With his 6-3, 6-2, 7-6(4) victory over 20-year-old American Ben Shelton in Friday’s quarterfinal, Novak Djokovic went one step closer to a record-breaking 24 major titles. Shelton was a gallant surprise semifinalist. Ahead of the winner of the alternate semifinal between No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz & No. 3 Daniil Medvedev, the 36-year-old Djokovic will play in his 10th US Open championship match.
Shelton, a lefty, has only played in five major tournaments but he has a huge, enthusiastic game. In order to reach his maiden major semifinal, he had reached 149 mph on his serves. Now, he smashes his forehand with what seems to be a similar amount of force. The goal of Shelton’s strategy was to overwhelm and discombobulate the Serb, who was by far the more accomplished and experienced.
Despite Shelton’s valiant effort in the last set and Djokovic’s surprising shakiness in crucial situations, Shelton ultimately lost to Djokovic.
Djokovic patiently and precisely disarmed the young American’s lethal arsenal like a bomb expert. Shelton’s strong groundstrokes and serve disrupted the Serbian’s usual rhythm to the point that Djokovic was unable to execute a surgical dissection at Arthur Ashe Stadium. However, Djokovic was able to settle in and choose his moments, particularly on crucial occasions, as he did in the final set tiebreak.
Early in each set, the Serb broke serve to prevent the American from taking control and to excite the home crowd, which was waiting for any indication of an upset.
However, Shelton was able to energize the fans midway through the final set with some amazing left-handed shotmaking, particularly when he pounced on short balls, aggressively charged the net, and forced Djokovic into uncharacteristic errors. Even while behind by a break in the final set, the American never gave up.
Shelton won his first service break to draw even at 4-4 and advanced to a set point on Djokovic’s serve, but he was unable to convert it. However, the American twice defeated Djokovic to force a tiebreak and momentarily give the home crowd hope.
Djokovic stated after the victory, “These are the kinds of games I thrive on. “The ones that motivate me to continue putting in as much effort as the young guys.”
Three sets later, the rookie Shelton was unable to maintain the high level of consistency necessary to outplay the seasoned player. While Djokovic only made 25, the American made 43 unintentional mistakes.
Shelton claimed that the fact that they had never met before gave him the opportunity to “bring things to the table which may you don’t see in an ordinary match…that are unique and hopefully disruptive” if he could even imagine having an advantage over the all-time major leader.
In the final set, Shelton did appear to unnerve Djokovic, but the Serbian was able to neutralize the American’s still-evolving arsenal. Shelton’s heroic Cinderella run at the Open came to an end thanks to the three-time US Open winner.
Awaiting the championship game on Sunday, I still sense something in my legs, Djokovic remarked. I still think I can contribute to the sport.
It is clear that Djokovic has encountered this situation previously. awfully much. The Serb has now won 22 of his previous 23 semifinal matches in major tournaments since 2015 (his lone semifinal defeat came against Dominic Thiem at Roland Garros in 2019 in five sets).
Bill Tilden and Djokovic now share the record for the most US Open finals matches in history with ten each after Djokovic won his 100th US Open singles match. Despite being a great hardcourt player throughout the course of his career, Djokovic has a lopsided and subpar finals record in Flushing—just 3-6—that is insignificant when compared to his finals performances at the other three majors.
As great a disparity as you’ll see in a Slam semifinal was between Djokovic and Shelton. It was an age and resume mismatch: Shelton is rated No. 47, while Djokovic is No. 2 (and will remain No. 1 regardless of the outcome of the final on Sunday). However, the American will go up into the Top 20 on Monday. Shelton has only 15 career victories compared to the Serb’s 1,070. And while the 2022 NCAA singles champion, who is only in his second year on the circuit, is still seeking his first victory, Djokovic has won 95 ATP titles.
Prior to the Open, Shelton had a record of just 5-15 in his previous 20 games. In Flushing, Shelton found his groove. The American defeated the No. 14 seed Tommy Paul and the No. 10 seed Frances Tiafoe, who had advanced to the semifinals the year before. Shelton, according to John McEnroe and other tennis insiders, has the greatest potential of all the young American men hopefuls, yet the Florida native’s powerful game is still in its infancy when compared to fellow 20-year-olds Carlos Alcaraz of Spain & Holger Rune of Denmark.
Since Jimmy Connors, who was 39 at the time of his illustrious run in 1991, Djokovic, 36, is the oldest man to have advanced to the US Open semifinals. If Alcaraz defeats Daniil Medvedev in his semifinal matchup on Friday night, the Serb may now have to face two opponents who are 20 years old, one after the other. Djokovic aims to win the US Open singles championship at the oldest age ever in the Open Era.