Quarterfinal preview: Can Ben Shelton topple Carlos Alcaraz at the US Open?

NEW YORK -- Ben Shelton put his hand to his ear, as if to acknowledge to the Sunday night crowd on Arthur Ashe Stadium that he couldn't hear them. The more than 20,000 fans in the building then roared, and so did he. Following a three-year absence, the 23-year-old Shelton was back into the US Open quarterfinals. And while there was no smile, it was clear what it meant to him. After dropping the first set in his opening-round match last week and needing four sets in all three of his previous matches, Sunday's victory was a clinical 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 takedown of a resurgent Stefanos Tsitsipas, a two-time major finalist, in just one hour and 51 minutes. Shelton lost just 14 points on serve. It was the punctuation mark to an incredible day for the American men, which also saw No. 11 seed Frances Tiafoe defeat No. 7 seed and former champion Daniil Medvedev, and Alex Michelsen get past Tomas Martin Etcheverry to reach his first Slam quarterfinals. The two will now meet in an all-American clash on Tuesday. But all eyes will surely be on Shelton that day as he next faces his biggest test of all in a tantalizing quarterfinal blockbuster match against reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz. Many circled the potential showdown when the draw came out and, despite several stunning upsets of top players in the men's draw, their collision course has remained intact. Just moments after the win over Tsitsipas, Shelton was asked on court what it would take to beat Alcaraz. He didn't hesitate. "Special tennis," he said. "I think the level he's been playing at is really, really impressive. To be not playing for five months and come out and do what he's done so far this tournament has been superhuman. We're happy to have him back on tour. He lights up the stadium every time he plays. "I think it's gonna be fireworks on Tuesday night. I hope you guys come back, because I'm ready to go." After three hours and 19 minutes and a roller-coaster match featuring big hitting and high-octane entertainment, an Alcaraz forehand down the line sealed his fate against Shelton. It was the fourth round at the French Open in 2025 and Shelton had his chances. He had three set points in the first-set tiebreak, but Alcaraz kept finding a way to respond. The Spaniard took the tiebreak and eventually the match, 7-6 (8), 6-3, 4-6 6-4. Shelton was left wondering what could have been. He had lost to Jannik Sinner in the semifinals of the Australian Open months before and had hoped to continue his major progression, even on his least-favorite surface. But even in his disappointment, Shelton could see the silver lining. And having lost in back-to-back Slams to the sport's most dominant players of the moment, he knew it was an opportunity to gauge the state of his game. "For me, this is the closest that I've felt -- just talking about Alcaraz right now -- the closest that I've felt in a match against him, and the most pressure that I thought that I've applied, the most comfortable that I felt in the baseline exchanges, the best I've hit my open-stance backhand when he's put pressure there," Shelton said after the match. "...I don't want to be disrespectful and just be, like, 'Yeah, I'm right there,' but I feel like I am close to starting to win some matches like that, give guys a run for their money more often, and have these deeper runs more consistently. So, not two bad guys to lose to. Those two matches I've lost at Slams this year, I consider myself a really good Grand Slam match player. Yeah, hopefully I can continue to improve and take that next step, because that's where I want to be." Weeks later, he advanced to his first quarterfinals at Wimbledon. In August he won the biggest title of his career at the 1000-level Canadian Open. Leading into the 2025 US Open, the site of his first major semifinal appearance in 2023, Shelton looked perhaps as poised as anyone in recent years to snap the longstanding major drought among the American men. He didn't shy away from the attention or the expectations. "You know, this is the biggest tournament of the year for me," he told reporters before it got underway. "This is the one." But destiny had other plans. While playing in front of an adoring crowd at Louis Armstrong Stadium against Adrian Mannarino in the third round, he suddenly began experiencing shoulder pain. After trying to fight through, it became so debilitating he was forced to retire from the match. It was the first match in his professional career he had been unable to complete. He cried as he walked off the court. Shelton returned to competition about a month later. And he showed no signs of the injury at the start of 2026. He dropped just one set en route to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. But Sinner ultimately stopped him yet again. He's been both blistering hot and freezing cold since. Once known for bringing his top level to majors only, Shelton won the titles at the Dallas Open in February, the BMW Open in April and the Stuttgart Open in June -- on all three surfaces. But he was stunned in the second round at Roland Garros, and then in the opening round at the All England Club. Calling it "one of the toughest losses" of his career, he was as confused as reporters when speaking at Wimbledon. "I'm not exactly sure what it's been this year," he said. "Obviously it's been a complete roller coaster, doing well at big