NEW YORK — Ben Shelton has advanced to his first Grand Slam singles final, defeating fellow American Frances Tiafoe in four sets and becoming the first Black American man to reach the U.S. Open final in 54 years.
Shelton, 23, recovered after dropping the opening set to win Friday night’s semifinal 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 at Arthur Ashe Stadium. The victory sends him into Sunday’s championship match against Germany’s Alexander Zverev, the tournament’s top seed.
The result carries historic significance. Shelton is the first Black American man to reach the U.S. Open singles final since Arthur Ashe in 1972. He is also the first Black American man to appear in any Grand Slam singles final since MaliVai Washington reached the Wimbledon final in 1996.
Friday’s match was itself a milestone: Shelton and Tiafoe became the first two Black American men to meet in a Grand Slam semifinal during the Open Era. Both players walked onto the court with an opportunity to continue a legacy closely connected to Ashe, whose name the stadium bears.
Tiafoe took the first set, but Shelton settled into the match and used his powerful serve and aggressive baseline play to seize control. He won the next two sets and broke late in the fourth before closing out the victory. The two Americans embraced at the net after the final point.
Shelton’s path to the final has included a five-set quarterfinal upset of defending champion Carlos Alcaraz. His run represents another step forward for a player who won the 2022 NCAA singles championship at the University of Florida before turning professional.
Sunday’s final presents another major challenge. Zverev advanced by defeating Karen Khachanov in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6, 7-6. The German has reached a U.S. Open final before and entered this year’s tournament as the leading seed.
Shelton will be playing for more than his first major championship. A victory would make him the first American man to win a Grand Slam singles title since Andy Roddick captured the U.S. Open in 2003. It would also make Shelton the first Black American man to win the U.S. Open singles title since Ashe claimed the inaugural Open Era championship in 1968.
Black players have had a profound impact on American tennis, but representation among men at the final stages of major tournaments has remained rare. Shelton and Tiafoe’s semifinal—and Shelton’s advancement—put that history at the center of one of the sport’s largest stages.
The championship match is scheduled for Sunday at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York. Shelton enters it one victory away from a title that would end a 23-year major championship drought for American men.
Sources: Reuters and the official U.S. Open website, Sept. 12, 2026.
