An easy Sunday night, for once
Ben Shelton spent his third round on court until the early hours. His fourth round took a fraction of that.
The eighth seed beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets on Sunday night in New York to reach the US Open quarter-finals. Tsitsipas is unseeded here after a difficult season, a status that made him a more awkward last-16 draw than his ranking suggested. Shelton never let the question arise.
He and Jessica Pegula, the highest-seeded Americans left in either draw, both came through the night session without dropping a set between them.
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Alcaraz waits
The reward is the reigning champion. Carlos Alcaraz removed Tommy Paul 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 to reach the same quarter-final, extending a return from a four-month wrist layoff that has so far cost him almost nothing.
Alcaraz swept Wu Yibing 6-3, 6-4, 6-1 in the third round and has not looked like a player working his way back. Shelton will need more than the serve that carried him through Sunday.
New York keeps giving him things
Shelton’s best Grand Slam result remains the semi-final he reached here in 2023, as a 20-year-old ranked outside the top 40. He is a substantially different player now, with a game built on more than power, and he arrives in this quarter-final ranked ninth in the world.
There is a longer drought attached to all of this. No American man has won a Grand Slam singles title in 23 years. Shelton is the highest seed left carrying that, and the draw has handed him the man standing between almost everyone and a major right now.
An American Sunday
Seven Americans played fourth-round matches. Five won. Frances Tiafoe removed Daniil Medvedev, Alex Michelsen beat Tomas Etcheverry, Pegula saw off Sorana Cirstea and Emma Navarro dispatched Anna Kalinskaya in the nightcap.
Taylor Townsend was the exception on the women’s side, losing to Aryna Sabalenka in the day’s opening match. Paul was the other, and he ran into Alcaraz.
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