by As the US Open continued on Friday, Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe faced off in a highly anticipated third-round match. The closely matched match between American players ended with Tiafoe winning 4-6, 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-3 after five thrilling sets.
Tiafoe will advance to his fifth consecutive round of 16 at Flushing Meadows, where he will face Alexei Popyrin, who beat world No. 2 Novak Djokovic later on Friday.
Tiafoe and Shelton were evenly matched from the start, with Shelton, who beat Tiafoe last year, winning the first set 6-4. In the second, Shelton took the early lead, but Tiafoe came back from 5-4 down to win the set 7-5.
The third set was incredibly even, with the players trading breaks en route to a tie-break, all while playing some top-level tennis.
The tiebreak was more dramatic, as it often is. Shelton took a 6-0 lead, but Tiafoe responded by fending off five straight set points, thanks in large part to Shelton’s errors. He finished within a set point, when Shelton aced a 143-mph serve to close out the set and take a 2-1 lead.
Tiafoe took the early lead in the fourth set, leading 3-2, but Shelton won the next game to make it 3-3. The two men traded a game each, before Tiafoe won an uncontested game to lead 5-4. In the tiebreak, Tiafoe took advantage of a few key errors from Shelton to win the set 6-4.
Tiafoe broke Shelton early in the fifth set, and the youngster simply seemed too exhausted to attempt another comeback. He was caught by several high-intensity service sets, while Tiafoe looked as dynamic as ever.
Both Americans played well, each in their own way, with Shelton showing his usual showmanship while Tiafoe hit some excellent, well-placed shots along the line. Tiafoe also took advantage of Shelton’s mistakes, who at 21 finished the match with 58 unforced errors to Tiafoe’s 27.
Shelton’s strength was in his serve, with 23 aces and many more winners on Tiafoe’s returns.
Shelton and Tiafoe have become something of a rivalry over the past year. Friday’s match was a rematch of last year’s U.S. Open, when Shelton, then 20, beat Tiafoe in four sets to advance to the semifinals and celebrated his victory by pretending to hang up the phone. Shelton then lost to Novak Djokovic in the semifinals. Notably, Tiafoe will skip Djokovic this time around and instead face Australian Popyrin.
The Americans got the better of their opponents on Friday, starting with Coco Gauff who beat Elina Svitolina in three sets after losing the first set. Gauff will now face her compatriot Emma Navarro in the fourth round this weekend.
