Shelton Knocks Alcaraz Out of US Open at 3:34 AM

The clock above Centre Court in New York had long since passed three in the morning when Ben Shelton dropped to his knees by the baseline. Arthur Ashe Stadium, half empty because much of the city had gone to bed hours earlier, was still there to witness a finish the US Open had never seen before.

The American needed five sets and a decider that went the distance to break the resistance of defending champion Carlos Alcaraz and book his place in the semifinal. The final score, 6:7 (5:7), 6:1, 6:3, 1:6, 7:6 (10:7), only arrived after a match that started around 11:05 pm local time had spilled into a new day.

Accounts differ slightly on the exact length and the moment of the final point. Tanjug and Kurir report the duel lasted four hours and 28 minutes, while B92 puts it at four hours and 30 minutes. Tanjug says the last point fell at 3:34 am, Kurir says 3:35. The gap is a minute or two, but it is enough to settle the bigger point: by every account, this was the latest-finishing match in tournament history.

The previous record, as it happens, also belonged to Alcaraz. Back in 2022 the Spaniard played a quarterfinal against Jannik Sinner that ran until 2:50 am after more than five hours on court. Four years later he was once again the central figure of a historic night at the same stadium, only this time on the losing end.

The match itself was a genuine rollercoaster. Shelton dropped the opening set in a tiebreak, then answered with two straight breaks to storm through the second 6:1. He built a two-sets-to-one lead, only for Alcaraz to dominate the fourth, break his serve and force a decider. The outcome was not settled until a deciding super tiebreak, which Shelton won 10:7 after the Spaniard sent a match point long.

It was the fourth career meeting between the two, and the first win for Shelton over Alcaraz. For the American, ranked ninth in the world, it stands as the biggest win of his career over a top-tier opponent. For Alcaraz, ranked third and back in New York as defending champion after a 139-day layoff for a wrist injury, it was a painful end to his title defense. At one point during the battle he was sick into a towel, a sign of just how brutal the night had been on both men’s bodies.

Alcaraz stayed composed in defeat. At his press conference, he said:

“I’m leaving with my head held high, happy and healthy. I played against a beast.”

Kurir also reports that the Spaniard pointed to Shelton’s serve as one of the key factors in the loss, a weapon that gave him trouble on his own service games all night. About the result itself, though, he made no drama.

“Sometimes you win, and sometimes you lose.”

Said calmly after four and a half hours of battle, that line says more about the 23 year old Spaniard’s character than any stat line from that court.

Shelton will face Frances Tiafoe in the semifinal, a spot Tiafoe reached with a comeback of his own. American against American, then, and a guarantee that at least one home player will reach the US Open final.

The same tournament produced a story with a Serbian angle this week as well. Iva Jovic advanced to the fourth round, where Coco Gauff awaits her, so her run is being followed alongside the men’s draw in New York these days.

The match that ended at 3:34, or 3:35, in the morning will be remembered both for its length and for breaking a record that, until the day before, belonged to the very man it defeated. Shelton now gets a test against a fellow American, and the question is how much of that night at Arthur Ashe will still be in his legs the next time he steps on court.