Ben Shelton has reached his first major semifinal by beating Frances Tiafoe in the U.S. Open quarterfinals and set up a match against Novak Djokovic.
“An unbelievable return from way back there,” he acknowledged. “Come on. That's unheard-of stuff."
The matchup, which began in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Tuesday evening and ended after midnight on Wednesday, was the first major quarterfinal between two African-American men in the Open era, which dates to 1968. The crowd seemed to have a tough time deciding for whom to cheer, prodding both players at various points of the often even matchup.on Friday for a berth in the final. Djokovic, a 36-year-old from Serbia, reached his record 47th Grand Slam semifinal, breaking a tie with Roger Federer for the most by a man, by defeating Taylor Fritz 6-1, 6-4, 6-4.
Both were soaked by sweat throughout, because although the temperature had slid from the 90 degrees Fahrenheit of the afternoon to about 82 F by nighttime, the humidity rose to 70%. When Tiafoe pushed a forehand long to cede the match’s first break, Shelton yelled and looked over at his guest box, where his father — former pro Bryan, who coached Ben to NCAA team and individual titles at the University of Florida and now coaches him on tour — jumped to his feet.
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