International Tennis Federation rule book says.At this year’s U.S. Open, Tiafoe has sported a teal, sleeveless top patterned with shades of baby blue, coral, peach and maroon. He has completed his ensemble with teal shorts and a pair of bright red shoes with his nickname, Big Foe, across the heels.Tiafoe said he packed as many as 20 tops in his bag to be sure he had enough for his matches. He also takes two extra pairs of shoes, in case a pair becomes too sweaty.“I don’t want to feel like I’m playing with really sweaty clothes just because I’m not prepared,” Tiafoe said. “I know how much I can sweat.”And Tiafoe sweats a lot. In a couple of his matches at this tournament, even after he has changed shirts, Tiafoe has needed help from a ball crew member to peel his shirt off his back because the top had stuck to his shoulders.Tiafoe asking a ball boy to help him unroll his shirt.Hiroko Masuike/The New York TimesThe weather at the U.S. Open has appeared to play a role in how many times Tiafoe has changed clothes.In his first-round match, the humidity levels made playing conditions feel muggy inside Arthur Ashe Stadium. In that match, against Learner Tien, Tiafoe changed his shirt six times.But even after a cold front swept through New York in time for Tiafoe’s second- and third-round matches, he perspired enough to change four times on Wednesday against Ofner and four times on Friday against Adrian Mannarino.By his fourth-round match against Rinky Hijikata on Sunday, temperatures had reached 88 degrees. This week, the forecast is for humid days with temperatures into the 90s through Thursday, above normal for this time of year in New York, before settling into the 80s for the semifinals and final.When Tiafoe plays Ben Shelton in the quarterfinals on Tuesday that will probably mean more sweat and more shirt changes.But who’s counting? More