Frances Tiafoe earned a ticket to the spherical of 16 of the 2024 US Open after surviving an intense all-American battle in opposition to Ben Shelton. He took a 4-6, 7-5, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3 win after a aggressive 5 units that lasted 4 hours and 6 minutes.
Earlier than this match, Tiafoe was 0-2 all-time in opposition to Shelton. Their first assembly had been throughout final yr’s U.S. Open quarterfinals, which Shelton received in 4 units.
“Ben is an unimaginable participant, man,” Tiafoe stated after the match. “He goes for every kind of photographs, he is bought no care on the planet. It is actually annoying. He is bought a fantastic serve and he has nice vitality out right here. He’s actually gifted, he can give you nice photographs and so can I. We each transfer very well, so it give spotlight after spotlight. I actually hope you guys loved the present. Simply hours of simply battle.”
Tiafoe was a semifinalist on the U.S. Open in 2022, which is the furthest he has ever made it in a significant match. He has had a rollercoaster of a yr, however he arrived to Flushing Meadows because the No. 20 seed and one of many high Individuals who’re hoping to finish a Grand Slam drought. No American man has received a significant trophy since Andy Roddick took the trophy on the 2003 U.S. Open.
After shedding the primary set on Friday, Tiafoe gave a preview of simply how aggressive the remainder of the match can be by profitable the second.
It regarded like Shelton, the No. 13 seed, was beginning to run away with it when he discovered a 5-3 lead within the third set, however Tiafoe caught up and compelled a tiebreak. Shelton raced to a 6-0 lead, however his opponent wasn’t going to only present him a set that had already lasted an hour. Tiafoe bought the subsequent 5 factors earlier than Shelton hit the quickest serve of the match at 143 mph to win the tiebreak. That was additionally the quickest serve of your entire match to date.
Tiafoe took a 5-4 lead within the fourth set, however he continued to wrestle with changing breakpoint alternatives. Nevertheless, he finally succeeded and compelled a fifth set.
Shelton was beginning to look drained and allowed Tiafoe to go up 4-1 within the decider. The 20-year-old pushed again by profitable the subsequent recreation, however Tiafoe remained assured and finally bought the job carried out.
Up subsequent, Tiafoe will tackle the winner of the match between No. 28 seed Alexei Popyrin and No. 2 Novak Djokovic.
