US Open Day 10 - Shelton shocks Alcaraz in latest finish ever

David Law (0:10)

Well, hello, and welcome to The Tennis Podcast. On day 10 of the US Open, a day full of epic matches, tiers, drama and mind-bending sports. It started at 11.30am on Tuesday morning when Aryna Sabalenka and Linda Noskova embarked on a match that would end 7-6 in the deciding set, and ended with the latest finish in the history of the US Open.

3.33am when Ben Shelton finally beat Carlos Alcaraz, 7-6 in the fifth and deciding set. Every single one of the four quarterfinals we had today went to a final set. Wish us luck trying to sum it all up.

Matt Roberts is here. We're usually three, but unfortunately our host, Katherine Whittaker, has the lurgy at the moment, a nasty cold, and we pleaded with Katherine to go to bed. Thankfully, she agreed so that she can come back tomorrow full of beans, or should I say later today, because Matt Roberts and myself, David Law, come to you just outside the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center following the Carlos Alcaraz against Ben Shelton match in the middle of the night. Welcome to tennis. If you haven't heard tennis before on The Tennis Podcast, before we get cracking, if you're new to us, and particularly if you're listening to us via the New York Times app, you may not know that we are now in our 15th year covering this sport for The Tennis Podcast weekly, year round, daily at all four of the Grand Slam tournaments. So do come back and listen to us throughout the year on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. It's quite a baptism, Matt, if people are joining us for the first time, isn't it? Because here we are.

What time is it? 4:08 a.m. 4:08 a.m. We're sitting outside the Arthrash Stadium. And we've just witnessed Ben Shelton winning what he's just told us in a little media huddle in the corridor was the best performance of his life, the biggest match win of his life. And it puts him into a semifinal against Frances Tiafoe, which means America will be getting a men's American finalist. That has happened recently with Taylor Fritz, but it hasn't happened like this. And the situation that we find ourselves in following a match of that ilk with Carlos Alcaraz losing, what is it, only his second, fifth set in his entire life?

Matt Roberts (2:42)

I'll be honest, David, today is a bit of a blur. So, I will do my best on this podcast.

But my God, what a day of tennis. Just 16 sets on the Arthur Ashe Stadium. All of the matches deciding sets, as you say. And then the match that everyone had been kind of waiting for, certainly all day, but also all tournament, really. We knew that Ben Shelton and Carlos Alcaraz were on this collision course. It didn't start until 5 past 11 p.m. They finished well into the night. The Arthur Ashe Stadium, that is the most people I've ever seen in a tennis stadium at that time. I mean, it's a cavernous stadium. The top had very much thinned out, but there must have still been 10,000 people in there. And it was just extraordinary. You know, I'm still reeling because we've covered Carlos Alcaraz's whole career. We've been to so many Carlos Alcaraz moments and he always wins. He always wins these sorts of moments and matches, whether it be a Wimbledon final against Novak Djokovic, the epic French Open final against Yannick Sinner when he saved the match points. The Australian Open semi-final of earlier this year where he was cramping for the second half of the match and somehow came through it. And there was a similar-ish vibe to this one today, to that one in terms of the way he powered down and had an energy lull in this match. And then suddenly became Carlos Alcaraz again, and you thought maybe somehow some way he would get over the line. Surely he will. He always does. But he didn't, and that is because of Ben Shelton, who was unbelievable tonight. That is the best I've seen Shelton play, and he did it over such a long period of time.

And I was stunned by how good Shelton was, because yes, Alcaraz had that lull, but he also brought a lot of his full force, and Shelton stood up to it. And that wasn't something that I was necessarily expecting from him.

David Law (4:52)

We'll go over what we think may be some of the reasons that Alcaraz didn't win in the end from his perspective. Now obviously a big factor in that is Shelton himself and the level he brought. But just if we go through the match, I mean, it was a fascinating match because it wasn't straight lines, was it? It started off with a tiebreak set, but it was Alcaraz who struck first. He broke first and broke for 6-5.