tournaments, obviously quarterfinals of Australia at the beginning of the year, winning three titles, two of them being 500s. Everything else in between I felt has been pretty poor. "Hasn't been a great year for me. It's been a tough year. I've had a lot of really tight matches, deciding set tiebreakers, deciding sets that I've lost." But then he seemed to foreshadow things to come. "I think that sometimes these things can happen. I think this year it's happened a lot more for me than I would like. Tennis is a game where it usually only takes one to get you back on the right track." In Montreal, he rattled off one big win after another, against several rising stars including Joao Fonseca, Jakub Mensik and Learner Tien, to advance back to the final. He defeated Brandon Nakashima in straight sets to successfully defend his Canadian Open title -- and just like that, he was back in the conversation. Shelton lost in his opener in Cincinnati, but it didn't much matter. With the absence of Sinner and many questions surrounding Alcaraz, who hadn't played a tournament since April due to a wrist injury, Shelton was considered among the favorites, and a trendy pick to win it all. "I'm picking Big Ben. I'm going for it. I like Shelton to win the Open," former player-turned-ESPN analyst Patrick McEnroe said before the tournament. "I can stop getting this question after 20-some years: When is the next American going to win a major? I'm sick of it! I'm tired of it." Shelton has never beaten Alcaraz before, but he believes he's improved significantly since that last meeting some 15 months ago. "I thought I played a good match in Paris, but I think I'm serving better, returning much better," Shelton said. "I think my shot tolerance from the baseline, overall quality from the baseline, and my movement have improved. I think that, you know, it's definitely going to be a different match playing here." And it was clear he wanted to be as prepared as possible. After his match on Sunday night, and before speaking to reporters, Shelton was seen on the otherwise empty practice courts getting in one more practice session. He said that after taking Saturday off, and with some aspects of his game he felt weren't perfect in the match, he "just wanted to clean [those things] up." Because Alcaraz hadn't played a competitive match in months entering the tournament, and hadn't played a best-of-five set match since his title-winning run at the Australian Open, it was impossible to predict how he would fare at the US Open, despite his resume. Even he expressed some doubts about how he would respond physically after such a long layoff. But that didn't last long. Alcaraz showed no evidence of pain or rust in his opening-round 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Roman Safiullin. And since then, he's dropped just one set and has appeared firmly in control against all of his opponents. On Sunday, against Tommy Paul -- the lone American man to fall on the day -- Alcaraz earned the first break in the eighth game of the first set and never gave Paul a chance to get back into the match. He broke Paul again twice early in the second set and rolled to what amounted to a routine 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 victory. It was their ninth career meeting, and Alcaraz's sixth straight win. Paul couldn't hide his disappointment over the outcome -- but seemed almost resigned to the result. "It felt like he kind of just outplayed me, was playing on a different level than me," Paul told reporters after the match. "I think there were a lot of things I could have done better, but I could have done a lot of things better and still lost that match." While not specifically asked what advice he would give to Shelton or any other future opponent, Paul was resolute. "[Alcaraz] is a great champion, and when he plays well, I mean, he brings a level of tennis to the court that is -- I mean, it's amazing," Paul said. "You have to play every ball with quality. It doesn't matter who you are, you have to bring your best tennis to compete with him when he's playing at that level." Alcaraz didn't know who he would be facing when he spoke to the media on Sunday and hilariously said during an on-set interview on ESPN he thought he was playing the winner of the Tiafoe and Medvedev match. "Oh my god," he said when told of his mistake. But he was aware of his two potential opponents later at his news conference and described Shelton as a "really powerful player." "I think he uses the crowd, the people behind him, especially when he's playing here at home," he added. The stakes for Shelton couldn't be higher. A first-ever victory over Alcaraz would result in a return to the US Open semifinals, and keep his chances alive of being the one to finally end the drought. It would also set up yet another all-American showing with Tiafoe or Michelson, with a guarantee of one American man in the final. Needless to say, Shelton was better prepared than Alcaraz for the questions about the showdown. And while he didn't make any bold predictions, he reiterated he was ready for the challenge. "We practiced together before the tournament," Shelton said. "I've been watching his matches. I think he's playing [at an] extremely high level. "To me, he looks very normal -- his normal, I mean -- which is impressive after not playing for five months. I think it will be a great match. I'm excited for the battle. Never played him here in New York, and obviously in the position that I want to be in."