Ben Shelton Upsets Carlos Alcaraz in Five-Set US Open Marathon That Ended at 3:33 a.m.

File photo: Arthur Ashe Stadium, not this specific match. Photo: KT / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0

Ben Shelton beat defending champion Carlos Alcaraz 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 in the US Open quarterfinals at Arthur Ashe Stadium, a match that ran 4 hours and 28 minutes and didn’t finish until 3:33 a.m. ET on Wednesday, September 9, 2026 — the latest a match has ever ended at the tournament, breaking a record Alcaraz himself had held.

The win was Shelton’s first over Alcaraz in four career meetings, evening their head-to-head to 1-3 after Alcaraz had led it 3-0 coming in; some reports also described it as his first win over a top-3-ranked opponent. It ends Alcaraz’s run as defending champion and his bid to become the first man to win back-to-back US Open titles since Roger Federer did it from 2004 through 2008. The loss also snapped a winning streak Alcaraz had been carrying through Grand Slam play. Shelton, the tournament’s No. 8 seed, now moves on to face fellow American Frances Tiafoe in the semifinals, an all-American matchup scheduled for Friday, September 11, 2026, at Arthur Ashe Stadium — not yet played as of September 9, 2026.

Key facts

Final score: Shelton d. Alcaraz 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6
Match length: 4 hours, 28 minutes — ended at 3:33 a.m. ET Wednesday, September 9, 2026, the latest finish in US Open history
Previous record: Alcaraz’s 2:50 a.m. win over Jannik Sinner in the 2022 tournament
Head-to-head: Shelton’s first win over Alcaraz in four career meetings, now 1-3 (Alcaraz had led 3-0)
Next match: Shelton (No. 8 seed) faces Frances Tiafoe (No. 11 seed) in the semifinals, Friday, September 11, at Arthur Ashe Stadium
Ages: Both players are 23

Timeline

Tue, Sept 8, ~11:05 p.m. ET — Match begins at Arthur Ashe Stadium
Set 1 — Alcaraz wins the opening set in a tiebreak, 7-6(5)
Sets 2-3 — Shelton wins 6-1, 6-3 to take control
Set 4 — Alcaraz forces a decider, winning 6-1
Set 5 — Shelton wins a deciding tiebreak, 7-6, to close out the match
Wed, Sept 9, 3:33 a.m. ET — Match ends, the latest finish in US Open history
Fri, Sept 11 — Shelton faces Tiafoe in the semifinals at Arthur Ashe Stadium

A match that outlasted the clock

Play began at approximately 11:05 p.m. Tuesday, September 8. The previous record for the latest finish also belonged to Alcaraz, who beat Jannik Sinner at 2:50 a.m. in the 2022 tournament. Sinner wasn’t part of this year’s draw at all, having withdrawn from the 2026 US Open on August 21 with a right knee injury without playing a match.

How the match turned

Alcaraz took the opening set in a tiebreak, but Shelton answered by winning the next two sets, 6-1 and 6-3, to take control. Alcaraz forced a decider by taking the fourth set 6-1, and the match came down to a fifth-set tiebreak that Shelton won to close it out.

Both players are 23 — Alcaraz since May, Shelton since last October — two of the sport’s younger stars playing nearly four and a half hours of tennis into the early morning.

Some outlets, including Fox News’s Outkick and Yardbarker, reported that Alcaraz vomited into a towel late in the match as exhaustion set in and tried to wave off television cameras in the moment. That detail hasn’t been confirmed by a wire service or the tournament’s own match recap.

Alcaraz speaks, briefly

Because the match ended so late, there was no formal post-match press conference. Alcaraz instead reportedly spoke with a small group of reporters about his fatigue and said he was proud of his effort. He also described the match as close, said he was disappointed not to win, and said he was leaving the tournament with his head held high.

Setting up an all-American semifinal

Shelton’s win came hours after Frances Tiafoe booked his own semifinal spot, rallying from two sets down to beat fellow American Alex Michelsen 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 in a match that lasted 4 hours and 38 minutes. Tiafoe is the No. 11 seed.

Their meeting Friday will be the first Grand Slam semifinal of the Open era to feature two Black American men, and it guarantees an American man a place in the US Open final.

What happens next

Shelton and Tiafoe play in the semifinals on Friday, September 11, 2026, at Arthur Ashe Stadium, with the men’s semifinals scheduled for 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. ET. Whoever wins that match moves straight into the US Open final.