Ben Shelton Beat Carlos Alcaraz in a 3:33 a.m. U.S. Open Classic

The useful part

Leonardo Munoz/AFP/Getty Images Don't be fooled by the pyrotechnic highlights making their way across your feed this morning: Open quarterfinal between Ben Shelton and Carlos Alcaraz last night (mostly this morning) was a grind. It achieved the nigh-impossible task of getting Kevin Hart to put down his phone.

How it works

• His most salient characteristics are his huge serve and striking athleticism — and perhaps the way he works crowds into a froth.
• Tags: us open 2026 ben shelton carlos alcaraz sports tennis More Show Comment Ben Shelton Summited the Mountain at 3:33 a.m.
• 9/15/2026 early and often early and often Mitch McConnell Is Alive and (Sort of) Well By Margaret Hartmann The Kentucky senator went back to work for the first time in three months.
• (a fact that the broadcasters celebrated repeatedly but should really be grounds for those involved in the scheduling decisions to send apology payments to everybody who has to work today) and made...
• Though this is exactly where a player wants to be, it is not exactly an enviable position — the match is ostensibly under the server's control, but they have every opportunity to succumb to nerves and lose...

What to take from it

It's because he did that Shelton's win feels monumental. It got John McEnroe to utter the line "just when he was ready to jump out of his pants, he delivered that serve" in commentary. Shelton's 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (7) victory was at once a scheduling farce that kept large swaths of New York up until 3:33 a.m.

Example or evidence

• It has to be said that Alcaraz, a seven-time Grand Slam champion, wasn't at his best.
• He dropped just one set over the first week and entered the Shelton match fresh off an evisceration of Tommy Paul that seemed to solidify him as the tournament favorite.
• Early in the second set against Shelton (and at times during the first), he looked like a Tour de France cyclist who forgot his energy gels.
• Largely in control of the match's opening hour, Alcaraz suddenly found himself without the ability to hit his forehand crisply, to move around the court at top speed, or to win a single game.

Details worth keeping

Ben Shelton Summited the Mountain at 3:33 a.m. Did he ever have to suffer for those accolades. Through four rounds, though, Alcaraz's timing looked perfect.

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