The Latest US Open Match Ever Finished at Three Thirty-Three and Shelton Had Never Beaten a Top Three Player
Ben Shelton beat the defending champion in five sets in a match that ended at 3.33am, the latest finish in US Open history.
Ben Shelton beat Carlos Alcaraz 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6(10-7) in the US Open quarter-finals. The match took four hours and 28 minutes on Arthur Ashe Stadium and finished at 3.33am on Wednesday 9 September, the latest any match has ever ended at the tournament.
Shelton is 23 and was nought from seventeen against opponents ranked in the world's top three before this. Alcaraz was the defending champion.
It is Shelton's third Grand Slam semi-final, after the 2023 US Open and the 2025 Australian Open. He plays Frances Tiafoe on Friday 11 September, which guarantees an American in the final. Tiafoe came from two sets down to beat Alex Michelsen 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6.
The other half is Alexander Zverev against Karen Khachanov. Zverev beat Botic van de Zandschulp 6-2, 7-5, 6-1 on Wednesday and is the only man to have reached all four Grand Slam semi-finals in 2026. Khachanov went through when Alexander Blockx retired in the third set with leg, rib and back problems, trailing 2-6, 5-7.
Ashe night sessions start around seven in the evening in New York, which is seven the next morning in Malaysia and Singapore. The 3.33am finish landed at 3.33 in the afternoon here.