First set: *Tiafoe 0-1 Shelton (*denotes next server)
Shelton holds at 15, getting four of five first serves in. It must be noted how dialed-in this capacity crowd is tonight. None of the ambient din of non-stop conversation were so used to hearing in here.
The players have finished their warm-up. Shelton has elected to serve first. We should be under way any moment now. ThereâÂÂs barely an empty seat in 23,771-seat Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Before the players emerge tonight, Arthur Ashe Stadium is pausing to mark the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. A pre-match ceremony is honoring the nearly 3,000 people killed, their families and the first responders. After a moment of silence, the recording artist JoJo is performing the US national anthem.
Shelton is attempting to become the youngest American man to reach a US Open final since Andy Roddick won the title here at 21 in 2003. The 23-year-old has been remarkably efficient when reaching the business end of tournaments this season: he has made four previous semi-finals â Dallas, Munich, Stuttgart and Montreal â and won the title every time. Those trophies also made him the first American man since Sam Querrey in 2010 to win tour titles on hard, clay and grass in the same season. Tonight he will go for five finals from five semi-final appearances.
If tonightâÂÂs match turns into another war of attrition, both men appeared seasoned for the task. Tiafoe has already spent 16hr 3min on court across five matches, the fourth-longest journey to a US Open semi-final since the ATP began tracking match times in 1991. Shelton is only slightly fresher at 15hr 41min. Tiafoe has played 19 sets and Shelton 20, with both coming through five-set quarter-finals. The difference is down to literal mileage: Shelton has covered 44,143ft during the tournament to TiafoeâÂÂs 39,472ft.
A strong US Open for the American juniors is heading into the final weekend, with four US players â two boys and two girls â through to championship matches on Saturday.
Seventeen-year-old Marcel Latak of Darien, Illinois, has a chance at a rare double after reaching the boysâ singles and doubles finals. He wil face BrazilâÂÂs Luis Guto Miguel, the junior world No 1 and top seed, for the singles title before teaming with fellow American Tanishk Konduri, also 17, against FranceâÂÂs Aaron Gabet and SpainâÂÂs Valentin Gonzalez-Galino in the doubles final.
Latak is bidding to become the first American to sweep the singles and doubles titles at a grand slam since Robin Montgomery did it at the 2021 US Open.
On the girlsâ side, California sisters Kristina and Annika Penickova, aged 17 and 16 respectively, have reached the doubles final, where they will face Polina Berezina and Alisa Terentyeva.
All four junior finals are scheduled for Saturday.
Hello and welcome to Arthur Ashe Stadium for tonightâÂÂs all-American US Open menâÂÂs semi-final between Frances Tiafoe and Ben Shelton. For the third time in four years, the two friends and crowd favorites will meet at Flushing Meadows. Shelton won their first New York encounter, overpowering Tiafoe in four sets in the 2023 quarter-finals on his way to a breakthrough semi-final appearance at 20. Tiafoe answered 12 months later, coming from two sets to one down to win a five-set thriller in the third round. Shelton leads their overall series 3-1, including a straight-sets victory in Washington last summer.
TonightâÂÂs rubber match is considerably bigger. The winner will become the first Black American man to reach the US Open singles final since Arthur Ashe in 1972 and the first to reach any grand slam singles final since MaliVai Washington at Wimbledon in 1996. He will also become only the fifth American man this century to reach the final in New York, after Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick and Taylor Fritz.
Both men arrive after extraordinary five-set quarter-finals. Tiafoe somehow escaped Alex Michelsen after trailing by two sets, falling a break behind in the third and then going 3-0 down in the fifth. His 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (6) victory put him into his third US Open semi-final in five years, matching Agassi for the most by an American man this century.
SheltonâÂÂs route was even more spectacular. The 23-year-old toppled defending champion Carlos Alcaraz 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (7) in a late-night classic that finished at 3.33am, ending the SpaniardâÂÂs 18-match winning streak at grand slam level and securing his first victory over a top-three opponent after starting his career 0-17 against them.
One American dream ends tonight and another moves into SundayâÂÂs final against Alexander Zverev with a shot of ending the countryâÂÂs 23-year wait for a menâÂÂs major champion.
The first ball will not be at 7pm local time as scheduled while Ashe changes over for the separately ticketed night session. WeâÂÂll update you with an approximate start time as we hear.
Bryan will be here shortly. In the meantime hereâÂÂs Tumaini CarayolâÂÂs lookahead to tonightâÂÂs match.