A 3:33 a.m. finish! Shelton beats Alcaraz in five sets to reach US Open semifinals

Shelton defeated defending champion Alcaraz 6–7, 6–1, 6–3, 1–6, 7–6 in a 4-hour, 28-minute men’s singles quarterfinal at the 2026 US Open. The match ended at 3:33 a.m. local time in New York, setting a new US Open record for the latest finish; Shelton lost the first-set tiebreak 5–7 and won the deciding-set 10-point tiebreak 10–7.

Nine straight games after losing the first set

The first set went to a tiebreak after the players traded breaks. With Shelton leading 5–3, Alcaraz won four straight points to take the opening set.

Shelton then turned the match around. He broke serve three times in the second set, winning it 6–1 to level the match, then moved 3–0 ahead in the third before taking it 6–3. At one point during this stretch, he won nine consecutive games.

Multiple lead changes in the deciding-set 10-point tiebreak

Alcaraz broke early in the fourth set and won it 6–1 to force a deciding set. This was his comeback tournament after several months out with a right wrist injury.

At 4–4 in the deciding set, Shelton had a break point but could not convert it. In the 10-point tiebreak, he took an early 3–1 lead before Alcaraz moved ahead 5–3; from 6–6, Shelton opened up an 8–6 lead and eventually won 10–7. According to the official US Open match report, the match-ending ace was clocked at 146 miles per hour.

First win over a player in the world’s top three

Shelton had previously lost all 17 of his matches against players ranked in the world’s top three. The victory sent him into his third Grand Slam men’s singles semifinal and his second US Open semifinal, following his appearance in 2023.

Next, he will face Tiafoe, who also advanced after a five-set win, ensuring that an American will reach the men’s singles final. After the match, Shelton thanked the spectators who stayed into the early hours; discussing his recovery, he said he had two days to rest and believed he could be ready.

Set-by-set results